Conversion funnels let you describe the path your customers take — for example from a lead, to a free trial, to a sale — as an ordered sequence of your conversion types. The Funnel report then shows how many clicks turn into the first step and what share of each step moves on to the next, so you can see exactly where your traffic drops off.
This article covers how to set up conversion funnels, how to read the Funnel report, and how its conversion rates are calculated.
Create a conversion funnel
Funnels are built from the conversion types that already exist in your account, so you need at least two conversion types before you start. See Conversion Types if you need to add more.
Navigate to Settings → Tracking → Conversion types.
Scroll down to the Conversion funnels box and click Add a new conversion funnel.
Fill in the funnel details described below.
Click Add a new conversion funnel at the bottom of the form to save the funnel.
The form contains the following fields:
Name of a conversion funnel — The name you see in the Funnel report, up to 50 characters.
Conversion funnel code — A unique identifier for the funnel. Trackdesk fills it in from the name as you type, using lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens — for example, Trial to sale becomes
trial-to-sale. You can overwrite it, up to 50 characters. The code can't be changed once the funnel is saved.Conversion types sequence — The steps of your funnel, in order. Pick a conversion type from the Add a conversion type dropdown to add it as the next step. Drag a step by its handle to move it, or click the remove icon next to it to take it out. Each conversion type can appear only once in a funnel, and a funnel needs at least two steps.
Click Discard to close the form without saving. If your plan doesn't include conversion funnels, clicking Add a new conversion funnel takes you to the upgrade options instead.
You can create up to 10 conversion funnels. Once you reach the limit, the Add a new conversion funnel button is hidden until you delete a funnel.
Manage your funnels
Every funnel is listed in the Conversion funnels box with its name and its numbered steps. From there you can:
Edit a funnel — Click the pencil icon, change the name or the steps, and click Save. The funnel code stays the same.
Delete a funnel — Click the delete icon and confirm. Deleting a funnel only removes it from the Funnel report; your conversion types and conversions stay untouched.
Open the report — Click View funnel report below the list to go straight to the Funnel report.
Changes apply immediately, and the Funnel report uses the updated steps the next time you open it.
View the Funnel report
Navigate to Reports → Funnel report. If you haven't defined a funnel yet, the report asks you to create one first and shows an Add a new conversion funnel button.
Use the filter row at the top of the report to choose what you're looking at:
Date range — The period you want to analyze. Pick a preset or set a custom range.
Funnel — The conversion funnel to display. The dropdown lists every funnel together with its steps, and the first funnel in your list is selected by default. Click the pencil icon next to a funnel to edit it, or click Add a new conversion funnel at the bottom of the dropdown to create one. Both open in a side panel, so you don't have to leave the report.
Grouping — How the rows of the table are broken down. You can group by Affiliate, Affiliate ID, Affiliate manager, Tier, Country, Landing page, Coupon, Advertiser, Offer, Smart link, or Category. The default is Offer. Some groupings appear only when the related feature is available in your account — for example, Advertiser is available on network accounts, and Smart link and Affiliate manager depend on your plan.
Conversion statuses — On the right side of the filter row, choose which conversion statuses are counted. The default selection comes from your account's default report filtering, described in Dashboard and Reports.
Your selection is kept in the page address, so you can bookmark the report or share the link with a teammate.
Reading the funnel chart
Below the filters, the funnel chart shows the totals for the selected period. Each step of your funnel has its own column with:
Step name and count — The conversion type and the number of its conversions. The first column is marked Entry stage.
Conversion rate — Shown in green in the top-right corner. On the entry stage it's labeled from clicks and compares the step to the number of clicks. On every later step it's labeled from previous and compares the step to the one before it.
The funnel shape narrows as traffic drops off between steps, and the label in each section repeats that step's conversion rate. The step names along the bottom show the order of the funnel. If there are no conversions for the selected filters, the chart shows No data matches the selected filters.
Reading the report table
The table under the chart breaks the same numbers down by the grouping you selected, with a Total row at the bottom. It contains these columns:
Grouping column — The affiliate, offer, country, or other item each row belongs to.
Clicks — The clicks recorded for that row in the selected period.
Conversion rate — One column for each step, headed with the two steps it compares, such as Clicks → Lead or Lead → Sale. Hover over the column header to see how the rate is calculated.
Conversions, Revenue, and Payout — Shown under each numbered step for the conversions of that conversion type.
How conversion rates are calculated
Each conversion rate divides the number of conversions in a step by the number in the step before it, and the first step is compared to clicks. For a funnel with the steps Lead, Trial, and Sale, the report shows three rates:
Clicks → Lead — Lead conversions divided by clicks.
Lead → Trial — Trial conversions divided by lead conversions.
Trial → Sale — Sale conversions divided by trial conversions.
💡 The report compares totals, not individual customer journeys. Each step counts all conversions of that type that match the selected date range and filters, whether or not the same customer completed the previous step. This means a rate can go above 100% — for example, when customers make several sales after a single trial, or when trials from an earlier period convert to sales in the selected one. If a step has no conversions, the rate of the step after it shows 0%.
Funnel report and the dashboard Funnel widget
The Funnel widget on your dashboard is a separate tool. It lets each user build their own quick tables of clicks and conversion metrics, and it doesn't use the conversion funnels you define in settings. For details on the widget, see Dashboard and Reports.