Conversion funnel

A typical service-business funnel runs from a search result or referral, to a page, to a service or proof page, to a form or booking, to a reply. Each transition loses some share of the people who reached it, and the losses are rarely evenly spread. One step usually accounts for most of the drop, and that is the one to fix first.

The model is useful because it turns a vague "the site does not convert" into a specific question: at which step. If people read articles and never reach a service page, the problem is linking. If they reach the service page and never reach the form, the problem is the page. If they reach the form and abandon it, the problem is the form. Three different fixes for what looks like one symptom.

Funnels need measurement to be more than a diagram. Events on the transitions that matter, such as article-to-service clicks and form submissions, are what turn the model into evidence.