GoHighLevel Walkthrough Guide

🚀 1. Getting Started — Sign Up & Free Trial

GHL gives you a 30-day free trial — no card needed upfront.

1. Go to gohighlevel.com and hit the "Start Free Trial" button
2. Enter your business name, email, and set a password
3. The setup wizard asks you a few questions — pick your scenario, don't sweat these, you can change everything later
4. Click through the onboarding wizard, skip the onboarding call credit prompt, and you're in

Once you're past onboarding, set up your agency/account branding — company name, logo, timezone, phone number (Twilio/VoIP), and email sending (Google Workspace, Outlook, or custom SMTP).

🖥️ 2. Dashboard — Your Launchpad

The dashboard is what you see first every time you log in. Split into:

• Top bar — Profile, account switcher, settings
• Main nav (left sidebar) — Your command centre
• Dashboard widgets — Tasks, appointments, recent activity, Google Analytics/Ads data

👥 3. Contacts — The Heart of Your CRM

Contacts are the foundation. Every email, call, deal, and automation connects back here.

Adding Contacts Manually

1. Click Contacts in the left sidebar
2. Hit Create Contact (top right)
3. Fill in name, email, phone — everything else is optional
4. Click Save

Bulk Import (CSV)

1. Click Contacts → Import → Import via File
2. Upload your CSV — GHL maps fields automatically
3. Fix any unlinked fields manually
4. Review duplicates and confirm

Custom Fields

1. Go to Contacts → Custom Fields (top right)
2. Click Add Custom Field
3. Pick the field type — text, number, date, dropdown, multi-select, Yes/No
4. Name it and choose visibility (private vs visible to contact)

Managing Contacts

Each contact record shows you: their timeline (every interaction), their details + custom fields, their deals (attached opportunities), and their conversations (SMS, email, chat history).

Pro tip: Use Filters to segment contacts by tags, custom fields, pipeline stage, date added — then create lists or run campaigns against those segments.

📊 4. Pipelines & Opportunities — Your Deal CRM

Pipelines track where each deal is. A visual board of your sales process.

Creating a Pipeline

1. Go to Opportunities → Gear icon → Create Pipeline
2. Name it (e.g. "Sales Pipeline")
3. Add stages — New Lead → Contacted → Qualified → Proposal → Closed Won/Lost
4. You can have multiple pipelines for different business lines

Adding Opportunities

1. Go to Opportunities tab
2. Click Add Opportunity
3. Select a contact, set the pipeline and stage, add deal value

Kanban Board View

Drag and drop opportunities between stages. Each card shows contact name, deal value, tags, and last activity. The dashboard populates with your pipeline data automatically.

📧 5. Email Campaigns

Setting Up Email Sending

1. Go to Settings → Branding → Email Accounts
2. Connect Gmail/Outlook/SMTP
3. Verify domain (SPF, DKIM records)

Creating a Campaign

1. Go to Campaigns → Email → Create Campaign
2. Choose a trigger (contact added, tag applied, date-based)
3. Build your email sequence
4. Use Trigger Links to track clicks — they create events when someone clicks
5. Use Snippets for reusable content

Trigger Links: When someone clicks a link, GHL can trigger an action — move to a different stage, send a follow-up, apply a tag.

Snippets: Save common email blocks as snippets. Create once, reuse everywhere. Change it once and it updates everywhere.

📅 6. Calendar & Scheduling

Replace Calendly with GHL's built-in scheduling.

1. Go to Calendar → Create Link
2. Set meeting name, duration, available time slots, buffer time
3. GHL gives you a scheduling link — send it to clients
4. When someone books, it auto-creates an event + contact

Team setup: Add team members under Settings → My Staff, assign them to scheduling links.

💬 7. Conversations Inbox

Unified inbox for email, SMS, live chat, and Facebook messages. All in one place.

• Status: Read/replied/waiting
• Assign: Assign conversations to team members
• Snippets & Trigger Links work here too
• Every message logs against the contact timeline

Pro tip: Reply to SMS and live chat from the same inbox. No more tab-hopping.

🤖 8. Conversation AI

GHL's AI-powered messaging assistant. Set it up in Conversations → Conversation AI.

1. Create an AI agent
2. Set its personality and business context
3. Configure what data it has access to (products, FAQs, etc.)
4. The AI handles initial outreach and common questions
5. It escalates to a human when it can't handle the query

Use case: Initial lead qualification — the AI asks qualifying questions, books meetings, and only hands off warm leads to your team.

⚙️ 9. Workflows & Automation

This is where GHL gets really powerful. Workflows let you automate almost anything.

Creating a Workflow

1. Go to Workflows → Create Workflow
2. Set a Trigger — contact created, tag added, form filled, pipeline stage changed, date-based
3. Add Steps — send email/SMS, update contact, add tag, conditional branching
4. Save and activate

Example Automation

Workflow AI

GHL has a "Build with AI" button. You describe what you want in plain English and GHL builds the workflow for you.

🔧 10. Funnel Builder

Funnels are landing pages designed to convert visitors into leads or customers.

1. Go to Sites → Funnels → Create Funnel
2. Pick a template (or start from scratch)
3. Drag-and-drop builder — add sections, images, forms
4. Set up Steps — each page in your funnel flow
5. Assign a product from your store at each funnel step
6. Publish — get a GHL-hosted URL

🌐 11. Website Builder & Blog

1. Go to Sites → Website → Create Site
2. Pick a template or start blank
3. Drag-and-drop elements (text, images, forms, video)
4. Save and Publish

Blog Tool

1. Click Create Blog Site
2. Set title, domain/slug, description
3. GHL handles the hosting
4. Write and publish posts from the dashboard

Chat widget: Enable from Settings → Chat Widget.

📋 12. Surveys & Forms

1. Go to Automation → Surveys & Forms
2. Click Create Form or Create Survey
3. Add fields — name, email, phone, custom questions
4. Set Notifications — get email when someone fills it
5. Configure Actions — what happens after submission?

🛒 13. Ecommerce Store

1. Go to Sites → Store
2. Add products — name, description, price, images
3. Set tax category, variants, discount pricing
4. Configure checkout and payment settings
5. Publish your store — one-time purchases or subscriptions

👥 14. Community Builder

Build private groups where customers connect, ask questions, and share progress.

1. Go to Sites → Community → Create a Community
2. Set name, description, and privacy settings
3. Invite members or let them join via link
4. Post content, moderate discussions, track engagement

📚 15. Membership Courses

1. Go to Sites → Memberships → Create Course
2. Add modules and lessons
3. Set up Offers — pricing, access duration, payment plans
4. Enable completion tracking
5. Issue Certificates

All content delivered through the Client Portal — a branded login area where customers access courses, communities, and their purchases.

⭐ 16. Reviews & Reputation

1. Go to Reputation → Review Requests
2. Configure when and how to ask for reviews (SMS, email)
3. Set which directory (Google, Facebook, Yelp)
4. GHL sends the request automatically
5. Review responses come back to your dashboard

Triggers: Connect review requests to workflows — when a deal closes, auto-send a review request.

🏁 Wrapping Up

GHL is deep. Here's the priority order for a beginner:

1. ✅ Set up your account — branding, email, phone
2. ✅ Import/Add contacts — your CRM is worthless without data
3. ✅ Create a pipeline — track deals from lead to close
4. ✅ Build one workflow — automate a single repetitive task
5. ✅ Create a scheduling link — get meetings booked without back-and-forth
6. ✅ Run an email campaign — get your first message out

Master these six things, then explore funnels, communities, courses, and AI features as you grow.