How to create a sales funnel that converts in 2025
How to create a sales funnel that converts in 2025 , drawing on what we have learned by tracking the figures for dozens of service sites and shops: most visitors do not buy on their first...
How to create a sales funnel that converts in 2025, drawing on what we have learned by tracking the figures for dozens of service sites and shops: most visitors do not buy on their first visit, and a site with only "the service page and contact button" loses everyone who is not ready now. The funnel is the journey from the first encounter with the company to an order and a recommendation, with suitable content for each stage and measurements at every transition.
This guide describes the stages, what to build on the site for each, how to measure them in Google Analytics 4 and Search Console, the transition rates we see in practice and how to fix the stage that is losing people. It is written for small and medium-sized businesses, with SEO as the main traffic source.
How to create a sales funnel that converts in 2025
The stages and what the customer searches for in each
- Awareness: the customer has a problem and wants to understand it ("why don't I appear in Google", "how much does a site cost"). They want information, not a supplier.
- Interest: they understand the problem, want solutions and compare methods ("SEO or Google Ads", "WordPress or a custom site").
- Consideration: they compare suppliers ("SEO agency Alba Iulia", "company X reviews", prices, portfolio).
- Action: they request a quote, call or order.
- Retention: they return, expand and recommend.
What to build on the site for each stage
| Stage | Content | What you ask the visitor to do | What you measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness | articles explaining the problem, guides, free tools | read; optionally subscribe | non-branded organic traffic, reading time |
| Interest | method comparisons, case studies, frequently asked questions | download a guide, use a tool | transition rate to service pages |
| Consideration | service pages with processes and prices, portfolio, genuine reviews, about us | request an audit or quote | conversion rate on service pages |
| Action | a short form, a visible phone number, immediate confirmation | submit | enquiries, calls, orders |
| Retention | a monthly report, a useful newsletter, an expansion offer | continue, recommend | renewal rate, referrals |
Awareness: content that brings people in
Articles answering initial questions bring traffic but do not sell; their role is to introduce the company and send visitors onwards. Every article has a link, at the end and within the text, to the relevant service page and to a tool or downloadable guide. Topic selection starts with real questions, following the method in the article on keyword research, while the structure also cited by AI-generated answers is described in the article on AI Overviews. On our site, free tools (analyser, validator, scanners) bring visitors who would not have found us through "SEO services".
Interest: from problem to method
Honest comparisons ("when SEO makes sense and when it doesn't"), case studies with figures and FAQ pages keep visitors on the site and move them towards commercial pages. A downloadable guide or free report (our automated audit, for example) in exchange for an email address is the first point of contact; do not ask for a phone number here. The rate we track: how many article visitors reach a service page in the same session or within 30 days (GA4, funnel exploration with page events).
Consideration: the service page that persuades
This is the stage where sites lose the most. What a service page needs: what the customer receives (concrete deliverables), how you work (a staged process with timelines), whom it is and is not for, what it costs or how the price is determined (a page with no price indication loses visitors who do not want to call to find out), evidence (genuine reviews, a portfolio with results, identified authors), answers to objections (contract, duration, what happens if it does not work) and a single clear call to action. The trust signals that Google also checks are described in the article on E-E-A-T; how we rewrote our own pages, with the process over 3, 6 and 12 months, is the example we show clients.
Action: the form and phone number
- A form with 3-5 fields (name, email or phone, site, message); each extra field reduces completions by a few percent.
- A visible phone number, with a tel: link on mobile, and hours when calls are answered.
- Immediate confirmation on screen and by email, explaining what comes next and when.
- A response on the same working day; enquiries unanswered for 48 hours are lost.
- No pop-ups, forced subscriptions or difficult captchas; anti-spam protection runs behind the scenes.
Configuring forms on WordPress and sending them through SMTP so they arrive are covered in the guides to contact forms and SMTP configuration. On our own site we fixed an audit form that saved the request but did not start the promised audit: two people filled it in and received nothing. Test the complete flow monthly, as a customer.
Retention: the part everyone forgets
An existing customer costs five times less than a new one and brings referrals. A clear monthly report (what was done, what changed in the figures, what comes next), a newsletter with useful content (not offers), a reviews page where satisfied customers can leave one on Google, and an expansion offer at the right moment (after the first results, not at signing). Genuine Google reviews displayed on the site feed the consideration stage for future customers; how to request them and respond to negative ones is covered in the article on responding to negative reviews.
The funnel for an online shop
The stages are the same, with different pages: articles and buying guides (awareness), category pages with useful filters and comparisons (interest), a product page with original photographs, specifications, reviews and clear delivery information (consideration), cart and checkout without a mandatory account (action), post-order emails and a loyalty programme (retention). The biggest losses are in the cart (shipping cost revealed late, mandatory account, long form), visible in GA4's checkout report. SEO specifics for each page type are in the guide to SEO optimisation for an online shop.
The funnel and AI-generated answers
In 2025 and 2026, the awareness stage is partly moving into generated answers: users read the explanation in AI Overviews or an assistant and no longer click on the article. The consequence for the funnel: informational articles bring fewer visitors, but those who arrive are further along; consideration pages (prices, process, reviews) become the entry point for more people. The adaptation: brand mentions in sources cited by assistants, service pages directly answering "how much does it cost" and "how do you work", and measuring assistant traffic in GA4; the context is in the article on AI Mode and organic traffic.
Measurement in GA4
Events for every transition: viewing service pages, clicking the phone number, submitting the form (the generate_lead event marked as a key event), downloading the guide and using the tool. Then a funnel exploration with these stages: organic session, article page, service page, form opened, form submitted. Setup is in the guide to Google Analytics 4. Search Console fills in the beginning of the funnel: non-branded queries (awareness) versus branded ones (consideration); growth in branded queries over time is a sign the funnel works.
The rates we see
- Article to service page: 3-8% of article visitors, within 30 days.
- Service page to enquiry: 1-4% for organic traffic, more for branded traffic.
- Enquiry to customer: 20-40% for services, depending on qualification.
- Shops: 1-3% of visits turn into an order; cart to order 30-50%.
Figures vary by industry; what matters is your own trend month to month and the stage with the lowest rate relative to the others.
Fixing the stage that loses people
- Lots of traffic, few transitions to services: articles do not link to services or attract the wrong audience (questions too general). Review links and topics.
- Service visits, few enquiries: the page does not answer questions about price, process and evidence; test a version with a price indication and reviews at the top.
- Many enquiries, few customers: poor qualification (the form does not ask about budget or deadline) or a slow response.
- Customers who do not return: unclear reporting or unexplained results; the problem is communication, not the site.
Test page variants (headline, section order, form) one at a time, with enough visits for the difference to mean something; for low-traffic sites, compare months, not simultaneous variants. The remaining commercial content principles are in the article on content that generates customers, and for shops, in the guide to SEO for online shops.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help, GA4 reports: funnel explorations and key events.
- Google Ads Help, how Google Ads works: for the stages where advertising complements organic traffic.
Source references
Dorel Tănase
Original author at GOAI. Published here in English with permission.
