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What pages does a simple funnel actually need?

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Short answer

A simple funnel needs two pages. systeme.io's Build an Audience type gives you an opt-in page and a thank you page. Its Sell type gives you an order form and a thank you page.

The four starting points

Funnels are made under Sites, then Sales funnels, then Create.

Creating a funnel asks for a name, a domain and a currency, then offers four types.

The Create funnel box in systeme.io, with its four funnel goals highlighted.
Build an audience, Sell, Custom, and Run an evergreen webinar. One of them has to be picked before the Save button at the foot of the box turns on.
TypePages you getWhat it is for
Build an AudienceOpt-in page, thank you pageGrowing an email list
SellOrder form, thank you pageTaking payment
CustomNone, a blank canvasAny structure you build yourself
Run an evergreen webinarThree pagesSelling through a recorded webinar

The webinar type is only available on the Webinar and Unlimited plans.

So the answer is two

A page that asks for something, and a page that confirms it happened. Everything past those two is a choice.

The Custom type gives you nothing at all, which is the right pick only when you already know the shape you want.

Pick the right thank you page

There are two of them and they are not interchangeable. Opt-in thank you page, under the Opt-in category, is for after somebody subscribes or registers. Thank you page, under the Sales category, is for after a purchase, and it is the one that can display an order summary.

On a funnel that takes money, pick the sales version.

Both live in the same place. Click Add step in the left-hand menu of the funnel, and the popup lists page types under category headings. A thank you page appears under both, but not under the same name: the Sales one is called Thank you page and the Opt-in one is called Opt-in thank you page.

The Type list in the systeme.io Create funnel step box, with the Thank you page and Opt-in thank you page entries highlighted.
Thank you page sits with Upsell and Downsell, and Opt-in thank you page sits under the Opt-in heading. The second carries Opt-in in its name, so they are not the same page listed twice.

What to add later, not now

Any funnel takes a new page at any time through Add step in that same left-hand menu. The type you picked at the start locks nothing in.

  • An order bump, once the order form is converting.
  • An upsell, once there is something worth offering next.
  • A sales page in front of the order form, when the offer needs explaining before the price.

Start with the two pages the preset hands you. A funnel with four half-finished pages sells less than one with two that work.

Those two pages, built and working, are what the lead magnet funnel guide covers step by step.

How I checked this answer

Nothing on this site is written from memory. These are the sources I checked to write this answer, and the date I checked them.

Checked on

From my own use

My first funnels had the right pages but the wrong layout. I did not have the important elements above the fold, where a visitor sees them without scrolling.

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