Stop Guessing What to Optimize: Map the User Journey

Welcome to the first Conversion Loop! I’m Ryan with Akamaize, and today we’re diving deep into user journey mapping—more specifically, website flow mapping, which is a big part of the larger user journey universe. Ever wondered why your conversion rates aren’t climbing as much as you want, no matter how much traffic you get or how fancy your design is? You’re not alone. There’s a fundamental piece that too many teams are missing: understanding and mapping the actual path your users take.

In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through why user journey mapping matters, how website flow mapping fits in, how to do it right, and how to use this practice to stop guessing what to optimize and start making data-backed improvements. This is packed with friendly advice, plenty of real-world examples, actionable how-tos, and—most importantly—tactics you can implement today, even if you’re not a “data person.” Let’s jump right in!

My slides from the webinar:

Pitch Presentation

https://app.pitch.com

Why Map the User Journey?

Let’s start with the million-dollar question: Why bother mapping the user journey at all?

I get this a lot as a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) specialist. Recently, a tweet from my friend Gaitano Denori (a killer growth marketer) sparked a whole conversation:

“Why don’t B2B buyers convert directly on SEO pages? Because they aren’t ready yet. Most conversions don’t happen on upper funnel content but later on—like the homepage or demo request page.”

Let’s break that down. People don’t magically land on your blog and whip out their credit cards. They travel through a series of pages, getting closer and closer to the big “yes.” Especially in B2B or SaaS businesses, the decision journey is rarely a straight line. And with the rise of AI and ultra-savvy users—especially those who are overwhelmed by endless top-of-funnel content—mapping the real journey is more important than ever.

Pro Tip: Stop measuring just one conversion rate. If you don’t know how users really move across your site, you’ll spend all your effort on the wrong pieces.

Companies Tracking Only One Conversion Rate Are Missing Out

You wouldn’t drive across the country with only a vague sense of north and south, right? In the same way, tracking just a single “conversion rate” (like “visited homepage ➡️ purchased”) is a recipe for wasted time and missed insight. Most businesses should have 20 or more conversion rates, figuring out the steps between “just browsing” and “take my money.”

Website Flow Mapping vs. User Journey Mapping

Not all mappings are created equal, and it’s important to know what each type gives you.

User Journey Mapping

• Big picture: Covers every touchpoint, both on and off your website.
• Often includes offline steps (phone calls, in-person sales meetings, etc).
• Gets into emotions, service blueprints, back-end processes, and more.

Website Flow Mapping

• Narrower: Deals only with your website pages (or groups of content).
• Simple: Focuses on what happens on your site, which pages users should see, which buttons they’re clicking, and where they’re dropping off.

For this blog post, we’re talking about website flow mapping. It’s meant to help you get fast insights and spot conversion bottlenecks on your own turf, even before you dig through analytics!

Start with the User: Become Your Own Customer

Here’s where a lot of marketers skip an essential step.

“When starting a new project—be it a new business, new job, or new client—become a customer.”

Before you get lost in internal lingo, before you know every pixel on your site, walk through the entire experience as a new user. Visit your site, try to sign up, ask for a quote, download a resource. Do it just like a first-time visitor would.

Why?

Because you’ll never get that “innocence” back and you need that perspective to spot friction and confusion. Otherwise, you’re optimizing for imaginary users, not real ones.

Put on your “user-centric colored glasses.” See through the eyes of your audience. In the AI era, where content and journeys are ever-more personalized, developing true empathy (not just sympathy!) is the foundation of smart marketing.

Tools for Mapping Website Flow

You don’t need any fancy software—but there are some great tools out there.

The Essentials:

• Whiteboarding tool: Digital or physical (Miro is my favorite, LucidChart works, plain old pen and paper is just fine too).
• Spreadsheet: For organizing at a high level or cross-linking metrics later.
• Squares & Arrows: Keep it simple. Don’t overthink it.

Popular Tools:

• Miro
• Lucidchart
• Google Drawings
• Physical whiteboards
• Notebooks or sticky notes

The point: Visualize. Humans are visual creatures; you’ll spot flow problems way faster when you can see them.

How To: The Website Flow Mapping Process

Let’s break this down step by step.

1. Don’t Start in Analytics

This is crucial. Turn off GA4 for now. You want to map what you think the website journey should be—not how it currently looks in your analytics. Analytics comes later.

2. Focus on Page Purpose (Not Traffic)

Each page on your site should have one clear purpose.

• Homepage: Acts as a directory. Its main job isn’t to convert but to move users somewhere more specific.
• Blog: For education, not hard conversions.
• Pricing: For those ready to dig deeper or compare.
• How it Works: To show your differentiation and build confidence.
• Contact or Sign Up: Clear conversion step.

The “POD” Model: Purpose, Offer, Details

Quick cheat code for mapping any page:

• Purpose: Why does this page exist? What should it accomplish?
• Offer: What is it nudging the user to do?
• Details: Content, design, calls-to-action—how is the offer presented?

Stick to one page, one purpose. If the page was designed as a directory (like your homepage), don’t overload it with multiple conversion-focused CTAs.

3. Draw Your Flow

How to actually map:

• Make squares for each key page type or group (Homepage, How It Works, Pricing, etc.)
• Connect with arrows for the most likely paths users should take.
• Don’t worry about edge cases at this stage. Simplicity is the goal.

Here’s a classic SaaS example:

• Homepage → How It Works
• How It Works → Pricing
• Pricing → Contact/Schedule Demo
• Plus splinters: Service pages, Integrations, FAQs

E-commerce flows, by contrast, might be even more direct (Homepage → Category → Product → Cart).

4. Identify Real Landing Pages

Now—peek at your analytics once. Find your top landing pages (not always the homepage; could be ads, blogs, or a custom landing page). Start your map from there. Then, close analytics again.

• Map what you want the path to be from that landing page.
• Note: Many users land on your homepage after hearing about you on a podcast, LinkedIn, etc.

Blending Empathy with Analytics

Human intuition first, data second.

You’ve mapped the “ideal” flow. Now, use analytics to:

• See if reality matches your expectations
• Understand where drop-offs truly happen
• Find which paths lead to your best conversion rates

Don’t fall into the trap of data for data’s sake. Your map is only valuable when it helps you ask better questions.

“Website measurement is a conversation the user is having with your website. The problem is most companies aren’t listening.”

Practical Funnel Examples (with Images!)

Basic SaaS Funnel Example

• Homepage (“Who are you? What do you do?”)
• Arrow to How It Works (“Okay, how does it work? Is it for me?”)
• How It Works
• Arrow to Pricing (“What’s this going to cost me?”)
• Pricing
• Arrow to Contact/Demo or Sign Up (“Let’s talk. Or I’m ready—let’s do this!”)

Real-World Example Paths

• Homepage → How It Works → Pricing → Contact
• Homepage → Service Pages → Integrations → Contact
• Ads Landing Page → How It Works → Pricing → Contact

💡 At scale, these paths turn into “website spaghetti.” If you peek inside Google Analytics flow reports, you’ll see hundreds of unique user journeys. That’s normal! The goal isn’t to micromanage every possible path, but to control the key ones and see where people are leaking out.

Why Not Just One Funnel?

Because users don’t move in a straight line. Even e-commerce journeys aren’t truly linear anymore. Think of your journey map in loops instead of classic “funnel” steps.

• People jump back and forth
• They repeat steps
• They pause and return
• They split into different micro-audiences (new vs. existing customers, etc.)

“Don’t get caught up that ‘they didn’t go through the funnel, so this mapping isn’t useful.’ The exercise itself is useful for catching conversion bottlenecks and seeing your experience through the user’s eyes.”

From Mapping to Measurement: Creating Conversion Rates

The real power comes once you combine mapping with numbers. Here’s how:

1. Top Down: Put Numbers Above Your Steps

• Once your map is done, now pull analytics back in.
• For each step—say, Homepage → How It Works → Pricing—review what % of users move from one step to the next.

How to Do It

• In GA4 or your analytics tool, build sequential segments (not just “visited X page,” but “visited X AND THEN Y, AND THEN Z”).
• For every main path, calculate:
• Landing Page ➡️ Step 2
• Step 2 ➡️ Step 3
• Step 3 ➡️ Conversion

2. How Many Conversion Rates?

This is where teams go wrong. They want a giant “conversion rate for the whole funnel.” That’s nearly useless for diagnosing problems. Instead, you want lots of conversion rates, for each meaningful journey.

• Homepage → How It Works = X%
• How It Works → Pricing = Y%
• Pricing → Contact = Z%

In our example, that could be 5, 10, even 20+ rates—depending on how deep or broad your map is!

Blockquote Example:

“Which conversion rates matter? All of them. Every step between key pages is a chance to diagnose and improve.”

3. Don’t Go Too Deep

If your flow has 9+ steps, break it up into smaller funnels (3–4 steps each). You’ll get clearer insights and less messy data.

What to Optimize & Where to Focus

Now that you have your map and your metrics, ask: Where is the flow leaking?

• Is your homepage sending enough people deeper?
• Do most users abandon on “How It Works”?
• Are you losing people on Pricing, before they ever see Contact or Demo?

You’ll spot the problems instantly.

Example:

Let’s say your numbers are:

• Homepage → How It Works: 40%
• How It Works → Pricing: 88%
• Pricing → Contact: 60%

You now know: Getting more users from homepage to How It Works is your hot spot for testing and tweaks.

Real-World Example: Analyzing a Signup Flow

Let’s walk through a real-life form signup process.

Imagine a complex signup form divided into 8 steps (multi-step forms are common in SaaS and lead gen).

Funnel Steps

1. Landing/View Step 1 (Form intro)
2. Start Form (Clicked in first field)
3. Step 2
4. Step 3
5. Step 4
6. Step 5 (Open field questions—hardest part)
7. Step 6
8. Thank You Page

Where Are Users Dropping?

• Big drop after page 1: About 33% never actually start the form after landing.
• Another drop at step 5: About 20% fall off at the open field section.

All other steps: only small (5% or less) drop-off.

What Might Help?

• Change the first question to be easier (get momentum)
• Add benefits or progress bar so users know what’s coming (“Only 5 more steps to go!”)
• Split big hard sections into smaller bites (without overdoing total length)
• Inject social proof, testimonials, or reassurance (“Over 5,000 happy clients!”)
• Use exit popups: “What stopped you from finishing?” Gather feedback to refine further.

Blockquote Example:

“Analytics isn’t the final answer. It’s your starting point for building the right hypotheses and where to run your next test.”

Are You Confident In What Needs Optimizing?

If you’re like most teams, the answer is “not really.” Many try to dive straight into A/B testing before doing this basic mapping exercise—and have no clue where to start.

Here’s the CRO trap:

1. Company wants to “optimize the conversion rate.”
2. They don’t have journey flows set up in analytics.
3. No idea where visitors are actually dropping off.
4. Run random A/B tests without a map.
5. Get random results (and jump to the next “big idea”).

You can’t optimize what you haven’t defined or measured!

Action Items & Next Steps

Ready to map your website flow, measure, and optimize with confidence? Here’s the playbook:

1. Map Your Website Flow

• Use Miro, LucidChart, sticky notes—whatever works.
• Map key page groups (homepage, product, pricing, contact, etc.)
• Draw primary and secondary paths.

2. Set Up Events for All Steps

• In Google Tag Manager or your favorite analytics tool, create events for each major page or interaction.
• Ideally, build out sequential events, not just “visited a page,” but “moved in order.”

3. Measure Conversion Rates In-Between

• Use Google Analytics 4, Looker Studio, or your tool of choice.
• For each step, report:
• Number of users who could have taken the step
• Number who actually did
• % conversion for that specific stage

4. Spot Where the Funnel Is Leaking

• Highest drop-off? Start there.
• High-converting paths? Dig into what’s working and see if it can be replicated.

5. Go Beyond “Bottom Funnel” Goals

• Most sites only track completed purchases, trial signups, or form fills.
• Track aware goals (viewed “How It Works”), consideration goals (viewed pricing, added to cart), and transaction goals.
• Get the context that leads to the big conversions.

6. Form Hypotheses and Test

• Use analytics as a starting point.
• Mix it with direct feedback (surveys, exit intents, interviews).
• Test tweaks where users get stuck.

7. Iterate & Revisit

• Remap at least quarterly.
• Watch for new paths appearing!
• Rinse and repeat.

Final Thoughts

“You don’t need to be a data analyst or SQL wizard to make smarter optimization decisions. Just start by mapping your flow, setting up the right events, and listening to the conversation your users are having with your website.”

Mapping your user’s journey is not just another exercise. It’s your best tool for ending the guesswork in conversion optimization. With a simple flow map, a few key metrics, and a bias for taking the user’s view, you’ll see clearly what to fix next, not just what might be fun to test.

So give it a try! Map your website today, set up tracking on each stage, and start measuring real pathways instead of squinting at disconnected numbers. Your conversion rates—and your users—will thank you.

Want even more practical walkthroughs like this? Subscribe to the Conversion Loop newsletter, drop a comment with your questions, or let’s connect on LinkedIn!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I need to map every possible journey?

Nope! Focus on primary pathways and top entry points (home, key landing pages, main nav flows). Expand later as you get comfortable.

2. What if my analytics isn’t set up yet?

Start simple. Map your ideal flow first. Then, deploy basic event tracking (pageviews, CTA clicks). As you grow, make it more advanced.

3. How often should I repeat this exercise?

Quarterly is a good goal—or anytime you redesign, launch major new content, or see big behavior changes.

4. Do I need to hire a CRO specialist?

Not necessarily. With a map, good questions, and honest measurement, any marketer or product manager can do this!

Useful Resources

• Miro: Free Flowcharts
• How to Setup Funnels in Google Analytics 4
• User Journey Mapping Templates
• Looker Studio for Funnel Visualization

Thanks for reading! Now go map out your journey, stop guessing, and start turning more visitors into happy, long-term customers 🚀

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