How to Create a Sales Funnel in Divi That Actually Converts

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of building with Divi, let's get grounded in strategy. A sales funnel, at its core, is just a structured path that guides a potential customer from "Who are you?" to "Take my money!" It breaks the journey down into four classic stages: Awareness, Interest, Desire, and finally, Action.

This isn't just marketing theory; it's a practical roadmap for turning casual visitors into paying customers.

Why a Documented Sales Funnel Changes Everything

So many businesses just… hope. They build a nice website, publish a few blog posts, and hope people will magically find their way to the checkout page. But hope isn't a strategy that pays the bills.

A documented sales funnel is your blueprint for predictable growth. It transforms random website traffic into a reliable revenue machine. You stop guessing and start measuring.

When you have a clear map of the customer journey, you can instantly spot the leaks. Where are people dropping off? Is the landing page failing to connect? Are your emails getting ignored? A documented funnel makes these problems painfully obvious, which is the first step to fixing them.

Mapping the Customer Journey

Let's translate this from abstract concept to real-world application. The classic funnel stages map directly to digital touchpoints you can build right now with Divi.

Imagine a local bakery wanting to sell seats for a new cake decorating workshop. Here’s how their funnel might look:

• Awareness: They start by running a targeted Facebook ad showing off a gorgeous, professionally decorated cake. The ad links to a blog post: "5 Common Cake Decorating Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)." This is the top of the funnel—casting a wide net to attract anyone with a sweet tooth and a creative spark.
• Interest: Embedded within that helpful blog post is an offer for a free PDF download: "The Ultimate Frosting Recipe Checklist." To get it, visitors pop in their email address. Just like that, they've gone from a casual reader to an engaged lead.
• Desire: Now the real magic begins. Over the next week, the bakery's email system automatically sends out a sequence of helpful messages. One shares a quick video tip, another features glowing testimonials from past students, and a third gives a sneak peek into the workshop curriculum. This builds trust and makes the workshop feel like an unmissable event.
• Action: The final email delivers the punch: a special early-bird discount for the workshop. It links directly to a dedicated landing page—built in Divi, of course—where they can sign up and pay.

This flow systematically moves people from curiosity to commitment.

By guiding users through these distinct phases, you're not just selling; you're building the trust required for them to feel great about their purchase. If you want to go deeper on this, check out our full guide on https://divimode.com/content-marketing-funnel-stages/.

This summary table shows how these funnel stages connect directly to the tools we'll be using in this guide.

Mapping Funnel Stages to Divi Tools

Funnel Stage	Objective	Key Divi Tool	Example Action
Awareness	Attract new visitors	Divi Builder (Blog/Landing Page)	Create a high-value blog post that answers a common question in your niche.
Interest	Capture leads	Popups for Divi / Divi Areas Pro	Offer a free lead magnet (e.g., PDF checklist) in an exit-intent popup.
Desire	Nurture & build trust	Divi Builder + Email Integration	Create a dedicated landing page with testimonials, videos, and detailed benefits.
Action	Convert to customer	Divi + WooCommerce Optimization	Build a frictionless checkout page and trigger a limited-time offer with a fly-in.

This table provides a high-level overview, but as we go through the steps, you'll see just how powerful this combination of strategy and tooling can be.

The Tangible Impact on Growth

This isn't just busywork; it has a direct, measurable impact on your bottom line. Companies that take the time to document and optimize their funnels see dramatically better results.

Think about it: businesses with a structured funnel generate 2.3× more ROI and see average deal sizes that are 102% higher than those flying blind. To see this in action, it's worth exploring some practical digital sales funnel examples from different industries.

A well-structured funnel ensures you're delivering the right message to the right person at exactly the right time, maximizing the value of every single visitor.

This methodical approach is what turns your marketing from a hopeful expense into a predictable, revenue-generating machine.

Building Your High-Converting Landing Page in Divi

This is where the rubber meets the road. Your landing page is where the abstract idea of a funnel becomes a real, interactive experience for your visitor. It's the first real point of commitment. Get this right, and you’ve got yourself a new lead. Get it wrong, and they’re gone—probably for good.

The whole point of a landing page in a sales funnel is to have a singular focus. Forget your homepage with its dozens of links and distractions. Your landing page has one job and one job only: to get that visitor to take one specific action.

Using the Divi Builder, you can create a completely distraction-free environment that steers the user’s attention exactly where you need it to go. That means stripping out the main navigation, the footer, and any sidebars. The user has two choices: convert or leave. It's that simple.

Crafting a Headline That Connects

Your headline is the first thing a visitor reads. According to seasoned copywriters, it's responsible for a whopping 80% of the page's success. It has to immediately answer the visitor's unspoken question: "What's in it for me?"

Steer clear of vague, feature-focused headlines. Instead, zero in on the transformation or the big benefit your lead magnet delivers.

• Weak Headline: "Download Our Marketing PDF"
• Strong Headline: "Unlock 5 Simple Tweaks to Double Your Website Traffic in 30 Days"

See the difference? The second headline works because it’s specific, it promises a real result, and it sparks curiosity. It sells the outcome, not the file format.

Writing Copy That Sells the Benefit

Once the headline has grabbed their attention, the body copy needs to hold it. Here’s a hard truth: people don't care about the features of your lead magnet. They only care about how those features are going to solve their problems. Always, always frame your copy around the benefits.

For instance, instead of saying your guide has "10 comprehensive checklists," tell them it provides "a step-by-step system to eliminate guesswork and launch your campaign with confidence." Using bullet points is a great way to make these benefits easy to scan and digest, helping visitors quickly confirm they're in the right place. For a deeper dive, you can learn more about how to build high-converting landing pages and see these principles in action.

The Psychology of an Irresistible Lead Magnet

Think of your lead magnet as an ethical bribe you offer in exchange for an email address. Its perceived value absolutely must be higher than the visitor's hesitation to hand over their contact info.

A truly great lead magnet solves a specific problem with a specific solution for a specific audience.

Here are a few high-performing lead magnet ideas that just plain work:

• Checklists: Simple, actionable, and super easy for people to consume.
• Templates: A huge time-saver that gives the user a proven framework.
• Video Workshops: These carry a higher perceived value and help you build a stronger connection right off the bat.
• Discount Codes: Especially effective for e-commerce funnels to drive immediate action.

Remember, the best lead magnets offer a "quick win." They should deliver immediate value that the user can apply right away. This builds trust and positions you as an authority from the very first interaction.

Designing a Simple and Effective Opt-In Form

The final piece of the puzzle is the opt-in form itself. Divi’s native Email Optin module is perfect for this. The key is to keep it as simple as humanly possible.

Every single field you add creates friction and will chip away at your conversion rates. For a top-of-funnel offer, all you really need is an email address. You might ask for a first name if personalization is a big part of your email strategy, but seriously, avoid asking for anything more.

Pro Tip: Make your call-to-action (CTA) button reinforce the benefit. Ditch generic words like "Submit" or "Download." Instead, use action-oriented text like "Get My Free Checklist!" or "Send Me the Video!" This small tweak keeps the user focused on the value they're about to receive.

Finally, don't forget to place some social proof right next to your opt-in form. A simple testimonial, a line like "Join 5,000+ other marketers," or logos of companies you've worked with can give you a major credibility boost at that critical moment of decision. It’s all about reassuring visitors that they’re making a smart choice.

Using Smart Popups to Capture More Leads

Your high-converting landing page is a fantastic start, but what about all the visitors who aren't quite ready to commit? The hard truth is that most people will browse, read, and then leave without a trace. This is where intelligent popups become your secret weapon for plugging those leaks.

I’m not talking about those obnoxious, generic popups that blast you the second you land on a page. Modern, effective popups are contextual, helpful, and triggered by what a user actually does on your site. They’re a crucial tool for capturing leads you would otherwise lose forever.

With a tool like Divi Areas Pro, you can build these kinds of smart interactions that feel like a natural part of the user's journey, not an interruption.

Moving Beyond Generic Triggers

The real power of a smart popup is all in the timing and relevance. Instead of just interrupting someone, the goal is to engage them at the perfect moment. Divi Areas Pro gives you a whole suite of advanced triggers to make that happen.

Here are a few scenarios where this approach really shines:

• Exit-Intent Offers: A user adds a product to their cart but then moves their cursor to close the tab. Divi Areas Pro can detect this exit-intent and trigger a popup offering a last-minute 10% discount to save the sale.
• Scroll-Depth Engagement: Someone is deep into a long blog post. Once they've scrolled 70% of the way down, a subtle fly-in can appear with a related checklist or case study, capturing the interest of your most engaged readers.
• Time-Delayed Assistance: A visitor is lingering on your pricing page for over 60 seconds, probably weighing their options. A popup can trigger, offering to connect them with live chat to answer their questions, breaking through that critical moment of hesitation.

These triggers transform popups from annoying roadblocks into valuable, timely interventions. You can see a full range of what's possible in the ultimate guide to Popups for Divi.

Creating Hyper-Targeted Campaigns with Display Rules

Triggers are only half of the equation. The other half is making sure the right message gets to the right person. This is where the display rules in Divi Areas Pro truly change the game, letting you create hyper-specific campaigns that resonate with different audience segments.

Imagine you're running a paid ad campaign on Facebook. You can create a specific popup that only shows up for users who click through from that specific ad. This lets you match the popup's offer and copy to the ad they just saw, creating a seamless, consistent experience.

By combining smart triggers with precise display rules, you're no longer just showing a generic popup. You're essentially having a one-on-one conversation with a user based on their behavior and where they came from.

This is a powerful way to level up your sales funnel. You could show one offer to first-time visitors and a completely different one to returning customers—maybe a "Beginner's Guide" for new users and a "Pro-level Webinar" invitation for those who have visited your site multiple times.

Setting Up a Rule Combination in Divi Areas Pro

Let's walk through a real-world example. Say you want to capture leads from your blog, but only from new visitors who are clearly engaged with the content.

Your rule combination in Divi Areas Pro might look something like this:

1. Trigger: On Scroll-Depth, set to 75%.
2. Display Condition 1: Post Type is "Post". (This makes sure it only shows up on your blog articles).
3. Display Condition 2: User is "New Visitor".
4. Display Condition 3: Device is "Desktop". (You could then create a separate, simpler version for mobile).

This specific setup creates a popup that feels earned, not intrusive. A new visitor has proven they're interested by reading three-quarters of your article, making them a perfect candidate for your lead magnet.

This level of targeting is what directly improves your conversion rates. For many industries, a good visitor-to-lead conversion rate is somewhere between 2% and 5%. By using hyper-targeted popups, you're directly influencing this top-of-funnel metric, pushing your performance toward the higher end of that range and feeding more qualified leads into your funnel.

Connecting Your Funnel to Email and E-Commerce

Let's be honest, a sales funnel with a disconnected backend is like a beautiful storefront with a locked door. All the time you've spent crafting perfect landing pages and smart popups doesn't mean much if the leads you capture just fall into a technical void. This is where the magic really happens—connecting the front end of your funnel to the systems that actually nurture leads and process sales.

Without that connection, there's no smooth handoff from initial interest to final purchase. You're just asking for lost leads, frustrated customers, and money left on the table. Thankfully, plugging your Divi-built elements into your email and e-commerce platforms is a totally code-free process.

Automating Lead Magnet Delivery

The moment someone subscribes through one of your popups or opt-in forms is a moment of peak engagement. They want their freebie, and they want it now. Trying to manually email a PDF checklist or a video link just isn't scalable, and the delay can kill all that hard-won momentum.

This is where your email service provider (ESP) like Mailchimp or ConvertKit becomes your funnel's best friend. The goal is to set up a simple automated email that delivers the goods instantly.

Most modern ESPs make this incredibly easy:

1. Create an Automation: In your email platform, you'll start a new automated workflow or sequence.
2. Set the Trigger: The trigger is simple: "When a subscriber is added to a specific list"—the one you've hooked up to your Divi form.
3. Build the Email: Write a quick welcome email with the download link to your lead magnet. Keep it short, sweet, and focused on delivering the value you promised.

This single automated step turns your funnel from a static page into a living, breathing system. It builds immediate trust and kicks off the entire nurturing process on the right foot.

Your first automated email is the most important one you'll ever send. An impressive 50% of welcome emails are opened, giving you an unparalleled opportunity to make a strong first impression and begin building a real relationship.

This kind of instant gratification is absolutely key to keeping your new lead engaged and ready for whatever you send them next. It's the first step in a much longer conversation.

Optimizing Your WooCommerce Checkout

If you're running an e-commerce store, the checkout page is often the funnel's biggest leak. This is where a visitor's commitment is at its highest, but it's also where the smallest bit of friction can completely derail a sale. Cart abandonment is a huge deal for online retailers, with some studies showing rates as high as 70%.

This is where a tool like Divi Areas Pro can be a game-changer with a powerful strategy: the cart abandonment popup.

Picture this: a customer has filled their cart, entered their shipping details, but then they pause on the payment page. Their cursor drifts up towards the back button or the 'X' to close the tab. Divi Areas Pro's exit-intent trigger can spot this exact behavior and instantly flash a targeted popup.

But this isn't some generic "Please Don't Go!" message. It's a strategic move to save the sale. It could offer:

• A last-minute 10% discount coupon code.
• A friendly reminder about your free shipping policy.
• An offer to save their cart so they can come back later.

This one simple, automated action can be the difference between a lost sale and a new loyal customer. By tackling their hesitation in real-time, you create a smoother experience that gently nudges them over the finish line.

To really get the most out of your funnel's connections, it's worth exploring what is marketing automation and how it can streamline your email sequences and customer journeys. Hooking these systems together is what lets you build a truly seamless experience, from the very first click to the final purchase and beyond.

How to Measure and Optimize Your Divi Funnel

Getting your sales funnel live is a huge accomplishment, but let's be real—that’s just the starting line. The real money isn't made by building a "perfect" funnel from day one. It’s made by launching a good funnel and then obsessively tweaking it until it becomes great.

This is where the real work begins. We’re moving past the build phase and into measurement and optimization. This process turns your funnel from a simple set of pages into a smart, self-improving system that actually prints money.

Don't let the word "analytics" scare you. You only need to track a handful of key numbers to understand exactly how people are moving through your funnel—and where they're dropping off. This is how you stop guessing and start making decisions based on cold, hard data.

Pinpointing Key Funnel Metrics

To make any real improvements, you have to know your numbers. Drowning in data is useless, but focusing on a few core metrics for each stage of your funnel will tell you everything you need to know about its health.

• Top of Funnel (Awareness/Interest): The one metric that matters most here is your Landing Page Conversion Rate. This is the percentage of visitors who actually sign up for your lead magnet. Think of it as the main gate to your entire funnel; if people aren't getting through, nothing else matters.
• Middle of Funnel (Desire): Once someone is on your email list, your attention shifts. Now, you need to obsess over Email Open Rate and Click-Through Rate (CTR). These two numbers tell you if your subject lines are grabbing attention and if your email copy is persuasive enough to get them to the next step.
• Bottom of Funnel (Action): This is where the sale happens. The metrics to watch are your Sales Page Conversion Rate and Average Order Value (AOV). If you’re running an e-commerce funnel, you absolutely have to keep a close eye on your Cart Abandonment Rate, too.

Tracking these numbers isn't just about record-keeping; it's about finding the leaks in your funnel. A low landing page conversion rate tells you the offer or the headline is wrong. A high open rate but a pathetic CTR means your email content is falling flat. Each metric points to a specific problem you can fix.

Leveraging Divi's Built-In Split Testing

Once you've spotted a weak point, Divi's built-in Split Testing feature becomes your secret weapon. It’s a powerful A/B testing tool baked right into the Divi Builder, so you don't need any clunky third-party tools. It lets you test different versions of a page element to see which one performs best.

A/B testing is the engine of optimization. It’s the scientific method applied to marketing, allowing you to make data-driven decisions that systematically improve your results over time.

For instance, if that landing page just isn't converting, you could run a few split tests to experiment with things like:

• Different Headlines: Pit a benefit-focused headline against one that asks a provocative question.
• Button Colors: Does a bright green "Download Now" button really beat a blue one? You'd be surprised.
• Page Layouts: Test your current single-column layout against a two-column design with a big, juicy image.

Divi handles all the heavy lifting in the background, showing each variation to a segment of your traffic and telling you which one gets more signups. It completely removes the guesswork from the equation.

Refining Triggers with Divi Areas Pro Data

Optimization isn't just for landing pages. The popups and fly-ins you’ve built with Divi Areas Pro are a goldmine of actionable data. Dive into the analytics and see which triggers and display rules are actually driving results.

You might find that your exit-intent popup on the WooCommerce checkout page is saving 15% of abandoned carts. Or maybe you'll discover that a scroll-triggered offer on your blog posts converts three times better than a simple time-delayed popup.

This data is pure gold. It shows you what to double down on and what to kill.

By systematically measuring, testing, and refining every single piece of your funnel, you create a system that doesn't just work—it evolves. It gets smarter and more profitable with every visitor. In fact, these kinds of ongoing improvements can boost your revenue operations performance by 15%–25%. According to research on how funnel analysis drives ROI on sparkco.ai, this makes continuous optimization one of the highest-return activities you can possibly do for your business.

A/B testing is the core of funnel optimization. It helps you swap out guesswork for data-backed decisions. Here's a practical breakdown of what to track at each stage and some simple A/B tests you can run directly in Divi to see immediate improvements.

Key Funnel Metrics and How to Improve Them

Funnel Stage	Metric to Track	Measurement Tool	A/B Testing Idea in Divi
Top of Funnel	Landing Page Conversion Rate	Google Analytics Goals, Email Provider Stats	Test your headline. Try a question vs. a bold statement.
Top of Funnel	Popup/Fly-In Conversion Rate	Divi Areas Pro Stats, Email Provider	Test the call-to-action button text: "Get It Now" vs. "Download Free."
Middle of Funnel	Email Click-Through Rate (CTR)	Your Email Marketing Tool	Not in Divi, but test email subject lines and content CTA links.
Bottom of Funnel	Sales Page Conversion Rate	Google Analytics Goals, WooCommerce	Split-test your sales page video thumbnail or main product image.
Bottom of Funnel	Cart Abandonment Rate	WooCommerce Analytics, CartFlows	Test a single-step checkout vs. a multi-step checkout layout.
Bottom of Funnel	Average Order Value (AOV)	WooCommerce Analytics	Test different order bumps or upsell offers on the checkout page.

Treat this table as your starting roadmap. Pick one metric that looks weak, run a test for a week or two, and see what the data tells you. Then, implement the winner and move on to the next weak link. This iterative process is the secret to building a truly high-performing sales funnel.

Common Sales Funnel Questions

As you move from theory to actually building your funnel, you're bound to hit a few roadblocks. It's the practical, real-world questions that often trip people up, so let's get some of the most common ones out of the way right now.

Getting these fundamentals straight will give you the confidence to build a funnel on a solid strategic foundation, not just a guess.

How Many Steps Should My Sales Funnel Have?

Honestly, there’s no magic number. Anyone who tells you there's a "perfect" number of steps is probably trying to sell you something. The right answer depends entirely on the price and complexity of what you're offering.

The real key is matching your funnel's length to the amount of trust you need to build with a potential customer.

For a simple, low-cost offer like an ebook or a Divi layout pack, a short 2-3 step funnel usually does the trick. That could look like:

1. Landing Page: A straightforward opt-in for your lead magnet.
2. Checkout Page: An immediate, low-ticket offer.
3. Thank You Page: Confirms the purchase and tells them what's next.

But for a high-ticket service—think coaching programs or complex software—you'll need more touchpoints to earn that trust. That funnel might involve a webinar registration, a multi-day email sequence, a detailed case study, and a final booking page. It's a longer journey because it's a bigger decision.

The golden rule is this: Your funnel should have just enough steps to guide a user to a confident "yes" without adding unnecessary friction. Always start simpler and only add more steps when your data tells you it's needed.

Overcomplicating a simple offer is the fastest way I've seen to tank conversion rates. Get the minimum viable funnel live and let your analytics guide you from there.

Can I Build a Sales Funnel Without Paid Ads?

Absolutely. While paid ads are a fantastic way to get traffic flowing fast and test your offers, they are far from essential. You can build a wildly profitable sales funnel running entirely on organic traffic. In my experience, these organic leads often become more loyal customers in the long run.

Think of traffic sources as the fuel and your funnel as the engine. The engine’s design stays the same; you’re just swapping out the type of fuel you put in.

Here are a few powerful ways to fill the top of your funnel organically:

• SEO-Optimized Content: Writing helpful blog posts (like this one!) that rank for keywords your ideal customer is searching for.
• Social Media: Building a genuine community on platforms where your audience actually spends their time.
• Your Email List: Your existing subscribers are your single most valuable asset for launching a new funnel.
• Collaborations: Partnering with others in your niche for joint webinars, guest posts, or shout-outs.

Sure, an organic strategy might take a bit longer to build momentum. But the leads you get are often higher quality because they found you based on your expertise, not an ad that interrupted their scrolling.

What Are the Most Common Funnel Building Mistakes?

Building your first funnel is a learning process, and a few common mistakes trip up almost everyone. Knowing what they are from the start can save you a world of time, money, and frustration.

The single biggest mistake I see is a lack of focus on each page. People get tempted to cram multiple calls-to-action onto a single landing page. Don't do it. Each step in your funnel must have one clear, singular goal.

Another critical error is treating your lead magnet like an afterthought. Your freebie must solve a real, specific problem for your ideal customer. A generic, low-value offer will cripple your funnel right out of the gate.

Finally, the most damaging mistake is the "set it and forget it" mindset. Your funnel is a dynamic system, not a static webpage. Failing to connect your opt-in forms to an automated email sequence for lead nurturing is leaving a massive amount of money on the table. Your funnel needs constant monitoring, testing, and optimization to truly perform.

---

Ready to build a smarter, more engaging sales funnel? With Divimode, you can create intelligent popups, targeted offers, and seamless user experiences right inside the Divi Builder. Empower your website today by visiting https://divimode.com and discover what our powerful plugins can do for you.