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GA4 Path Exploration
June 8, 2025
Ever feel like you’re flying blind with your website? You see people arriving, and you see some of them converting, but the bit in the middle – the actual journey they take – is a complete mystery. It’s a common frustration, isn’t it? You’ve got all this data, but it’s not telling you the full story. What if you could shine a light on those user paths and see exactly how people navigate your site?
Well, that’s where Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Path Exploration comes in. This nifty tool is a game-changer for anyone serious about understanding their audience. Forget abstract numbers; we’re talking about visualising the real, sometimes messy, paths people take. It’s like having a map of your users’ footprints, showing you where they go, where they get stuck, and where they find what they need.
In this guide, we’re going to walk through how you can use the Path Exploration report to get some serious lightbulb moments and make genuinely impactful changes to your website.
Table of Contents
The value of Path Exploration?
At its core, the Path Exploration report in GA4 lets you see the sequence of pages users visit and the events they trigger on your site. Think of it as a flow chart of user behaviour. But here’s the clever bit that makes it so much more insightful than older analytics tools: you can start from the end.
The “Ending Point” Hack
This is where things get really interesting. Instead of just looking at where users start, you can pick a crucial endpoint, like a ‘purchase’ confirmation or a ‘form submitted’ thank you page, and work backwards. It’s a bit like being a detective, retracing the steps that led to a specific outcome.
Let’s imagine you run an e-commerce store. You could set your endpoint as the ‘purchase’ event. The report would then show you the most common paths people took right before they bought something. You might see the standard journey: view product -> add to cart -> begin checkout -> add shipping info -> add payment info -> purchase. No surprises there.
But what if you see something unexpected? Perhaps a significant number of users clicked on the “About Us” page just before completing their purchase. That’s a fascinating insight, right? It could suggest that your brand story and trust signals are playing a bigger role in conversions than you thought. Maybe it’s time to make that content more prominent.
By starting at the end, you’re not just looking at random user journeys; you’re focusing on the paths that lead to success. This helps you understand what’s working so you can do more of it.
Charting the Course from the Beginning
Of course, the traditional approach of starting from the beginning is still incredibly useful. You can select a starting point, like the homepage, and see where people venture off to.
Let’s say you see a large chunk of visitors going from the homepage straight to the search bar.
On one hand, it’s great they’re engaged. On the other, it could be a red flag. Are they using search because they can’t find what they’re looking for in your main navigation or on the homepage itself?
Perhaps those flashy carousel banners aren’t hitting the mark. This is the kind of question that leads to real optimisation.
You might also spot users bouncing back and forth between pages. For instance, they go from a main category page (e.g., ‘Apparel’) to a specific product, and then right back to the category page. This could indicate that the product pages aren’t providing enough information, forcing users to go back and browse for other options.
Adding Layers for Deeper Insights
A single path is one thing, but what if you could filter these journeys for different types of users? That’s where segments and breakdowns come in handy.
You can overlay segments to see how different audiences behave. For example, how does the journey of a user from the UK compare to one from the US? Do they look at different products? Do they get stuck in different places?
You can also add a breakdown by device category. You might discover that the mobile user journey is drastically different from the desktop one. Perhaps mobile users struggle to get through the checkout process, pointing to a clunky mobile interface that needs a redesign. By layering these dimensions, you move from general observations to specific, actionable insights.
Turning Insights into Action
The whole point of this analysis is to find out what’s working and what isn’t, so you can make informed changes. The Path Exploration report is your treasure map for uncovering friction points and opportunities.
Here’s a quick rundown of what to look for:
- Unexpected Loops: Are users going back and forth between the same two pages? This often signals confusion or missing information.
- High Drop-off Points: Where in the journey are you losing the most people? These are your critical areas for improvement.
- Unintended Paths: Are users taking a long, convoluted route to a key page? Maybe you need to make that page easier to find.
- Popular but Hidden Content: Sometimes a path will reveal a blog post or page that is surprisingly popular but buried deep in your site structure. It might be time to bring it into the spotlight.
By identifying these patterns, you can form hypotheses and start testing changes. Maybe you need to rewrite a product description, redesign a form, or simplify your navigation. The beauty of GA4 is that you can then track the impact of these changes on user behaviour over time.
It’s Your Turn to Explore
The GA4 Path Exploration report is more than just another analytics tool; it’s a window into the minds of your users. It helps you move beyond assumptions and base your decisions on actual behaviour. It empowers you to create a better, smoother, and more effective user experience.
So, go on, jump into your GA4 account and start exploring. Pick a key conversion event and work backwards. See where your homepage visitors go next. You might be surprised by what you find.
What are the most interesting user journeys you’ve uncovered? Share your discoveries in the comments below – let’s learn from each other!
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Author
Hello, I'm Kyle Rushton McGregor!
I’m an experienced GA4 Specialist with a demonstrated history of working with Google Tag Manager and Looker Studio. I’m an international speaker who has trained 1000s of people on all things analytics.