Funnel Drop Off | Fixing Leaks and Boosting Conversions


Getting people to join your conversion funnel is difficult and expensive. As such, it’s painful to have your hard-earned traffic leave the funnel without converting. Understanding the root causes of funnel drop-off and how to combat it will help you maximize your ROI.

Leads may drop out of a conversion funnel due to obstacles in the conversion path, failed expectations, and inadequate information to convince them to buy. Ways to reduce funnel drop-offs include A/B split tests, segmentation tests, detailed product descriptions, and fixing broken links.

Everyone with a funnel will benefit from learning about drop-offs and how to reduce them. In this guide, we’ll discuss a few ways you can combat this issue and maximize the effectiveness of your funnel. 

What Is Funnel Drop-Off?

A funnel drop-off rate indicates the number of visitors who abandoned the conversion path before completing it. The visitors entered the funnel, took a few steps, then dropped out. High rates of funnel drop-offs lower your conversion rates and your ROI.

Therefore, you need to identify what causes the drop-offs and do what you can to fix them. Obviously, every funnel will have a few leakage points.

There’s no such thing as a 100% successful funnel. However, there are some preventable factors that could lead to a high drop-off rate. 

About Funnel Drop-Offs

What Causes Funnel Drop-Offs?

Users may leave a conversion funnel for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the common causes for drop-offs:

1. Obstacles in the Purchasing Path

Blocks in your funnel prevent users from taking the next step. Once they lose momentum, this may cause them to abandon the conversion process.

Common obstacles include:

  • Broken links that fail to load the next page or step
  • Pages that load slowly
  • Forceful logins or sign-ups
  • Out of stock products or limited delivery supported locations
  • Few/none results following site searches
  • Form validation failure messages or general error messages

2. Customers Not Getting What They Expect From a Page

When customers get a different user experience from what they expect, they will usually leave.

For instance, if your ad campaigns state that card information is not necessary yet it is required to complete sign up, the visitors are likely to leave immediately.

Additionally, visitors expect an easy-to-navigate site. So if your page is unresponsive or difficult to use, that’s a huge issue.

3. Inadequate Information to Help Visitors Make Decisions

Another reason that leads fail to convert is insufficient information to help them make up their minds.

If visitors are left with doubts or unanswered questions about your product, they will abandon the purchase path.

Here are some indicators of insufficient information.

  • Users abandon order forms when prompted to specify product features
  • After checkout, users check the product details, shipping and read the FAQ section
  • Uses abandon checkout to conduct web searches
What Causes Funnel Drop-Offs

How to Reduce Drop-off Rates in Your Conversion Funnel

To lower drop-off rates on your sales funnel, you need to identify your funnel leakage points and fix them. While fixing leakage points will not prevent leads from dropping off entirely, it will lead to a funnel with the highest possible conversion rate. 

Here are some ways to solve drop-off problems on your sales funnel

1. Perform A/B Split Tests

A/B testing enables you to compare the performance of two variations of a funnel element, such as a landing page.

To perform a test, send a given percentage of traffic to each variant and watch how they perform. Afterward, pick the variant with the lowest drop-off rates.

Some of the page elements to split test include your text, button colors, and forms.

For instance, to check registration drop-offs, split test your registration form by changing the form fields.

The variant that gets the most subscribers will give you ideas on which fields to eliminate.

2. Offer Detailed Product Descriptions

Offering in-depth product descriptions will inform users of everything they need to know about the product.

Provide all the relevant product descriptions so you can prevent users from leaving the funnel in search of information.

Provide all the specs pertaining to a product along with clear images of the product. If possible, add a user comment section to help new users make informed decisions.

By doing so, customers will add products to the carts without questions or doubts.

3. Conduct Segmentation Tests

Segmentation tests require you to target specific sections of your users to determine which segment is dropping off more.

For example, you may segment users based on their registration status, i.e., registered user, yet to register user, and new users. 

Once you have segmented the users, each category will see different pages based on their status.

For example, registered users will see a product page while the yet to register group will see a sign-up page. 

If you notice that the yet to register group has the highest drop-off rate, you probably need to fix your registration forms.

4. Announce Product Shortages

Although it may be tempting to let customers proceed with the checkout process when an item is out of stock, this is a costly mistake.

Customers may leave your brand for good if they feel tricked. 

So if a product is out of stock, notify your customers. Better yet, do not display the product at all until you restock it.

5. Build Trust With Your Leads

Lack of trust is a common reason for leads to drop out of a funnel. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to inspire confidence in your leads.

For instance, displaying a Verisign logo is an excellent way to show that your brand is trustworthy.

Another way to increase trust is by creating a privacy policy and a terms and conditions page.

If possible, add customer reviews that were shared by previous users. These two items help users to feel more at ease.

6. Use Web Analytics Tools to Measure the Key Performance Indicators

Web analytics tools such as google analytics will help you track and analyze web traffic data.

These tools provide insights into what aspects of your funnel design are turning people away.

Additionally, you will generate reports regarding your goals, traffic, visitors, and more.

Aside from helping you understand the drop-off rates, you will also determine the amount of time a user spends on a page, bounce rates, and conversion rates.

With the aid of the data, you can make changes to reduce the drop-off rates.

7. Fix Broken Links

Broken links are a common cause of funnel drop-offs that go unnoticed. Fixing these broken links is a quick way to boost your conversion rates again.

Fortunately, there are multiple tools designed to find broken links, such as Google Webmaster Tools.

Another effective way to find broken links is through session replays. A replay tool lets you see the user experience as the page loads.

You also get to review the events as they unfold, thus allowing you to uncover the flaws and fix them.

How to Reduce Drop-off Rates in Your Conversion Funnel

Wrapping up

High funnel drop-off rates can significantly lower your ROI.

To ensure you get the best out of your funnel, you need to keep the causes of funnel drop-offs in mind. This will help you to avoid a problematic setup.

You can lower funnel drop-offs by fixing broken links, performing split tests, and using the other tips above.

As a result, you will boost the number of leads who make it to the end of the funnel and increase your sales.

Shailen Vandeyar

A proud Indian origin Kiwi who loves to plant trees and play with his pet bunny when not taking a plunge into the ocean of funnel development, conversions, and customer retention.

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