Analyzing Content Engagement with Google Analytics 4 Funnels (2025 Edition)

Are you struggling to see what visitors are reading on your site? Understanding how users interact with your content is key to growth. This is why Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers an efficient solution: funnel analysis for content engagement.

Unlike old metrics like bounce rate, GA4 funnels map the user journey on your site. They show you where readers stay and where they leave. In this guide, I will explain how to set up, analyze, and implement GA4 funnels to boost your content’s performance.

What are GA4 Funnels?

Content engagement GA4 funnels are a visual report of your users’ paths. They track the steps people take on your site, from entry point to conversions, and visualize it accordingly.

Content Engagement GA4 Funnels Show You

• Step-by-step user flow: You can define steps for the funnel representation.
• Drop-off points: Quickly see where users lose interest in your content.
• Conversion rates per step: Understand what percentage of readers engage deeper or take action.
• Comparison of user segments: Track new vs returning visitors, organic vs paid traffic.

Think of them as a roadmap of user behavior. You define key steps, like viewing a blog post or signing up for a newsletter. GA4 then shows how many users complete each step and where they drop off.

How Content Engagement GA4 Funnels Differ from Universal Analytics

Universal Analytics used session-based data. Thankfully, Google introduced the newest GA4, which includes event-driven tracking. This is a fundamental shift.

In Universal Analytics, funnels were rigid and often limited to goals like checkouts. GA4 funnels are flexible and user-centric. They track individuals across devices and platforms. This gives you a clearer, more complete picture for analyzing content engagement.

Key Features of GA4 Funnels

GA4 funnels come with features built for analyzing content engagement. Let’s explore some of the key features of GA4 funnels: 

• Flexible Funnel Steps: You are not locked into a strict path. Create steps based on any event or page view.
• User Journey Tracking: See how individual users move through your content over time, not just in a single session.
• Deep Integration with GA4 Explore: Build custom, detailed funnel reports without sampling.

GA4 helps marketers and organizations understand what their audience does after visiting the site. This ensures they make proactive decisions and align their goals.    

How to Set Up GA4 Funnels for Content Engagement ( Step-by-Step)

To create your custom content engagement GA4 funnels, I have made sure this section provides a detailed GA4 explore funnel steps guide for you to understand and implement effectively. 

Let’s begin analyzing content engagement.

Step 1: Access Explore

In your GA4 property, click Explore in the left-hand menu.

Step 2: Create a New Funnel

Select the Funnel exploration option. 

You can select dimensions such as event name, gender, and country.

Then you can also select the segments for your funnel, which are the subsets of users/events for analysis.

Segments help you understand who to target and how they behave.

Together, these options let you refine your funnels and audiences: 

• Use dimensions to break down what/where/how.
• Use segments to compare groups for the retargeting strategy.

Step 3: Create Steps for your Funnel

Click the pencil icon next to the steps to begin creating your funnel steps. 

Now, let’s create our first step. In this step, I am adding the event Page_view.

Secondly, add the parameters as follows: 

Great! Let’s move on to the next step, which is Scroll Depth.

For the scroll event, we will create multiple similar steps to measure various scrolled percentages by the user, ensuring the funnel contains comprehensive data on scrolled percentages for their content.

To make it easier, click the three dots on the step and copy it.  

This way, you can add the percent_scrolled to 50, 7,5, and 90 to cover all types of audiences on your content engagement funnel. 

After creating all the steps as shown above, click on the Apply button to start making your funnel.

GA4 will generate a visualization of your GA4 funnel analysis for engagement, showing conversion rates and drop-off points.

Turn On Google Signals

Google signals enhance privacy-first cookies and enable cross-sharing of the audience list you have created. To turn this setting on, here are the steps to follow:

 Step 1: Go to Admin

Step 2: Navigate to Data Collection

Step 3: Turn on Google Signals

And there you go. In short, content engagement funnels provide you: 

• Audiences: Personalize exactly who to retarget.
• Funnels: where users are dropped off.
• Dimensions/Segments: How to Analyze and Refine.

Understanding Open vs Closed Funnels Content Analysis

Now that you have learned how to create content engagement funnels in GA4, this section will explore the differences between open and closed funnels for content engagement. 

Choosing the right funnel type is crucial for accurate content engagement analysis and to make informed data-driven decisions about your site. Let’s learn about open vs. closed funnels now:

What is a Closed Funnel?

A closed funnel requires users to follow your predefined path exactly. They must start at Step 1 and move to Step 2 in order.

Use Case: Tracking a specific content flow. For example, a user must:

1. Land on your main guide.
2. Then click a particular link to a tool.
3. Then click the “Download” button.

This is perfect for measuring a precise journey.

What is an Open Funnel?

An open funnel allows users to enter or exit at any step. It is far more flexible for analyzing general content engagement.

Use Case: Tracking broad content consumption. For example, you can see:

• How many users scrolled deeply on any blog post (Step 2) without having to specify which one (Step 1)?
• How users naturally move between various blog posts and video pages.

For most content engagement tracking, open funnels provide more valuable, holistic insights.

Key Metrics in GA4 Funnel Engagement Analysis

Once you have created the content engagement GA4 funnels and they are running smoothly for your site’s data, it is time to track some necessary GA4 funnel engagement metrics.

Let’s go through some of these critical GA4 funnel engagement metrics:

• Conversions: The number of users who complete all steps. This could be a signup, download, or purchase that you’ve defined as the final step.
• Drop-Off Rates: This shows the percentage of users who abandon the journey at each step. A high drop-off after a blog post view but before a scroll suggests the headline might be misleading.
• Scroll Depth: Combining scroll tracking as a funnel step is a game-changer. It tells you if users are actually consuming your content.

The Role of Engagement Rate and User Retention

GA4 funnel analysis is not possible without data and proper tracking. You have to make the meaning out of your funnel data with core GA4 metrics:

• Engaged Sessions: How many sessions lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or had multiple pageviews?
• Engagement Rate: The percentage of engaged sessions on your site. A high engagement rate with a funnel drop-off might indicate a site-wide issue.
• User Retention: Do users who complete your funnel come back? This helps measure long-term content value.

GA4 Funnel Visualization and Reporting with Analytify

Join 50,000+ beginners & professionals who use Analytify to simplify their Google Analytics!

Manually building funnels in GA4 Explore can be technical and time-consuming. Analytify simplifies this process.

Analytify’s GA4 integration brings powerful funnel visualization directly into your WordPress dashboard. You don’t need to switch between tabs or remember complex GA4 interfaces.

Automated Report Generation

GA4 funnel metrics can be overwhelming to track due to their complex user interface and numerous metrics. This is where Analytify eases your frustration and ensures smooth funnel tracking methods. You don’t even have to switch sites.

Analytify offers automated report generation, which can be scheduled based on the timeline you choose!

All you need to do is set up your GA4 funnel for content consumption within Analytify. The plugin will then automatically track and display your key engagement metrics in easy-to-understand graphs and tables right inside WordPress.

Creating WordPress Content Engagement Reports

With Analytify, you can create detailed content engagement reports without code.

1. Navigate to Analytify’s dashboard in your WordPress admin.
2. The overview dashboard has all the basic metrics you would want to track for your content engagement funnel in GA4.

3. Export the report to PDF.

This seamless integration makes analyzing content engagement available to every WordPress site owner, not just data analysts.

FAQs About Analyzing Content Engagement

Final Thoughts

Analyzing content engagement with GA4 funnels is no longer a luxury but is now a necessity for data-driven bloggers. Moving beyond simple pageview counts to understand the user journey provides the insights you need to reduce bounce rates and drive conversions.

By combining GA4’s funnel analysis with the best analytics tool, such as Analytify, you can transform raw data into an actionable strategy. You can see exactly which content keeps users engaged and which causes them to leave.

That’s all for this post. For more related posts, check out:

• Open Funnel vs Closed Funnel in Google Analytics 4
• 10+ Crucial Ecommerce Metrics to Track in GA4 (2025)

What are you waiting for? Start today by setting up a simple open funnel. Track a few key steps, such as pageviews and scroll depth. You might be surprised by what you learn about your audience’s behavior.