Goals, Funnels and Tracking, Oh My!

Until recently, if you asked me what a funnel was, I would have said it was a cone-shaped object usually used in the kitchen to pour liquids from a larger container into a storage jar. I remember my mother using one in the summer to make homemade jams and jellies and can vegetables from the garden. I even would have bought the definition that it is a cone-shaped object placed into the gas tank of a lawnmower to aid in filling it with fuel.


But I would have been wrong in both cases. In today’s technology-dependent world, a funnel is a tool marketers can use in Google Analytics, a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about visitors to a Web site or a blog like this one.

Similarly, a goal is not a personal objective or even a score in an athletic contest like basketball, soccer or hockey; it is a measurable action performed by visitors to your Web site or blog. I think both goals and funnels would be more useful if I were actually selling something instead of sharing information. In fact, I found the steps a little confusing for a non-e-commerce user.

Still, I am happy to report that I successfully installed goals and funnels onto my blog and Google Analytics account. I also enabled site search in hopes of making my blog more user friendly.

Since installing Google Analytics earlier this month, I have 25 visits, 55 page views with the average visitor spending 7:36 on my site and a 44 percent bounce rate.

I am pleasantly surprised by these numbers. I do wish, though, that I could attract more comments. Nonetheless, I hope those who visit my blog, “Come on back now, Ya’ hear!”