# How to Build and Analyse Conversion Funnels

Build step-by-step conversion sequences, read the drop-off chart, compare two periods, and break down by channel, device, country, or attribution model.

Source: https://sourceloop.ai/help/conversion-funnels-guide/
Updated: 2026-05-28

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The **Funnels** feature in SourceLoop answers a question the dashboards can't: "Of the people who entered our pipeline at step A, how many actually reached step B, then C, then converted, and where exactly are we losing them?"

The Traffic dashboard tells you channel totals. The Content dashboard tells you which pages got the most visits. **Funnels tell you the literal progression of visitors through a sequence of steps, and the percentage who drop out at each one.**

This guide covers everything: how to build a funnel, how to read the three report views (Overview, Compare, Breakdown), the settings that change how steps are counted, and the common patterns marketers use them for.

## What a funnel actually is in SourceLoop

A funnel is an ordered sequence of conditions. The classic four-step lead funnel looks like:

| Step | Condition |
|---|---|
| 1 | Visitor lands on `/pricing` |
| 2 | Visitor lands on `/signup` |
| 3 | Visitor submits the signup form |
| 4 | Visitor reaches `/dashboard/welcome` (account created) |

SourceLoop counts every unique visitor who matches step 1, then checks how many of them also matched step 2, then step 3, then step 4, **in order**. The numbers fall as you go down the steps. That falloff is the **drop-off**, and the percentage who reach the final step is the **conversion rate**.

## What you'll get from a funnel

In one screen:

- **Conversion rate from step 1 to the final step**, the headline metric
- **Per-step drop-off counts and percentages**, the diagnostic detail
- **Median time** from step 1 to each subsequent step (how long does each transition take?)
- **A visual chart** showing the funnel collapsing from step to step
- **A breakdown** by channel, source, country, device, etc., so you can see which segments convert better
- **Period-over-period comparison**, did this funnel improve or regress since last quarter?

Funnels are the right tool when:

- You suspect a specific step in your conversion journey is leaking, but you don't know where
- You ran an A/B test on a step and want to measure its impact end-to-end
- You're trying to compare conversion rates across channels for the same journey
- You need to show stakeholders a clear before/after when you changed a landing page or form

## Step 1: Build a funnel

1. Sign in to [SourceLoop](https://app.sourceloop.ai/).
2. Click **Funnels** in the left sidebar.
3. Click **+ New funnel** at the top-right.

The funnel builder opens as a side drawer with three numbered sections.

### Section 1: Name the funnel

Give it a meaningful name like "Pricing → Signup → Activated" or "Demo Request to Closed-Won". The name is what shows up in the funnel list and at the top of the report, so make it scannable.

### Section 2: Add the steps

SourceLoop supports **two types of steps**:

| Step type | Matches | Example |
|---|---|---|
| **Page view** | A specific URL or URL pattern on your site | `/pricing` or `/blog/*` |
| **Custom event** | An event name fired by your tracker | `form_submitted`, `signup_completed` |

For each step:

1. Pick the **step type** (Page view or Event).
2. Pick the **match operator**:
   - **Equals** — exact URL match (`/pricing` matches only `/pricing`)
   - **Starts with** — prefix match (`/blog/` matches every URL beginning with `/blog/`)
   - **Contains** — substring match (`pricing` matches any URL containing the word "pricing")
3. Type the URL or event name.
4. (Optional) Give the step a friendly name like "Lands on pricing" instead of showing the raw URL on the report.

You can add **2 to 10 steps**. Most useful funnels have 3-5; beyond that, drop-off compounds in confusing ways.

> **Live match preview**
> As you configure each step, SourceLoop fires a live preview showing how many visitors matched that step in the last 30 days. Use this to sanity-check your URL pattern, if a step shows 0 matches, your URL is probably wrong or your tracker isn't firing on that page.

### Section 3: Configure the settings

Three settings control how the funnel counts visitors. The defaults work for 90% of funnels, but tweaking them is sometimes necessary.

| Setting | Options | Default | When to change |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Scope** | Per visitor / Per session / Per identified user | Per visitor | Switch to "Per session" if you care about completing the funnel in a single visit. Switch to "Per identified user" to track funnel progression after the visitor identifies themselves (logged-in user behaviour). |
| **Step order** | Sequential / Any order | Sequential | Switch to "Any order" when the steps don't have to happen in a specific order. Example: a research-then-buy funnel where the order of pricing-page visits vs feature-page visits doesn't matter. |
| **Conversion window** | None / N days | None | Set a window when you want to enforce a time limit, e.g., "completes within 7 days". |

Click **Save funnel**. SourceLoop computes the funnel against your historical data immediately, so you'll see results within a few seconds.

## Step 2: Read the Overview report

Open the funnel from the list and you'll land on the **Overview** tab by default. Three things on this page:

### The three KPI cards

| Card | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Entered** | Unique visitors who matched the first step in the chosen date range |
| **Completed** | Unique visitors who matched the final step (after matching all preceding steps, in order) |
| **Conv. rate** | Completed ÷ Entered, expressed as a percentage. The headline number. |

If you set a conversion window during build, the Conv. rate card will show it like "Conv. rate (within 7d)". If you left it open, it shows "any time in window".

### The visual chart

Below the KPI cards is a column chart. Each column is a step. The height of the column represents the count of visitors who reached that step. As you read left to right, the columns get shorter, that's drop-off.

![SourceLoop Funnel Overview tab showing the Entered, Completed, and Conversion rate KPI cards, the column-style funnel visualisation, and the per-step breakdown table](/help/screenshots/Sourceloop-funnel-overview.webp)

The first column is labeled **Entry point** (orange). The final column is labeled **Funnel completion rate** with the percentage shown in green. Intermediate columns show the drop-off count and percentage between them.

### The per-step table

Below the chart, a tabular breakdown shows:

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Step** | Step name + position |
| **Definition** | The condition (URL, event name, operators) |
| **Visitors** | Unique count who reached this step |
| **% of entered** | Reach count ÷ entry-step count |
| **% from previous** | Reach count ÷ previous step's reach count |
| **Drop-off %** | 100% − (% from previous) |
| **Drop-off count** | How many visitors dropped at this step |

The two drop-off columns are the heart of the diagnostic, **the biggest drop-off percentage is your weakest step**. That's almost always where to invest UX or copy improvements first.

## Step 3: Compare two periods

The **Compare** tab shows your funnel side by side for two time periods. Use it to answer "Did the changes we made this quarter actually improve conversion?"

1. Click the **Compare** tab at the top of the funnel report.
2. Pick a comparison preset: **Previous day / week / month / quarter / year**, or pick a custom range.
3. SourceLoop renders the same chart and table twice, one for the current period (set in the page-level date picker), one for the comparison period.

![SourceLoop Funnel Compare tab showing the same funnel rendered side by side for two date ranges, with conversion rates, per-step counts, and per-step drop-offs for both periods](/help/screenshots/Sourceloop-funnel-comparision.webp)

What to look for:

- **Funnel conversion rate up or down** — the headline number. If your conversion rate went from 12% to 18%, congratulations.
- **Per-step drop-off shifts** — even if the headline number didn't move, individual steps might have changed dramatically. A step that dropped 40% better might be offset by a step that dropped 40% worse.
- **Entry volume changes** — sometimes higher conversion rate just means you attracted higher-quality entry traffic, not that the funnel itself improved.

## Step 4: Break the funnel down by dimension

The **Breakdown** tab is the most powerful view for diagnosis. It splits the funnel by a dimension you pick, channel, source, country, device, browser, etc., so you can see how conversion differs across segments.

1. Click the **Breakdown** tab.
2. Pick a dimension from the tab strip: **Channel / Source / Medium / Referrer / Country / City / Device / Browser**.
3. Pick an **attribution model** from the model selector. The default is the workspace default (usually Last Non-Direct, matching Google Analytics).
4. SourceLoop shows a table with one row per dimension value (e.g., one row per channel), each with **Entered**, **Completed**, and **Conv. rate** columns.

Useful patterns:

- **Channel with low Entered but high Conv. rate** → small but efficient channel; consider investing more there
- **Channel with high Entered but low Conv. rate** → high traffic, weak fit; tighten targeting or the landing page
- **Mobile rate meaningfully lower than Desktop on the same funnel** → your mobile experience has friction; usually fixable with form simplification
- **Conv. rate variation by country** → either targeting issues, or localisation opportunities

### Multi-model attribution in Breakdown

The Breakdown tab supports SourceLoop's full set of attribution models. You can stack multiple models in the same view, so a single table can show **Last Touch conversions** alongside **First Touch conversions** alongside **Linear conversions** for the same channels in the same funnel.

The gap between Last Touch and First Touch credit for a channel = its assist value within this funnel. Useful for justifying top-of-funnel investment when defending budget. For more on the seven models, see [7 Types of Attribution Models](/help/types-of-attribution-models/).

> **Why multi-touch models show fractional visitor counts**
> When the attribution model is Linear or Time-Decay, credit splits across all touches in the journey. A visitor whose path was social → email → search before completing the funnel contributes 0.33 of a visitor to each channel under Linear. The fractional counts are mathematically correct — they just look unfamiliar.

## Step 5: Manage funnels

The **Funnels list page** shows every funnel for the current website, with summary stats (Entered / Completed / Conv. rate) for the default date range.

For each funnel, the three-dot menu offers:

| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Edit** | Reopens the wizard to change steps, name, or settings |
| **Archive** | Hides the funnel from the list but preserves it (you can unarchive later) |
| **Delete** | Permanent removal, no undo |

For funnels you might use again (seasonal campaigns, A/B tests run periodically), use Archive. For mistakes or duplicates, Delete.

## Common funnel patterns

A few funnels worth setting up early in your workspace:

| Funnel | Steps |
|---|---|
| **Lead capture funnel** | Lands on `/pricing` → Lands on `/signup` → Submits signup form |
| **Demo to closed-won** | Submits demo form → Books meeting → Converts to paid |
| **Blog to subscriber** | Lands on `/blog/*` → Submits newsletter form |
| **Trial activation** | Signup completed → Lands on `/dashboard/onboarding` → Lands on `/dashboard/(any feature)` |
| **Checkout funnel (ecommerce)** | Lands on product page → Adds to cart → Reaches checkout → Payment complete |

Once a funnel is set up, it computes against historical data automatically, so you can immediately see the last 30, 60, or 90 days of progression.

## Scope, order, and conversion window in detail

These three settings often confuse first-time funnel users. A quick reference:

### Scope

| Scope | Counts unique | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Per visitor | Unique anonymous IDs (the default) | Almost always; tracks the same person across sessions even before they identify themselves |
| Per session | Unique session IDs | When you want to measure a single-visit completion, e.g., "do they finish checkout without leaving?" |
| Per identified user | Unique user IDs (after identify call) | When tracking post-signup behaviour (in-product funnels) |

### Step order

| Order mode | Behaviour | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential | Steps must occur in temporal order (the default) | Standard linear funnels: pricing → signup → activation |
| Any order | Steps can occur in any order, but all must occur within the window | Research funnels where order doesn't matter; e.g., visit pricing + visit features + book demo, in any sequence |

### Conversion window

| Setting | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| None (default) | No time limit, the funnel counts completions within the report's date range |
| N days | Enforces that the visitor completes all steps within N days of step 1 |

A typical pattern: set a 7-day window for trial activation funnels (the visitor needs to activate within the trial period) but leave it unbounded for B2B sales funnels that span months.

## What's next

- **Pick the right attribution model for the Breakdown tab:** [7 Types of Attribution Models](/help/types-of-attribution-models/)
- **See channel-level traffic data:** [Traffic dashboard](/help/traffic-dashboard/)
- **See landing-page-level data:** [Content dashboard](/help/content-dashboard/)
- **See the literal sequence of channels converters went through (instead of conditions you defined):** [Paths dashboard](/help/paths-dashboard/)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How is a funnel different from the Traffic or Content dashboards?

The dashboards summarise what happened — visits, conversions, revenue grouped by channel or page. A funnel measures progression, did the same visitor go from step A to step B to step C, in order, and where did they drop out. Use the dashboards to track totals; use funnels to find the specific step where your conversion journey is leaking.

### How many steps can a funnel have?

Between 2 and 10. Two is the minimum (you need an entry and a goal). Ten is the maximum SourceLoop supports per funnel. Most useful funnels have 3-5 steps, more than that and drop-off rates become hard to interpret because the cumulative loss compounds.

### What counts as a step?

A page view or a custom event. For pageviews, you can match by URL with operators like equals, starts_with, or contains, so /pricing matches just the pricing page, while /blog/* matches every blog post. For custom events, you match by the event name your tracking pixel fires (form submitted, signup completed, etc.).

### Does the funnel respect the global attribution model?

On the Breakdown tab, yes. You can pick which attribution model gets applied when breaking the funnel down by channel, source, medium, country, device, or browser, including multi-touch models like Linear, Position-Based, and Time Decay. The Overview tab uses a literal raw count of who reached each step, no attribution model needed there.

### What's the conversion window?

An optional time limit between step 1 and the final step. If you set a 7-day window, only visitors who completed all steps within 7 days of their first step are counted as converted. If you leave it empty, there's no time limit, the funnel just looks across whatever date range you've picked at the top.

### Can I share a funnel with my team?

Funnels are scoped to your website (or workspace), so every teammate with access to the website automatically sees and can edit the same funnels. There's no separate "share link" — anyone on the team can open the funnel by name from the funnels list.

### What's the difference between archiving and deleting a funnel?

Archive hides the funnel from the list but preserves its definition and historical data. You can unarchive later. Delete is permanent, the funnel is removed and can't be recovered. For funnels you might use again (seasonal campaigns, A/B test reporting), archive. For mistakes or duplicates, delete.

### Why are the Linear or Time-Decay credits showing fractional visitor counts in the Breakdown tab?

Because multi-touch attribution models split credit across all touches in the journey. If a visitor's path was social → email → search before completing the funnel, Linear gives each channel 0.33 of a visitor instead of 1.0 to the last channel. The fractional counts are real and add up correctly; they just look unusual at first glance.