Google Analytics funnel: how to build one in GA4

Build a funnel exploration

1. Start the exploration. In Explore, under Start a new exploration, click the Funnel exploration template.[1]
2. Name each step and give it a condition. Click the pencil to edit the steps. Give each step a distinct name and one or more conditions: an event people trigger, such as a purchase, or a dimension value they share, such as the campaign they came from. Steps can’t be based on metrics.[1]
3. Add the steps in order. Click Add step for each one; a funnel takes up to 10.[1] For each, choose whether it is indirectly followed by the step before, with other actions allowed in between, or directly followed by it, immediately after. To require it within a time frame, click Within.[1]
4. Apply and check the Summary card. Click Apply. The Summary card on the right shows how your conditions match your data.[1]
5. Choose open or closed with the Make open funnel toggle, below.[1]

Then add what helps you read it:[1]

• Breakdown splits each step by a dimension, such as Device category.
• Segment comparisons compare up to 4 segments of users.
• Show elapsed time adds the average time between steps.
• Next action shows the most common actions after each step.
• Visualization is a standard (stepped) funnel or a trended (line chart) one.

Open or closed: who is counted

In an open funnel, users can enter at any step. In a closed funnel, they must enter at the first step.[1] Either way, users are only counted in the steps they complete in the order you set: if they miss a step, they fall out and aren’t counted in any later one.[1] In Google’s own example, someone who did steps A and C but skipped B is counted in step A only.[1] If someone completes the steps more than once in the date range, only the first time is reported.[1]

Save it as a funnel report

A funnel report is built from a funnel exploration: build the exploration first, then save it as a report.[2] You must be an Editor or Administrator.[2]

1. Save it. In the exploration, click Save as a report in the Library, at the top right, then give it a name and a description.[2]
2. Add it to the left menu. Open the report library, edit a collection and drag the report under a topic.[2]

The report keeps the filters, the step definitions, open or closed, and the breakdown. Elapsed time and next action aren’t saved, and later changes to the exploration don’t change the report.[2] It shows the last 28 days by default.[2]

Read the report

Below each bar that has a next step, the report shows the abandonment rate. In Google’s example, 200 users reach one step and 140 of them go on to view a product, so the abandonment rate under the first step reads 60 (30%).[2] The next step’s header shows the retention rate, the inverse: 70%.[2] In an open funnel the bars are stacked: the top bar counts users who started at that step, the bottom bar those who came from the step before.[2]

Limits to know

• 200 reports. You can create up to 200 custom reports per property.[2]
• Not every exploration saves. One with more than 5 filters, or with segments applied, can’t be saved as a report.[2]
• Data retention. A standard property can keep user-level data for 2 or 14 months, whichever you choose in its retention setting, and that setting only affects explorations and funnel reports, not the standard reports.[3]
• Sampling. When a report or exploration needs more events than the property’s quota, 10 million for a standard property, GA4 may use a portion of the data and scale it up.[4]

Funnels through the Data API

Developers can request funnel reports with the Google Analytics Data API’s runFunnelReport method. It is in the v1alpha version and may have breaking changes before public release.[5] A response has a funnel table (funnelTable) and a funnel visualization (funnelVisualization).[5]

From the step to the reason

A funnel’s count tells you where to look. It does not tell you why; for that you need the visits behind the step. Convertlyft’s line runs beside the GA4 tag and does not change it, so you keep your Google Analytics reports. Its funnels take up to 6 steps, counted in order. The move that lost the biggest share of people is marked, each page or action step links to the recorded visits that reached it, and each page step also links to a heatmap of its busiest page. Funnels count every visit, with no sampling, and are on every plan. More on funnel analysis in Convertlyft, and on how it compares with GA4 in the Google Analytics alternative. For GA4’s own words, see GA4 terms, in plain words.