How is required funnel traffic calculated?

Divide target conversions by the product of all stage rates. For 400 conversions at 50%, 40%, and 25% it is 8,000 sessions.

How much traffic am I losing to the funnel?

The difference between required traffic and target conversions. At 5% end-to-end throughput, 8,000 sessions produce 400 conversions — 7,600 are lost along the way.

Which stage should I fix first?

Usually the weakest, since it caps everything downstream. Because rates multiply, an early gain recovers sessions across every later stage too.

Is fixing the funnel better than buying traffic?

Almost always. A stage improvement benefits every future visitor permanently, while purchased traffic must be bought again each period.

Calculator · 110

Funnel Traffic Loss Calculator

Price what funnel leakage costs in traffic — and decide which stage to fix before buying more sessions.

Target conversions

count

Stage 1 rate

Stage 2 rate

Stage 3 rate

Traffic required

—

Average

Scenario lens Current · Benchmark · Optimized

Leverage

Formula

Required traffic = Target conversions / (Stage 1 × Stage 2 × Stage 3)

Understanding funnel traffic loss

Reference material — the calculator above stays the primary tool.

What this measures

This prices funnel leakage in traffic: the sessions a three-stage funnel demands to deliver a conversion target, given the rate at which users survive each stage. The gap between that requirement and the target itself is what leakage costs you.

Because stage rates multiply, losses compound — a funnel at 50%, 40%, and 25% passes just 5% end to end, so every conversion costs twenty sessions.

How to read your result

The headline is the traffic required at current stage rates, and the leverage line shows how many of those sessions are lost in the funnel. The scenario lens then prices what repairing the first stage recovers.

Lower required traffic is better — it means less of what you buy is wasted.

How leakage compounds

Three multiplied stages shrink throughput sharply. Treat these as orientation.

Context	Typical median
50% × 40% × 25%	5% end-to-end
65% × 40% × 25%	6.5% end-to-end
65% × 55% × 25%	8.9% end-to-end
Each leak	Multiplies, never adds

Levers that recover traffic

Fix the weakest stage first — it constrains everything downstream and returns the most traffic per point gained. Because rates multiply, a modest gain early recovers sessions across the whole funnel. Model a stage improvement as a scenario above.

Loss in context

Read this alongside funnel drop-off and funnel traffic, which the related tools cover. Drop-off tells you where the leak is; this tool tells you what that leak costs in sessions you must otherwise buy.