How to add multiple landing pages/homepages to the first step of the funnel?
We have few landing pages and few homepages (a/b tests) that users start purchase process on. Now I would like to create funnel visualization and I need to add all these pages (each with different URL) as first step of the funnel. How to do this?
The short answer is:
You can create a unified first step by defining a single event or a virtual pageview that encompasses all your different starting URLs.
This is typically done in Google Tag Manager (GTM) by setting up a trigger condition that includes all the A/B test landing pages and homepages.
Instead of using the page URL as the first step in your funnel visualization, you would use this new custom event name or virtual pageview name.
The long answer is:
To combine multiple URLs into a single funnel step, you’ll need to use Google Tag Manager to fire a custom event or a virtual pageview when any of those starting pages load.
Inside GTM, you’d create a single trigger that uses a Regular Expression (RegEx) or multiple “or” conditions to match all the URLs for your A/B test pages.
For example, the condition would be “Page Path matches RegEx” with a pattern like homepage_a|homepage_b|landingpage_1|landingpage_2
Then, you’d create a Google Analytics tag (either Universal Analytics event or Google Analytics 4 (GA4 event)) that fires with this trigger, sending a consistent event name, like first_step_of_funnel
Your funnel visualization will then use this event name as the first step, unifying all your starting pages.
Using the Google Analytics Data API, Looker Studio API, GTM, and a service like Stape or Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers an excellent and cheap solution for advanced funnel analysis, especially when the default funnel visualizations in Google Analytics are too restrictive or you need to manage complex, dynamic data.
GTM is a free, powerful tool that is essential for collecting and modifying the data stream before it hits Google Analytics; it’s how you create that unifying first_step_of_funnel
The Google Analytics Data API allows you to programmatically pull raw, high-fidelity data from Google Analytics 4, including the custom events you create.
Looker Studio is a free data visualization tool, and its API lets you automate report creation and embed them elsewhere.
By combining GTM for data collection, the Data API for flexible data retrieval, and Looker Studio for custom visualization, you bypass the limitations of the standard Google Analytics interface.
Stape is a server-side tagging solution (or you can use GCP directly) that offers cheap and reliable event processing.
This setup lets you create more resilient, flexible, and accurate funnels by ensuring better data quality and allowing you to calculate complex metrics outside of the Google Analytics interface, which is particularly cost-effective compared to many enterprise-level analytics platforms.
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