Goals, the KPI and funnels

A goal is the thing a page exists for. Lynq tracks how often it happens, which sources and pages lead to it, and the revenue it brings.

Two kinds of goal

Create goals on the Goals screen. Each goal’s page shows completions, converting sessions, the conversion rate and revenue where the event carries a revenue property; then its pace, completions accumulating over the range against the goal’s monthly target, with a dotted projection to the period’s end while the period is still filling (a rolling “last 30 days” ends now and is not projected; the target applies to a range about a month long); how long converting sessions took, from the session’s start to the first completion, in bands from 10 seconds to over an hour with the median named; conversion by channel as each channel’s rate beside the rest of the site’s, both with their 95% interval; and completions over time with your notes on it.

The KPI

One goal can be the site’s KPI. It becomes the sixth tile on the Overview and its pace panel, drives the lead chart when selected, and adds a conversion column (and revenue, when there is any) to the Sources tables, so you can see which channel actually converts rather than which sends the most visitors. Set it from the goal’s page or in site settings.

Funnels

A goal tells you how often something happened. A funnel tells you where people stopped on the way to it.

Define one on the Goals screen with + New funnel: a name, then two to eight steps in order. Each step is the same page-or-event pair a goal is, so a flow can mix them. A page step is a path and takes * as a wildcard; an event step is a custom event name on its own.

Lynq counts the sessions that reached each step in order, comparing the first time each step happened: a session counts for step 3 only if its first step 1 came no later than its first step 2, which came no later than its first step 3. Between every pair it shows what fell away, so the biggest loss is the one to fix.

A funnel is measured within a session, not across visits. Someone who reads the pricing page on Monday and buys on Thursday is two sessions, and the funnel counts neither, which is what keeps Lynq from needing to follow a person between visits. Keep the steps to a flow someone completes in one sitting.

The first step is the one you wrote, not “every session”. A funnel that starts at “viewed pricing” reports the drop from there; starting everything at the session count would make every funnel’s first number the same and its first drop meaningless.

Steps can be reordered while you edit, since the order is what the funnel measures. The range and any filters apply, so you can read the same funnel for one country or one source. There is no period-on-period comparison on a funnel; change the range to move the window.

Below ten sessions on the first step Lynq says so instead of drawing a shape; the definition and the threshold are on how Lynq counts.

Each goal also has an automatic two-step funnel (all sessions, then the goal) on its own page. Funnels are the version you write yourself.

How conversion is counted

A session converts when it contains at least one completion. Conversion is converting sessions divided by all sessions in the range, or, on a table, divided by the sessions that touched that row. Ten purchases in one session are ten completions and one converting session. The definitions are on how Lynq counts.

Conversion by channel

The goal’s page ranks entry channels by conversion rate, which is usually a different order from visitors. A channel that sends few visitors who all convert is worth more than one that sends many who leave.

Converting sessions

The goal’s page lists the newest sessions that completed it. Session opens each as a journey: the pages before the completion, how long each held, and the moment the goal fired.