Google Analytics Goals & Funnel Process

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The Goals & Funnel Process section in Google Analytics is divided into six main sections: Goal Tracking, Goal Conversion, Defined Funnel Navigation, Defined Funnel Abandonment, Reverse Goal Path, and Goal Verification. Each section helps you determine your goal accomplishments, and when to work to improve them. Here, we explain these sections in ‘easy-speak.’

Goal Tracking

The Goal Tracking Report analyzes goal conversions to measure how well they’re met. Graphed by within dates that you specify, this report calculates the number of conversions for each goal that occurred on your website. Having this information will enable you to identify each conversion and if necessary, make site adjustments to create more.

Goal Conversion

The Goal Conversion Report analyzes your conversion rates to measure your goal’s accomplishments. Graphed within dates that you specify, the status of these goals – and how they change – give you an opportunity to look for revealing patterns. Having this information will enable you to identify when these conversion rates occur and if necessary, make site adjustments to increase them. By setting a date range, you can see how your numbers change over a specified period of time.

Defined Funnel Navigation

This report reveals the number of visitors who start a process within your website (such as a newsletter subscription, a sale, and a log in session, etc.) but then later abandon it. Organized by goals that you specify, this report identifies the different processes within your website as “steps”. An example “step” of a newsletter subscription would be to load the subscription’s webpage, or to submit the first page of a subscription form.

These steps are displayed on the right hand side of the Defined Funnel Navigation report and point not only to the number and percentages of abandoned processes, but also the places at which visitors quit. Having this information will enable you to monitor the number of abandoned processes and if necessary, make site adjustments to reduce them.

Defined Funnel Abandonment

Similar to the Defined Funnel Navigation Report, this report counts the number of times that your visitors abandoned a goal (such as subscribing to a newsletter for example). Having this information will enable you to monitor the number of abandonments and if necessary, make site adjustments to reduce them. By setting a date range, you can see how your numbers change over a specified period of time.

Reverse Goal Path

The Reverse Goal Path Report lists navigation paths to each goal in addition to the number of conversions resulting from those paths. By analyzing path information, Google confirms that your goal pages were found aggressively, rather than accidentally. Per path, this report will also give you the number of times that a path led to a goal and the number of times that a visitor accomplished a goal. Having this information will enable you to identify each goal path and if necessary, make site adjustments to create more. By setting a date range, you can see how your numbers change over a specified period of time.

Goal Verification

The Goal Verification Report lists each one of your goal pages and the number of times that the pages were accessed. It’s Google’s way of verifying accomplished goals. Per path, this report will give you the number of times that a series of clicks led to a goal and the number of times that a visitor accomplished a goal. By including path information, Google confirms that your goal pages were found aggressively, rather than accidentally.

In addition to discerning and monitoring your goal pages, Google Analytics also gives you the conversion percentage that’s associated with each goal page. That way, you can easily assess the level of persuasion of your content.