I'm trying to do some digging into users' paths through a website using a Path Exploration in GA4. More specifically, I'd like to know the pages within the flow from which users are exiting and, when possible, where they are going.
From the dashboard, I'm clicking 'Explore' icon and then selecting the 'Path Exploration' template. In the settings column, I then switch 'Event Count' to 'Active Users' for VALUES.
In just looking at the first 2 steps after the the start of the session, I can see that the total number of users who made it to Step 2 (any page) from the top Entrance/Landing Page is far less than the total users from that top Entrance/Landing Page. Would I be correct in assuming that the difference between the 2 is the number of users that exited the site from the top page in Step 1? If so, is there any way to configure this type of Exploration to differentiate between users who clicked a link (on a given page)to an external website and those who exited by other means (ex. closing browser window, typing a new URL in the browser's address bar, etc). And if THAT is possible, is it then further possible to somewhere indicate the URL of the link they clicked?
I'm trying to do some digging into users' paths through a website using a Path Exploration in GA4. More specifically, I'd like to know the pages within the flow from which users are exiting and, when possible, where they are going.
From the dashboard, I'm clicking 'Explore' icon and then selecting the 'Path Exploration' template. In the settings column, I then switch 'Event Count' to 'Active Users' for VALUES.
In just looking at the first 2 steps after the the start of the session, I can see that the total number of users who made it to Step 2 (any page) from the top Entrance/Landing Page is far less than the total users from that top Entrance/Landing Page. Would I be correct in assuming that the difference between the 2 is the number of users that exited the site from the top page in Step 1? If so, is there any way to configure this type of Exploration to differentiate between users who clicked a link (on a given page)to an external website and those who exited by other means (ex. closing browser window, typing a new URL in the browser's address bar, etc). And if THAT is possible, is it then further possible to somewhere indicate the URL of the link they clicked?
Share Improve this question edited Nov 20, 2024 at 13:41 Daveh0 asked Nov 20, 2024 at 3:43 Daveh0Daveh0 1,01213 silver badges41 bronze badges1 Answer
Reset to default 1Path exploration has certain limitations, especially due to cardinality issues, which can prevent you from seeing all available paths and fully covering the data.
The most effective way to identify exits from each page is by using the Page Path dimension along with the Exits metric in a freeform report within Explore.
For the most accurate data, especially when combined with other metrics, utilizing BigQuery's raw data export is recommended.