Where did my customer go? How to follow and analyse real user journeys

Most marketing reports include information on how the user arrives, where they landed, and where they converted, but often miss out on the important data in the messy middle. Understanding this middle section is the key to unlocking true user insights, yet standard reporting rarely gives you the whole picture.

In this practical session, Katie New of Varn will dive into the art of user journey analysis. Katie will explore how her team takes user journey data and transforms it into clear, insightful narratives that go far beyond standard, out-of-the-box marketing dashboards. This talk focuses heavily on the creative and analytical side of reporting as Katie shares interesting, innovative ways to visualise user journey data to uncover the real stories behind how people interact with your site. You will learn how to look at complex user paths through a marketer’s lens, spot hidden friction points, and present your findings in a way that stakeholders instantly understand. If you want to stop guessing what happens between the first and last click and start finding real insights in the middle, this talk will show you how.

Transcript

1. Where did my customer go? How to follow and analyse real user journeys Katie New Varn @varn_seo_agency https://speakerdeck.com/varn/
2. Why is it so hard to track & report on the user journey? #brightonSEO
3. The myth of the linear journey WHAT WE PLAN WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS The Perfect Journey The Chaotic Reality Landing Page → Product Page → Conversion Landing Page → Blog → Case Study → Leave site → Category Page → Exit or Conversion* *(hopefully conversion!) #brightonSEO
4. Because user journey reporting often resembles a big plate of SPAGHETTI #brightonSEO
5. Because user journey reporting often resembles a big plate of SPAGHETTI #brightonSEO
6. So let’s take it back to the start #brightonSEO
7. Where do we collect User Journey Data? #brightonSEO
8. Google Analytics? #brightonSEO
9. We used to have Universal Analytics ➔ Offered Previous Page Path & Next Page Path dimensions in tables ➔ Useful for showing 1-step hops, but couldn’t show a full multi-page path #brightonSEO
10. Now we have GA4 Explore ➔ In Explore reports we have limited Path Exploration diagrams ➔ Landing Page dimension, Entrance & Exit metrics available, but no visibility of the middle ➔ Still doesn’t provide us with the full picture #brightonSEO
11. Surely there must be a way to see the full picture? #brightonSEO
12. BIGQUERY #brightonSEO
13. Don’t panic! You don’t need to use/understand BigQuery for this talk!* *You just need to know someone who does! #brightonSEO
14. What is BigQuery? ➔ A Google tool for storing data (Like a massive filing cabinet) ➔ Use queries to pull the files out of the cabinet for analysis #brightonSEO
15. What can BigQuery do? ➔ Bring together data from multiple sources ➔ Filter out bots/spam ➔ Provide raw, unsampled data ➔ Transforms raw data into custom formats #brightonSEO
16. Why use BigQuery for User Journeys? GA4 offers: BigQuery offers: ➔ Landing pages ➔ Exit pages ➔ Limited path explorations ➔ Unsampled raw data ➔ Full user journey paths ➔ Multisession paths ➔ Link journeys to conversions/revenue #brightonSEO
17. So how do we get full user journeys in BigQuery? No need to note it down, free downloadable setup guide at the end! #brightonSEO
18. BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!! Filter out non-user data IDENTIFY & EXCLUDE IDENTIFY & EXCLUDE Internal Traffic Spam/Bot Traffic ➔ Your employee traffic ➔ Agency traffic ➔ Staging domains ➔ Developer traffic ➔ Traffic that doesn’t look like real user behaviour ➔ Automated crawlers #brightonSEO
19. Collect GA4 data in BigQuery Collect user IDs, session IDs, page paths, key event & conversion data. All with timestamps! #brightonSEO
20. Then we stitch it together /beach ➔/beach/beach-towel ➔ /beach/bucket-spade ➔ /checkout Users: 10 #brightonSEO ➔ /cart ➔ /purchase-complete Revenue: £48
21. And compile it… User Journey Users Revenue /beach/beach-towel ➔ 🛑 New Session: /beach/beach-towel 15 £0 /blog/why-do-seagulls-steal-chips ➔ / 3674 £0 /beach ➔ /beach/bucket-spade ➔ /beach/beach-towel ➔ /cart ➔ /checkout ➔ /purchase-complete 10 £48 /beach/bucket-spade ➔ /cart ➔ /checkout ➔ /delivery-info ➔ /checkout 🔄 [repeat #2] ➔ /purchase-complete 1 £59 #brightonSEO
22. Moving from messy spaghetti diagrams to tables that are #brightonSEO
23. Because data means nothing without analysis #brightonSEO
24. So here are 5 simple ways to analyse user journeys using our BigQuery string table #brightonSEO
25. ANALYSIS 1 Which user journeys convert best? Sort table by Revenue descending. beach/beach-towels ➔ 🛑 New Session: / ➔ /offers 🛑 New Session: beach/beach-towels ➔ /cart ➔ /checkout ➔ /purchase-complete #brightonSEO
26. ANALYSIS 2 Where are users getting stuck? Search table for repeats beach/small-beach-towel ➔ beach /large-beach-towel ➔ beach/small-beach-towel 🔄 [repeat #2] #brightonSEO
27. ANALYSIS 3 Are users getting distracted at the checkout? Look for users that get to the checkout and then retreat beach/bucket-spade ➔ /cart ➔ /checkout ➔ /delivery-info ➔ /checkout 🔄 [repeat #2] ➔ /purchase-complete #brightonSEO
28. ANALYSIS 4 Which channels contribute to each stage of the journey? Add channel info to user journey strings (paid social) /beach/beach-ball ➔ 🔴 New Session: (organic) /beach/beach-ball ➔ beach/parasol ➔ /delivery-info🔴 New Session: (email) /cart ➔ /checkout ➔ /purchase-complete #brightonSEO
29. ANALYSIS 5 Which pages cause lifts & drops in conversion rate? Compare the conversion rate (CVR) of journeys that include a specific page to site baseline CVR (e.g. 2% CVR) Page # User journeys Avg. CVR of journeys CVR lift/drop FAQs page 397 6.2% +4.2% Returns Policy 769 0.6% -1.4% #brightonSEO
30. Still too much data for clear analysis? Time to bucket your pages #brightonSEO
31. Use BigQuery to categorise pages into buckets ➔ Moves the focus from performance of specific pages to page types ➔ Significantly reduces the number of user journeys to analyse #brightonSEO
32. Example page buckets PRODUCTS ➔ Product pages CATEGORIES ➔ Category pages #brightonSEO PURCHASE ➔ Cart ➔ Checkout ➔ Purchase complete TRUST ➔ FAQs ➔ Returns EDUCATIONAL ➔ Blogs ➔ Guides BRAND ➔ Homepage ➔ About ➔ Contact
33. Recreate user journey strings with page buckets Category ➔ Product ➔ Purchase Users: 456 #brightonSEO ➔ Product ➔ Purchase ➔ Purchase Revenue: £1687
34. Simplified tables for broader pattern analysis User Journey Users Revenue Product ➔ 🛑 New Session: Product 3005 £0 Educational ➔ Brand 9836 £0 Category ➔ Product ➔ Product ➔ Purchase ➔ Purchase ➔ Purchase 59 £2017 #brightonSEO
35. Key Takeaways 1. Ditch the spaghetti (tables > visuals) 2. Use BigQuery!! 3. Sort & filter tables for intentional analysis 4. Bucket data to reduce noise 5. Use your findings to drive change #brightonSEO
36. User Journey Reporting Resources Access all of the BigQuery set up information & analysis instructions in our free download #brightonSEO
37. User Journey Reporting Resources Access all of the BigQuery set up information & analysis instructions in our free download #brightonSEO
38. Thank you for listening Katie New Varn @varn_seo_agency https://speakerdeck.com/varn/