Set up a goal funnel in Analytics with each registration page's address before sign-ups open. It shows where parents leave, often at documents or payment, and the fix is usually removing or shortening that step.

Started, then stopped

A day camp opens online registration in March. By April the office is taking calls from parents who began signing up, got partway, and stopped.

Some meant to come back and forgot. Some could not find what a page asked for. A few believe they finished, and arrive in July with a child and no booking.

The registration runs over four pages, and nobody can say which page loses them. Analytics can, if it is set up before the rush.

What a goal funnel shows

In Google Analytics, a goal marks a page that counts as success, such as the confirmation page after registering. A funnel adds the pages that should come before it, in order.

The funnel report then shows how many visitors reached each step, how many went on to the next, and where the rest went instead.

It is the difference between knowing that registrations fell short and knowing that parents left at the payment page.

Setting it up with each step's address

The funnel is built from page addresses. For a four-page registration it might look like this:

Each step goes into the goal settings, in the view's admin section, as the part of the address after the domain.

The report shows only data collected after the funnel is saved. It has to be in place before registration opens, or the busiest weeks pass unmeasured.

When every step has the same address

Many registration forms keep one address from start to finish and change the page with code. Analytics then sees a single page, and the funnel has nothing to work with.

The fix is for whoever looks after the site to send Analytics a made-up address at each step, such as /register/step-3. The funnel can use those like real pages.

Payment often happens on a payment company's own page. Parents must be sent back to your confirmation page afterwards, or every paid registration looks like a parent who gave up.

Reading the funnel

Look for the step with the steepest drop. A modest loss at every page is normal; a cliff at one step points to a problem with that step.

The report also shows where people went when they left: back to the program page, to the fees page, or off the site. A parent who goes back to reread the fees has a question the form did not answer.

Compare the funnel's completions with the registrations the office actually received. If they differ, something in the setup is wrong, and that comes first.

Why documents and payment lose parents

Parents often register on a phone, at lunch or in a parking lot. A page asking for a scanned waiver stops them cold, because the waiver is at home and unprinted.

Payment stops others. The full fee for several weeks at once, or a card that is not to hand, is a reason to leave and a reason not to come back.

Neither problem is about forgetting, which is why reminder emails help so little. A reminder brings the parent back to the same page and the same obstacle.

A worked example

A youth robotics club runs spring workshops and summer camps for ages nine to fourteen, with registration and payment through its website.

Registration had four pages: sessions, child and parent details, an upload page for a signed waiver and a photo consent form, and payment.

A year ago the club's volunteer treasurer set up a goal funnel in early February, a month before registration opened. Each page already had its own address, so it took an evening.

The first weeks showed the pattern plainly. Parents moved through the first two pages, and those who stopped mostly stopped at the upload page.

The club dropped that page. Parents now tick a box agreeing to the waiver's terms, shown in full on the form, and sign the paper copy at the first session.

Payment changed too: a deposit holds the place, and the balance is due a month before camp. The form went from four pages to three.

Nothing on the remaining pages asks for something a parent would have to go away and find.

Shorter beats louder

Reminder emails have their place, for parents who were interrupted. They cannot fix a page that asks for something out of reach, and too many make the camp look pushy.

A shorter form helps everyone, including the parents who would have finished anyway. Ask only for what is needed to hold a place, and collect the rest later.

Before cutting, ask the office which answers it actually uses. Many forms still collect details that nobody has looked at in years, and each one is another reason to stop.

What the funnel cannot tell you

The funnel shows where parents leave, not why. A short question on the confirmation page, or a call to a few parents who stopped, fills that gap.

It also counts visits, not families. A parent who starts on a phone and finishes on a computer can look like one dropout and one success.

The counter-case

A program that fills every place from a waiting list has little to gain from tuning its form. Those parents will finish whatever it asks.

Even there, a funnel takes an hour to set up and shows whether a page is generating calls to the office. A confusing form costs staff time whether the camp is full or not.

A funnel ready for spring sign-ups

  1. Give each step its own address.
  2. Create a goal on the confirmation page.
  3. Add the funnel steps in order.
  4. Check the return from the payment page.
  5. Compare completions with real registrations.
  6. Find the steepest drop once data arrives.
  7. Shorten that step before adding reminders.

Step two has to happen before registration opens. The funnel reports only from the day it is created, and a spring rush that has passed cannot be measured afterwards.

Keyword data hidden behind not provided takes the opposite case: Analytics reports that have stopped telling owners much, and which of them to stop reading.

Frequently asked questions

How does a goal funnel work in Google Analytics?

You name a goal page, such as the confirmation page, and the pages that lead to it in order. The funnel report shows how many visitors reached each step and where they left.

Does the funnel report show past data?

No. It reports only from the day the goal and funnel are saved, so set it up a few weeks before registration opens and the busy period begins.

What if every step of our form has the same address?

Have the person who maintains the site send Analytics a made-up address for each step. The funnel can then use those addresses as though they were separate pages.

Why do paid registrations look abandoned?

If the payment page belongs to another company and does not send parents back to your confirmation page, the funnel never sees them finish. Check that return before trusting the numbers.

Will reminder emails bring parents back?

Some, if they were interrupted. But a reminder returns them to the same obstacle, such as a document they do not have at hand, so fix the step itself first.

How do we make the form shorter?

Ask only for what is needed to hold a place. Collect documents later, consider a deposit instead of the full fee, and merge pages wherever you can.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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