Sales funnel

A sales funnel describes the steps people go through on the way to becoming customers. A simple version has three stages: awareness, when someone first discovers you; consideration, when they compare options and learn more; and decision, when they buy, book or sign up. It is called a funnel because fewer people reach each stage than the one before.

Online, a funnel is usually a concrete sequence of pages and actions, for example: ad, landing page, lead form, thank-you page, email follow-up, booking call, purchase. Each step has its own conversion rate, and the overall result is the product of all of them. That is why fixing the weakest step often brings a bigger gain than polishing a step that already works well.

To improve a funnel, first map it and measure how many people move from each step to the next. Then look for the largest drop-offs and ask why they happen. A big loss between the landing page and the form might point to an unclear offer; a loss between the form and the booking might point to slow follow-up. Make sure each step continues the promise of the previous one, and that each page has one clear next step matching where the visitor is in the journey.

How to improve it

• Map every step from first click to purchase and measure the conversion rate between each.
• Fix the step with the biggest drop-off first.
• Make sure each page has one clear next step that matches the visitor's stage.
• Keep messages consistent from the ad to the landing page to the follow-up emails.
• Use the free conversion rate calculator (open tool) to compare each stage.

How PageScore checks it

PageScore does not track funnels across pages. For the page you scan, it checks whether there is a conversion path that matches the page's goal, such as a lead form, booking calendar, sign-up path or purchase path, and how clear the call-to-action is.