FareHarbor booking flow: GA4 events and booking funnel

To enhance your insight into your users’ behavior within the FareHarbor booking flow, we’ve implemented some GA4 events to seamlessly track each stage of the booking journey. Each event tracks a stage of the booking journey within the corresponding FareHarbor Lightframe page.
 

The following GA4 events trigger when users visit the corresponding pages:

• view_item_grid: Corresponds with the browse activities page.
• view_search_by_date: Corresponds with the search by date page.
• view_calendar: Corresponds with the all items calendar page.
• view_calendar_single_item: Corresponds to the calendar view for a single item.
• view_item_description: Corresponds to the item description page. This page in the online booking process provides a description of the item.
• view_book_form: Corresponds to the booking form where users select customer type and quantity.
• add_to_cart: Captures when users add a product to their shopping cart (available only with the shopping cart feature enabled on your FareHarbor Dashboard).
• purchase: Triggers when users complete a purchase and the booking confirmation page appears.

Note: Each event tracks a stage of the booking journey within the corresponding FareHarbor booking flow page. These events trigger when users visit the corresponding pages.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers the Explore workspace, a powerful toolset for visualizing user journeys. Within Explore, you can construct funnels to analyze the buying behavior of your users interacting with the FareHarbor booking flow.

The booking flow behavior refers to the sequential actions users take within the FareHarbor flow, resulting in a purchase.

By leveraging the FareHarbor events implemented in GA4, this funnel allows for a granular understanding of user engagement at each stage of the booking process. This facilitates the identification of potential drop-off points where users abandon the journey.

This approach empowers data-driven decision-making, enabling you to optimize the FareHarbor booking flow experience and ultimately improve conversion rates.

Steps to create the booking funnel in Google Analytics 4

The selection of the appropriate event depends on the specific sequence of steps defined within your website’s booking flow configuration. For example, if the initial action after clicking the Book Now button leads to the item description page, the first event you should utilize is view_item_description. Conversely, if the first step presents a calendar view encompassing all available items, the view_calendar event is the most suitable choice.

It is crucial to align event selection with the specific steps present in your website’s booking flow, following this process until reaching the Complete booking button within the booking flow. Not all events will be applicable to every business. For example, if the Cart functionality is not enabled, then the add_to_cart event is not necessary.

Note: As stated before, the checkout process is different for every website, so you will have to set up the funnel steps specific to your website.

To create a booking funnel in GA4:

1. Go to the Explore workspace of your Google Analytics 4 property.
2. Click on the Blank report.
3. Select the technique Funnel Exploration from the right panel.
4. From the left panel, name your report and change the date range.
5. From the right panel, click on Steps. This is the funnel creation tool. Here, you will follow the steps from your website’s FareHarbor booking flow:
   1. Name Step 1 (This is the initial page opening within the booking flow triggered by a call to action on your website.)
   2. Click on add new condition > Events.
   3. Select the event matching your booking flow’s first page.
   4. Click on Add step and repeat for each of your booking flow pages until Purchase (The last step in the funnel must be the Purchase event).
   5. Click Apply from the top right.
6. Once you have created your booking funnel, you can break it down into different dimensions such as Device category, Channel group, Source/Medium, or Segments.
   1. Click on the + next to Dimensions or Segments in the left panel to Import/Create the dimension or segment.
   2. Drag the dimension to the right panel under Breakdown and drag the segment under segment comparisons.
       
7. Toggle on Make Open Funnel from the right panel for an open funnel.
   1. Open Funnel: allows user entries to be tracked at any stage within the funnel, regardless of their initial entry point. This provides insights into user behavior across all potential entry points and can be helpful for identifying drop-off points throughout the journey.
   2. Closed Funnel: strictly tracks users who enter the funnel from the very first step. Users who enter mid-funnel will not be included in the analysis. This approach is useful when you want to analyze the completion rate for users who follow the intended booking flow from the beginning.

Note: In scenarios where your website’s booking flow utilizes more than one configuration, you can construct multiple booking funnels to capture the distinct user journeys. This situation might arise if, for example, one button triggers a flow opening with the search_by_date event, while another button leads to an initial “view_item_description” event.

Build funnels for individual items or booking flows to analyze user behavior at a more granular level. This helps you understand how customers engage with a specific item or flow.

Before You Begin

Create custom dimensions for item_id, item_name, and flow_node_id. These dimensions will allow you to filter your funnel and access the granular data needed for deeper analysis.

Repeat the below process for item_id, item_name and flow_node_id separately:

1. Go to Admin and click on Custom definitions under Data display.
2. Click Create custom dimension.
3. Under Dimension name, add item_id.
4. In Scope, keep Event.
5. Under Event Parameter, select item_id.
6. Click Save.
7. Repeat the process for item_name and flow_node_id.

Note: Data may take up to 24 hours to populate. Please wait before creating your funnels.

Create a funnel for a specific booking flow

Create a funnel for a specific booking flow when it includes multiple items, rather than just one. FareHarbor entry pages that are especially useful to narrow down by booking flow include:

• View item grid
• Search by date
• View calendar

To create a funnel for a specific booking flow with multiple items:

1. Go to your funnel steps.
2. On Step 1, click +Add parameter next to your event.
3. Click Custom and select flow_node_id.
4. From the Condition dropdown, select exactly match (=) and add your booking flow id and click Apply.
5. Click Apply in the top right corner.

Note: If your booking flow is complex (for example: multiple layers of item grid pages) and you want to create multiple funnels within the same booking flow, add the flow_node_id parameter to subsequent steps.

Create a funnel for a specific item

Create a funnel for a specific item when the flow pages contain only one item. FareHarbor entry pages that typically include a single item are:

• View calendar single item
• View item description
• View bookform

To create a funnel for a specific item:

1. Go to your funnel steps.
2. On Step 1, click +Add parameter next to your event.
3. Click Custom and select item_id or item_name.
4. From the Condition dropdown, select exactly match (=) and add your item id or item name and Apply.
5. Click Apply in the top right corner.

Note: When filtering by parameters such as item_name, item_id, or flow_node_id, you need to keep your funnel closed. If you click on make funnel open, GA4 will not correctly pull data beyond Step 1.

Understanding User Behavior in your FareHarbor booking flow with Booking Funnels

Booking funnels offer a powerful tool to visualize and analyze the user journey through your booking process. By tracking user behavior at each stage, you can gain valuable insights into conversion rates, identify areas for improvement, and ultimately optimize your booking flow for increased success.

Types of Booking Funnels

The two primary funnel configurations provide different perspectives on user behavior:

• Closed Funnel: This approach provides a focused view of users who initiated the booking process from the very beginning. Users entering mid-funnel are excluded, allowing you to analyze the completion rate for those following the intended booking flow. This is ideal for evaluating the effectiveness of your booking flow configuration and the overall flow designed to convert those leads into bookings.
  • Key Metrics: The first step displays the total number of users entering the funnel. Subsequent steps highlight the number of users at this step and the abandonment rate, which represents the number and percentage of users exiting at each step. This data pinpoints specific areas where users might be encountering difficulties or losing interest.

• Open Funnel: This configuration offers a broader perspective by tracking user entry at any stage within the funnel. This approach provides valuable insights into user behavior across all potential entry points, including those who may have navigated to a later stage in the booking process organically. Analyzing an open funnel helps identify important entry points and drop-off points throughout the entire user journey, not just from one single booking flow configuration.
  • Key Metrics: When hovering over the chart, you’ll see “New Funnel Entries” and “Continuing Funnel Entries.” These metrics reveal where users are entering the funnel most frequently. This data can help you understand where to focus your efforts for optimizing entry points and guiding users towards successful completion of the booking process.

Diagnosing Booking Funnel Drop-Off: A User-Centric Approach

Understanding why users abandon your booking flow is crucial for optimizing the conversion process. Here’s a two-pronged approach to identify and address potential issues:

Examine your FareHarbor Booking Flow:

• Clarity and Navigation: Evaluate the flow’s overall clarity. Are the steps logical and easy to follow, or might users find it confusing (eg: does your booking flow page configuration make sense or should you reorder it?). Is the navigation intuitive, or could it be improved to guide users seamlessly through the process?
• Segmentation: Assess whether the booking flow is segmented appropriately. Consider if there are opportunities to streamline it for different user types or booking scenarios.
• Information Availability: Ensure all necessary information is readily available within the booking flow itself. Users shouldn’t need to leave the FareHarbor booking flow to search other parts of your website for crucial details.
• Form Design: Analyze the booking form’s length and complexity. Is it excessively lengthy or filled with unnecessary custom fields that might intimidate users? Streamline the form to capture essential information while minimizing user effort.

Leveraging Funnel Visualization Reports:

• Beyond Conversion Rate: Funnel visualization goes beyond a simple website conversion rate. By meticulously tracking every step in the booking process, you can pinpoint specific areas where users are dropping off.
• Usability Insights: This granular data helps identify potential usability issues. For instance, you might discover a confusing step, a poorly written content or description, or a lack of clarity in instructions. Addressing these issues can significantly improve conversion rates.
• Optimization Opportunities: Understanding drop-off points unveils opportunities to optimize your booking flow. By strategically refining the user experience at each stage, you can significantly increase the number of users successfully completing the booking process.

Common Reasons for Drop-Off on your website beyond your booking flow

On your website, consider these additional factors that can cause users to abandon your website and funnels at different stages (This is if you have built funnels starting from your webpage):

Top of the Funnel (if your funnel start on your website not in the Lightframe):

• Targeting Mismatch: Are you targeting the right audience with your marketing efforts? Irrelevant messaging won’t resonate with potential customers.
• Broken Expectations: Does the content of your ads accurately reflect the content and experience on your landing page? Mismatched expectations can lead to drop-off.

Middle of the Funnel:

• Distraction Overload: Ensure your website and booking flow has a clear and singular goal – to complete the booking. Minimize distractions and unnecessary options that could divert user attention from completing the task.
• Unqualified Leads: Are unqualified leads progressing through the funnel? Consider implementing lead qualification strategies to ensure you’re attracting users genuinely interested in your offering.
• Premature Sales Pitch: Focus on educating potential customers about who you are, what you offer and how you are different from the competition before launching into a sales pitch. Build trust and provide value before asking for the conversion.

Bottom of the Funnel:

• Checkout Complexity: Streamline your booking process to be clear, concise, and user-friendly. Avoid any unnecessary details that could lead to confusion or abandonment (for example: custom field overload)

By following these steps and addressing potential drop-off points, you can optimize your booking funnel for a smoother user experience and significantly increase conversion rates.