Funnel Reporting in Looker Studio: Analyzing User Behavior and Conversions

Introduction to Funnel Reporting
Options for Creating Funnel Reports in Looker Studio
Building a Looker Studio Funnel Report with Plausible Analytics
Conclusion

Introduction to Funnel Reporting

Funnel reports are a common and effective way to analyze website analytics. They provide valuable insights into user behavior and the path they take on a website. At the top of the funnel, users start as regular visitors and as they progress, they move down the funnel, eventually reaching the bottom where they complete a desired action. Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, is an excellent tool for creating funnel reports. It not only offers various visualization options but also serves as a centralized data hub where you can easily connect data from multiple sources to build your funnel metrics.

Options for Creating Funnel Reports in Looker Studio

There are different ways to utilize funnel reports in Looker Studio. Funnel reports can be used to track specific actions or goals on a website. Some examples include:

Conversion Funnel: This tracks the journey of users through different steps before completing a conversion. Intermediate steps can be included, such as adding items to a cart or filling out a form.
User Engagement Funnel: This measures user engagement by tracking their interactions with specific pages or features on a website. It helps determine how deeply users are interacting with the website.
Sales Funnel: This tracks the sales process, from lead generation to closing a sale.

Each type of funnel report focuses on a specific aspect of the user journey and provides valuable insights into how users interact with a website.

Building a Looker Studio Funnel Report with Plausible Analytics

When creating a funnel report in Looker Studio, there are different visualization options available. These include:

Community Visualizations

Community visualizations are custom data visualizations created by the Looker Studio community. While they offer flexibility in visualization options, they may have limitations and potential bugs. They are not officially supported by Google and may not display correctly in shared reports. It is recommended to exercise caution when using community visualizations.

Horizontal Bar Chart

The horizontal bar chart is a native chart option in Looker Studio. It provides a simple and straightforward way to visualize funnel data. However, it may not resemble the traditional funnel shape as it only displays one side of the funnel. Creating percentages may require additional charts.

Manual Creation using Shapes and Scorecard Metrics

This option offers the most flexibility in designing a custom funnel chart. Users can create a funnel chart using shapes and scorecard metrics. While this allows for complete customization, it requires additional setup and adjustments to ensure the chart accurately reflects the data.

To demonstrate the process of creating a funnel report in Looker Studio, we will use data from Plausible Analytics.

Set Up Plausible Analytics: Before building the report, ensure that Plausible Analytics is properly set up.
Define Funnel Steps: Determine the specific steps you want to track in your funnel report. In this example, we will track user interactions based on the pages they view.
Choose a Visualization Option: We will use the horizontal bar chart option for our funnel report.
Add a Custom Field: Create a custom field called “Funnel Name” to categorize the pages into funnel steps. Use a case statement to assign values based on specific page URLs.
Configure the Funnel Chart: Select the “Funnel Name” as the dimension and “Visitors” as the metric for the horizontal bar chart. This will create a chart that resembles a funnel.
Add Percentages to the Funnel Chart: Duplicate the chart and flip it on the X-axis. Change the metric of the second chart to “Percentage of Max Relative to Corresponding Data.” This will display conversion rates as percentages.

With these steps, we have created a funnel report in Looker Studio that visualizes user interactions and conversion rates based on specific page views.

Conclusion

Funnel reports are an essential tool for analyzing website analytics, as they provide valuable insights into user behavior and conversions. Looker Studio offers various options for creating funnel reports, including community visualizations, horizontal bar charts, and manual creation using shapes and scorecard metrics. By connecting data from platforms like Plausible Analytics, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of user interactions and optimize their website accordingly.

Start a Free Trial with Looker Studio today and harness the power of funnel reporting for your website.

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