How to Build a Sales Funnel in WordPress

Are you searching for a tutorial on how to build a sales funnel in WordPress?

A sales funnel is the path that a user takes on your website to become a customer. Optimizing this path can result in increased sales and generate leads.

In this post, we’ll explain what a sales funnel is and how to build a sales funnel in WordPress.

What is a Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is the customers’ journey from their first interaction with your brand to their final purchase. Its major purpose is to turn your leads into buyers, which you may do by encouraging them to go through a series of predefined steps.

The actual steps of your sales funnel may differ slightly based on what you’re selling. However, you can break it down into four stages:

1. Awareness

The first step of the sales funnel is called “awareness” because this is the point at which the consumer becomes aware of your brand. They visit your website for the first time after discovering it through an ad, a Google search, or a social media post.

2. Interest

The next step is Interest, in which individuals seek out more information about your product/brand and its benefits.

3. Desire

The next step is Desire, where you persuade someone to buy something by establishing a connection with them.

4. Action

Finally, there’s the Action step, where the buyer finally buys – if you can make the buying process pleasant enough and perhaps do a little more convincing.

What You’ll Need to Create a Sales Funnel in WordPress

To create a successful WordPress sales funnel, you’ll need:

  • Fast Web Hosting: If you’re creating an online store, it’s a good idea to host it with an eCommerce-friendly provider that can handle unexpected traffic spikes.
  • A Lightweight Theme: According to Google, over 50% of visitors do not wait more than 3 seconds for a website to load. Customers may leave if your pages take too long to load. As a result, choose a fast WordPress theme like Astra.
  • eCommerce plugins: An eCommerce plugin is needed to build a sales funnel. An eCommerce plugin lets you set up your online store’s details, payment gateways, and delivery details. You can use WooCommerce for this.
  • Sales Funnel Builder Plugin: Sales funnel builder plugins help in guiding your customers through the sales process. Therefore, the best option for accelerating your progress is to install a sales funnel builder plugin, like CartFlows.
  • Page builder: Page builder plugins allow you to create WordPress pages with less work and in less time. With the help of page builder plugins, we can easily add a landing page and a thank you page to the sales funnel. The most popular WordPress page builders on the market are Elementor, Divi, and SeedProd.

How to Build a Sales Funnel in WordPress

As we’ve already learned about the tools needed to create a sales funnel, it’s time to learn about how those tools work in WordPress. Let’s look at each step of building a sales funnel in more detail.

Step 1: Set up Your WordPress website

If you already have your WordPress website, you can proceed to Step 2. But if you’re starting from scratch, you must first check out our detailed step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress website.

Step 2: Install Essential Plugins

First, install and activate the WooCommerce plugin if you haven’t already. For more in detail, see our guide on how to install a plugin in WordPress.

WooCommerce Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugin

Upon activation, click on the Run the Setup Wizard button. This will take you inside the setup wizard screen, where you will have to provide details like your location, preferred payment methods, and more.

WooCommerce Setup Wizard

Once the setup is complete, go to Products » Add New and enter the details for the product you want to add to your sales funnel. Repeat this process for any other products you want to sell:

Add New Product

The next plugin you’ll need to install is a Page Builder plugin. Elementor is a popular drag and drop page builder, with over 3 million websites using it. It is completely free and really simple to use. However, Elementor Pro, the paid version, includes additional features that will be very beneficial when creating a flawless WordPress sales funnel. You can, however, use any page builder you like.

Elementor Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builder

Next, you need to install CartFlows, the best WordPress Funnel Builder. It comes with a free version that allows you to build funnel pages and customize the WooCommerce checkout page. However, the CartFlows pro version has multiple checkout styles, add order bumps, click upsells, and down sells, configure the fields and add custom fields, and a cart abandonment feature.

CartFlows

In CartFlows » Settings, select the page builder you are using under General Settings. It has defaulted to Elementor, but CartFlows is also compatible with Divi, Beaver Builder, and Thrive Architect. This defines the templates to display that are compatible with your page builder.

Step 3: Create a Funnel With CartFlows

With everything set up, you can start building your own funnels. To begin, you will need a landing page for your product. This kind of content is created to convert visitors that arrive on your site at the ‘interest’ steps of the sales funnel. They most likely came across one of your email marketing efforts and are now looking for more details.

To create a new funnel or flow, go to CartFlows » Flows » Add New. You’ll be able to choose from the available funnel templates, which you can then customize:

Add New CartFlows

CartFlows will only show templates compatible with the page builder you selected when installing the plugin. Choose the one you like, then click Import to go to the flow editing screen:

Importing CartFlows Template

Note: we’ve chosen a template that includes a landing page, a Checkout page, and a Thank You page for this example. If your template does not include one or more of these pages, you can add one at any time by clicking Add New Step.

Step 4: Create Your Checkout and Thank You pages

On your Flows page, continue with Step 3 to create your Checkout and Thank You pages.

The Checkout page requires one unique step, but it is fairly straightforward.

On your Checkout page, you might see a label that says No Product Assigned in the flow editor:

CartFlows Flows

If you click on Edit, the page will reload, and you’ll see a tab called Product. Under the product section, you will have two buttons: Add New Product and Create Product. Click on Add New Product will open a popup where you can search and link a specific product to this page:

Link Product in CartFlows Checkout

For more about customizing your checkout page, click here.

Your thank you page should serve two purposes: to confirm that customers have completed their transactions and to assure them of your appreciation for their business to build brand loyalty.

You may also want to include another CTA pointing buyers to any following steps, such as your upsell page or social media profiles.

Step 5: Add Upsell / Downsell

Simply click Add New Step to add an upsell or a downsell. You’ll see the templates popup again, where you may select a template for your upsell or downsell.

CartFlows Steps Library

If you add an Upsell or Downsell Step, you’ll notice two links in the Offer Page Settings » Shortcodes corresponding to when the buyer accepts and decline your offer. If the buyer clicks on the Yes button, he will be charged automatically.

Upsell and Downsell in CartFlows

Select the product you want to upsell, the quantity, the discount type, and the discount value in the Select Product Option.

Custom Script allows you to add scripts to your page if you want to include bots, custom pixels, or live chat.

Step 6: Connecting

Once you’ve connected the dots, your pages will be linked. By default, CartFlows directs users through your site in the order specified by Cartflows.

In this post, we’ve shown you how to create a landing page, a checkout page, and a thank you page.

In the flow editor, you can add extra steps and rearrange the order by clicking the Add New Step button.

Conclusion

A sales funnel is a powerful tool for increasing conversions. Whether you offer physical products or not, this is a must-have strategy for any online business.

Fortunately, CartFlows makes it simple to create one.

You Can Also Check: