Path exploration is one of the types of Exploration in Google Analytics 4 that helps to understand user behaviour on your website and app. Specifically, path exploration allows you to explore your user journey similar to a tree map.
This technique provides insights on important things such as:
- discover the top pages that users visit after the home page
- determine the type of actions users take after opening the home page
- observe looping behaviour which shows a pattern where users get stuck
- ascertain the effects of a particular event on users’s actions
1. Click “Explore” on the left.
2. Select “Path Exploration”
3. Choose the type of data to utilize as a starting point for your investigation:
- Choose a dimension from the STARTING POINT list on the right, or drag one from the Tab Settings > NODE TYPE list and put it in the STARTING POINT.
- You may now choose between Event name and Screen name node types. For a more detailed description of the stages and nodes, see How path exploration works below.
- Determine the dimension’s value.
Now you have a new path exploration. The starting point you chose is on the left. STEP +1 is to the right, and it displays the top 5 screens or events that your users saw or triggered after that starting point.
What can you do in Path Exploration?
1. See your users’ next steps
Click a data point in the graph to discover the following steps your users made. (In a path investigation, data points are referred to as nodes.)
To expand a node and add a new step, click it. To collapse the node, click it once more. Nodes that look grey cannot be enlarged because they are at the end of the user’s path.
The graph defaults to showing the top 5 nodes in each step. To add up to 20 nodes each step, click + More. Beyond the top 20, nodes are aggregated into a “Others” node.
2. See your users’ previous steps
Path exploration by default displays your users’ activities as they progress from a single event or page. Backwards pathing allows you to pick a certain event or page and see how your users arrived there. You may choose an event, such as a purchase or conversion, and look at the many pathways your customers take to get there, then utilise that information to enhance the user experience.
To create a path of previous steps:
- Click Start Over in the top right corner.
- To choose the node that marks the end of the path, click in the ENDING POINT box.
- To choose the node that marks the end of the path, click in the ENDING POINT box.
The rest of the path can then be configured in the same way as a forward path.
How does Path Exploration work?
1. Starting / Ending point
The screen or event that starts the path you wish to explore is the starting point. In the visualisation, it is the leftmost column.
Start an ecommerce path with a page that gives options for several shoe categories (e.g., men’s, women’s, sporty, etc.).
The screen or event that marks the conclusion of the path you want to explore is the finishing point. In the diagram, it is the rightmost column.
A path exploration can only have one starting point and one finishing point.
2. Steps
The graph’s columns are called steps. The acts of seeing a screen or initiating an event are represented by each step after the starting point or before the finishing point.
For example, after visiting the footwear product page beginning point, STEP +1 is the collection of screens seen or events triggered by your shoe customers.
3. Nodes
The number of users or events at that point in the path is represented by nodes, which are data points inside steps.
The number of consumers that opened that page, or the number of events that were triggered from that page, is represented by the Men’s Shoes node in STEP +1, for example.
The dimension values you’ll see in each phase of the graph are denoted by the node type. When you establish a new path exploration, you provide the node type for the beginning point. Using the menu above the step, you may change the node type for that step.
Path
A path is a set of nodes that occur in a certain order over one or more steps and within a given time frame.
Conclusion
Path exploration is similar to a behaviour flow analysis feature that is available in the Universal Analytics tool. In path exploration, you have more control of ways that you would like to explore your data. For example, you are able to do an ad hoc exploration of multiple paths vs single path exploration. Another advantage of path exploration is that you are able to observe the paths taken by users using both page and screen views and events. This provides you with a more comprehensive flow that the user has taken on your web apps. Have fund with path exploration to understand your users better!
