Search Funnels Report: Part 2 of 3

After the quick introduction to Search Funnels reports that we did last time, we are back again to talk in more detail about how Search Funnels interact with your account and give you powerful conversion data. We will also take a quick look at the kind of reports you can generate using search funnels.

How it works
Search Funnels tracks all of the search ad impressions and clicks for users who convert (which may mean a sign-up, a donation etc). For each conversion, your user’s search ad history is ‘stitched together’ to form the basis of Top Paths and other Search Funnels reports.

Things to note
This history currently defaults to 30 days prior to conversion and for now, it isn’t customizable. The data is based on cookies, which means that users who clear cache and cookies will yield artificially short funnels. Because Search Funnels do not cross device boundaries, a user who works on more than one computer/device/browser may appear to have shorter conversion paths.

Working with AdWords Conversion Tracking
Conversion data on Search Funnels differs from AdWords conversions data because in all Search Funnels reports, except for the “Assist Clicks and Impressions” report, the conversion count is based on actual conversion time.

For the “Assist Clicks and Impressions” report, impression time is taken into consideration (the time of the ad impression that was clicked immediately preceding the conversion).

Benefits of Search Funnels
Using Search Funnels reporting helps you set benchmarks for your org's specific goal conversions. The time between a click on your ad until the conversion is achieved on your site may tell you how the user has interacted with your website. You can use this data to create better ads or tailor your website to be more user-friendly and navigable. Search funnel reports also tell you which keywords give you the best converting clicks, help you create awareness for your organization and optimize your search campaigns for better performance. Check out this AdWords Help Center article to determine how your organization's metrics can be tracked with Search Funnels reports.

Other reports
In addition to a Top Conversions report, Search Funnels consist of 7 other reports.

Top Paths: Ads that were shown and/or clicked leading up to a conversion.
Assist Analysis: Performance based on how many assisting clicks and impressions there are for each keyword, ad group, or campaign.
Assisted Conversions: Performance based on how many conversions were assisted by each keyword, ad group, or campaign.
First Click Analysis: Lets you filter conversion reports based on what was first clicked leading to conversion.
Last Click Analysis: Lets you filter conversion reports based on what was last clicked prior to conversion.
Time Lag: How long it took your customers to get to conversion from first seeing your ad.
Path Length: How many ad clicks or impressions it took your customers to get to conversion.



The final post in this series will wrap up with how to put the reports into action for your organization.

Posted by Reema Prasanna, Hyderabad AdWords Team