Funnels: The Vanity Metric with a Hidden Superpower
Funnels often get dismissed as vanity metrics. They’re clean, visual, and satisfyingly linear—but they can oversimplify what’s actually a chaotic user journey.
That said, funnels serve one crucial purpose: they help pinpoint where the biggest drop-offs occur in your flow. Whether it’s the product page, checkout form, or email sign-up, funnels give you a starting point—a red flag that says, “Look here!”
However, funnels don’t tell you why users dropped off. And that’s where their value ends unless paired with deeper behavioural insight.
Heatmaps: What Users See Isn’t Always What They Understand
Heatmaps show you where users click, scroll, or hover. They provide rich visual insight into where attention is being directed on a page.
But attention is not the same as engagement.
Just because someone spends time hovering over a button or scrolling through text doesn’t mean they’re interested—it may signal confusion. Perhaps the CTA isn’t clear, or the content layout is misleading.
Moreover, looking only at "hot zones" is a trap. It's critical to consider the order in which users consume information. Did they scroll down out of curiosity—or because they didn’t find what they needed above the fold?
The smartest use of heatmaps is to build hypotheses: "Is this section too complex?" "Are users skipping key messages?" Time on page is a signal, not a verdict.
The Winning Combo: Funnels + Heatmaps = Real Insight
Start with your funnel: identify the drop-off page. Then, open the heatmap for that specific page to understand how users are interacting (or not) with the content.
This one-two punch lets you move from what’s going wrong to why it’s going wrong—a powerful base for any CRO test.
Don’t Stop There: Your Full CRO Toolbox
Your optimisation journey shouldn't stop at analytics. Here are three underused but powerful tools:
- User Feedback: Ask users directly what’s unclear. Exit-intent surveys can be goldmines.
- Session Recordings: Watch how users move through your site. Are they hesitating? Clicking random elements? Rage-clicking?
- Google Analytics Retargeting: Use behavioural signals to re-engage users who clicked a CTA but didn’t convert. They showed intent—bring them back.
Why Incremental Wins May Not Move the Needle
Running tests and making changes may push users further down the funnel, but beware false wins. Improving mid-funnel steps often doesn’t translate into final conversions—especially if bottom-funnel friction remains.
Track daily progression rates across funnel stages to spot correlation breakdowns. Sometimes, improving step A causes abandonment at step C. Testing in isolation misses this.
Final Thoughts: Choose the Right Tool for the Right Stage
CRO isn’t about favouring one tool over the other—it’s about knowing when to use which tool and how to combine insights. Funnels tell you where the leaks are. Heatmaps help explain them. Layer in qualitative feedback and retargeting, and you’re not just optimising a page—you’re improving an experience.
