Top Conversion Paths Table

The Top Conversion Paths feature reveals the actual channel sequences your customers follow before converting. Instead of crediting a single channel, this analysis shows you the complete journey – every marketing touchpoint along the way. This guide will help you understand these paths and use them to optimise your marketing mix.

What You'll See

The Top Conversion Paths section displays a comprehensive table showing:

1. Summary insights at the top with key metrics about your conversion paths
2. A path length filter to focus on journeys of specific lengths
3. A sortable table listing the most common channel sequences
4. Expandable rows revealing device breakdowns and channel details for each path
5. Revenue and session data for every path

The table updates automatically when you change your filters, allowing you to analyse different time periods, campaigns, or devices.

Understanding the Summary Insights

At the top of the section, you'll see four key metrics that summarise your multi-channel landscape:

Converting Sessions

What it shows: The total number of sessions that completed a conversion during your selected time period.

Important: This counts sessions, not people. If someone visits twice and converts both times, that's two converting sessions.

Why it matters: This is your denominator for understanding path distribution. Every converting session took one of the paths shown below.

Example: "1,247 Converting Sessions" means 1,247 visits resulted in conversions.

Average Path Length

What it shows: The average number of marketing touchpoints before conversion.

Calculation: (Total touchpoints across all paths ÷ Total converting sessions)

Interpretation:

• 1.0-1.5: Mostly direct or single-touch conversions
• 2.0-3.0: Balanced mix of direct and multi-touch
• 3.0-5.0: Complex journeys with multiple touchpoints
• 5.0+: Very long consideration periods

Example: "2.8 days" means the average customer interacted with 2.8 of your marketing channels before converting.

Why it matters: Helps you understand journey complexity and whether you're capturing the full customer journey in your tracking.

Single Touch

What it shows: The percentage of converting sessions that converted without any tracked marketing touchpoints.

What counts as single touch:

• Direct traffic (typing URL or bookmark)
• Untracked referrals
• Conversions with no preceding marketing interactions in the tracking window

Why it matters:

• High % (60%+): Strong brand, but possible tracking gaps
• Medium % (30-60%): Balanced brand and marketing influence
• Low % (<30%): Marketing heavily influences conversions

Example: "42% Single Touch" means 42% of conversions happened without tracked marketing touches – either strong brand recognition or tracking limitations.

Multi-Touch Paths

What it shows: The percentage of converting sessions with 2 or more marketing touchpoints before conversion.

What this represents:

• Multiple channel interactions
• Longer consideration periods
• Cross-channel influence

Why it matters: Higher multi-touch percentages indicate:

• More complex buying decisions
• Multiple channels working together
• Greater need for cross-channel attribution
• Importance of staying visible throughout the journey

Example: "58% Multi-Touch Paths" means more than half your conversions involve multiple marketing interactions.

Key insight: Single Touch + Multi-Touch should equal 100%. The balance between them reveals whether you have simple or complex customer journeys.

The Path Length Filter

Located in the top-right corner, this filter lets you focus on journeys of specific lengths:

Filter Options

All Path Lengths (Default)

• Shows every path regardless of length
• Best for getting the complete picture
• Default view when you first load the page

1 Touch

• Shows only direct conversions
• No tracked marketing touchpoints
• Often includes branded search, direct traffic, or bookmarks

2 Touches

• Paths with exactly two channel interactions
• Example: "organic → paid_search"
• Common pattern: awareness channel → conversion channel

3 Touches

• Paths with exactly three touchpoints
• Example: "social → email → organic"
• Shows more complex nurturing sequences

4 Touches

• Four-step journeys
• Example: "display → social → email → paid_search"
• Indicates sustained engagement

5+ Touches

• Long, complex journeys with five or more touchpoints
• High-value or complex products
• Lengthy consideration periods

When to Use Each Filter

Use "All Path Lengths" when:

• Getting initial overview
• Understanding overall mix
• Reporting to stakeholders

Use specific lengths when:

• Comparing short vs long journeys
• Analysing specific patterns
• Testing multi-touch attribution strategies
• Understanding journey complexity

Pro tip: Toggle between "1 Touch" and "2 Touches" to see the difference between direct conversions and assisted conversions. This reveals how much of your success depends on multi-channel marketing.

Reading the Conversion Paths Table

Table Columns Explained

Conversion Path

What it shows: The sequence of marketing channels touched before conversion, displayed with arrows (→) between each channel.

How to read it:

• Left to right = earliest to latest touchpoint
• Arrows (→) = progression through time
• Channel badges = colour-coded marketing channels

Examples:

"organic → paid_search"

• First: Visitor found you through organic search (awareness)
• Then: Later clicked a paid ad (conversion)

"social → email → paid_search → organic"

• First: Discovered via social media
• Second: Signed up and received email
• Third: Clicked paid ad
• Finally: Searched and converted

"(direct)"

• Single-touch conversion
• No tracked marketing channels
• Could be: typed URL, bookmark, untracked source, or within-session conversion

Common patterns you'll see:

• Organic → Paid: Research then convert
• Paid → Organic: Ad drives awareness, organic closes
• Social → Email: Social drives signup, email converts
• Display → [Multiple] → Paid: Display creates awareness, journey continues

Converting Sessions

What it shows: The number of sessions that followed this exact path and completed a conversion.

Important clarifications:

• Counts sessions, not people
• Each session counted once
• First path completion per session only
• Must match the exact sequence

Why it matters: Higher numbers indicate popular, repeatable customer journeys. These are patterns worth understanding and optimising.

Example: "147 converting sessions" means 147 visits followed this exact sequence and converted.

What to look for:

• Top 3-5 paths: Your most important journeys
• Surprising patterns: Unexpected channel combinations
• Missing expected paths: Channels not working together

Revenue

What it shows: Total revenue generated from all sessions that took this path.

Calculation: Sum of conversion values from all matching sessions

Currency: Displays in your configured currency (£, $, €, etc.)

Why it matters: Some paths may have fewer sessions but higher value. Revenue reveals which journeys drive the most money, not just the most conversions.

Example: "£18,450" means sessions following this path generated £18,450 in total revenue.

Key insight: Compare revenue to session count. If "organic → paid" has 50 sessions with £10,000 but "email → organic" has 200 sessions with £8,000, the first path is more valuable per conversion.

Average Value

What it shows: Average revenue per converting session on this path.

Calculation: (Total revenue for this path ÷ Converting sessions)

Why it matters: Reveals which paths attract higher-value customers. A path with fewer sessions but high average value might deserve more investment.

Example: "£125.50" means each session that followed this path and converted was worth £125.50 on average.

What this tells you:

• High avg value: Premium customers or larger orders
• Low avg value: Volume-focused paths
• Outliers: Paths with unusually high/low values need investigation

Strategic use: Identify your highest-value paths and invest more in those channel combinations.

% of Total

What it shows: What percentage of all converting sessions took this specific path.

Calculation: (Converting sessions for this path ÷ Total converting sessions) × 100

Why it matters: Shows path importance relative to your overall conversion volume.

Interpretation:

• >10%: Major path, requires protection and optimisation
• 5-10%: Significant contributor
• 2-5%: Meaningful but not dominant
• <2%: Niche path or emerging pattern

Example: "11.8%" means this path accounts for nearly 12% of all your conversions.

Channel Names Decoded

Your paths display channels using standardised names. Here's what each means:

Primary Channels

Organic (or Organic Search)

• Non-paid search engine results
• Google, Bing, etc.
• Keywords: Your SEO traffic

Paid Search

• Paid search ads (PPC)
• Google Ads, Bing Ads
• Usually high-intent traffic

Direct

• Typed URL or bookmark
• No referrer information
• Often indicates brand awareness

Email

• Email campaign clicks
• Newsletter links
• Marketing automation

Social

• Organic social media
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram
• Not paid social ads

Paid Social

• Paid social media advertising
• Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads
• Sponsored content

Referral

• Links from other websites
• Partner sites
• Editorial mentions

Display

• Banner advertising
• Programmatic display
• Remarketing ads

Affiliate

• Affiliate marketing links
• Commission-based referrals
• Partnership programmes

SMS

• Text message campaigns
• Mobile marketing
• Transactional messages

Push

• Browser push notifications
• App push notifications
• Real-time alerts

Special Designations

(direct)

• Appears as the complete path when no marketing channels tracked
• Single-touch conversion
• Could indicate strong brand or tracking limitation

Expanding Path Details

Every row has a small arrow button (▼) on the right. Click it to reveal detailed breakdowns:

By Device Section

Shows how this specific path performs across different devices:

Columns:

• Device: Desktop, Mobile, Tablet, or Unknown
• Conversion Events: Total conversion actions (can be multiple per session)
• Revenue: Total money from this device on this path
• Avg. Value: Average revenue per event on this device

Why this matters:

• Device preference: Some paths work better on mobile vs desktop
• Experience optimisation: If mobile shows lower avg value, improve mobile UX for this journey
• Budget allocation: Invest more in devices that perform well for valuable paths

Example insight:

Path: social → email → organic
- Mobile: 89 events, £8,450, £95 avg
- Desktop: 34 events, £6,890, £203 avg

Interpretation: Desktop converts at higher value despite lower volume. Consider desktop-optimised landing pages for this journey.

Channel Details Section

Shows the composition of channels within this path:

Columns:

• Channel: The marketing channel name
• Touches: How many times this channel appeared in matching journeys
• % of Path: What percentage of all touchpoints in this path belong to this channel

Why this matters:

• Channel frequency: Some channels may appear multiple times in a journey
• Relative importance: Understand which channels dominate complex paths

Example insight:

Path: social → email → paid_search → organic
Channel Details:
- Email: 147 touches, 33%
- Paid Search: 147 touches, 33%
- Social: 147 touches, 25%
- Organic: 147 touches, 25%

Wait, how can each be different percentages? Some sessions may have touched channels multiple times. If someone clicked 3 emails before converting, email gets 3 touches for that one session.

Understanding Path Patterns

Pattern 1: The Direct Converter

Path: "(direct)"

What it means:

• No tracked marketing touchpoints
• Single-session conversion
• Immediate decision

Possible causes:

• Strong brand: People know you and come directly
• Bookmark: Return visitors
• Tracking gap: Marketing touchpoints not captured
• Offline influence: TV, print, word-of-mouth not tracked online

What to do:

• High %: Great brand strength, but verify tracking completeness
• Growing over time: Brand building is working
• Shrinking over time: More journeys becoming multi-touch (more complex consideration)

Example: 400 sessions / 32% of total

Interpretation: Either you have a strong brand, or there are tracking limitations preventing you from seeing the full journey.

Pattern 2: The Two-Step

Path: "Channel A → Channel B"

What it means: Customer discovered you through one channel, converted through another.

Common examples:

"organic → paid_search"

• Research phase: Free search
• Decision phase: Clicked ad for better offer or information
• Insight: SEO creates awareness, PPC closes sales

"paid_search → organic"

• Initial discovery: Paid ad
• Consideration: Came back via organic search (branded)
• Insight: PPC drives awareness, SEO/brand closes

"social → email"

• Discovery: Social media post
• Conversion: Email campaign
• Insight: Social media builds list, email drives revenue

"email → organic"

• Awareness: Email campaign
• Conversion: Searched brand and bought
• Insight: Email triggers action, brand search closes

Strategic implications:

• Both channels deserve credit
• First channel creates opportunity
• Second channel closes deal
• Cut either, and you lose conversions

Pattern 3: The Nurtured Journey

Path: "Channel A → Channel B → Channel C"

What it means: Three distinct touchpoints before conversion. Longer consideration period.

Common examples:

"display → social → paid_search"

• Step 1: Display ad creates awareness
• Step 2: Later saw social content
• Step 3: Searched and clicked ad to convert
• Insight: Multi-channel presence maintains visibility throughout consideration

"organic → email → paid_search"

• Step 1: Found via search, not ready to buy
• Step 2: Signed up for emails
• Step 3: Email prompted search and conversion
• Insight: Content drives leads, email nurtures, PPC closes

"social → organic → email"

• Step 1: Social media awareness
• Step 2: Researched via organic search
• Step 3: Email campaign triggered conversion
• Insight: Full-funnel strategy working (awareness → consideration → decision)

What this tells you:

• Longer sales cycle: These customers need time and multiple touches
• Cross-channel strategy essential: No single channel would convert these customers alone
• Stay visible: Customers need reminders and reassurance

Pattern 4: The Complex Journey

Path: 4+ channels

What it means: Extended consideration, high engagement, possibly high-value or complex product.

Example: "display → social → organic → email → paid_search → organic"

Interpretation:

• Very long consideration period (weeks or months)
• High involvement decision (expensive, important, or complex)
• Multiple research sessions
• Strong interest (didn't abandon despite length)

Common in:

• B2B sales
• High-ticket items (>£500)
• Services requiring trust
• Complex products requiring education

What to do:

• Identify these paths: They're rare but valuable
• Understand the sequence: What role does each channel play?
• Don't cut mid-funnel channels: They may seem unproductive but are essential
• Extend attribution window: May need 60-90 days, not 30

Pattern 5: The Repeating Channel

Path: "email → email → paid_search"

What it means: Customer touched the same channel multiple times.

Why this happens:

• Email nurture sequences: Multiple messages before conversion
• Remarketing: Saw display ads repeatedly
• Persistent searching: Multiple organic searches over time
• Browse and return: Multiple paid search clicks

What it tells you:

• Frequency matters: Sometimes you need multiple touches from same channel
• Persistence pays: Don't give up after one touch
• Sequence optimisation: Order of touches matters

Example interpretation:

"email → email → email → organic"

• Three email touches before converting via organic search
• Email is doing the heavy lifting
• Organic gets the credit in last-touch model
• Multi-touch attribution reveals email's true role

Common Questions and Misconceptions

Q: Why don't I see all my marketing channels in the paths?

A: Several possible reasons:

1. Tracking gaps: Channels not properly tagged with UTM parameters
2. Low volume: Channel has too few conversions to appear in top paths
3. Awareness-only channels: Some channels (like PR, TV, podcasts) create awareness but don't generate trackable clicks
4. Attribution window: Channel impact happening outside your tracking window
5. App traffic: Mobile app traffic may not connect to web conversions

How to check:

• Verify UTM tagging on all marketing links
• Use campaign filter to isolate specific channels
• Check total traffic volumes in other reports
• Extend date range for more data

Q: What's the difference between this and attribution reports?

A: Both look at multi-touch journeys but differently:

Top Conversion Paths (This Report):

• Shows actual sequences customers took
• Descriptive: "What paths did people take?"
• No credit assignment
• Complete journey visibility
• Best for understanding journey patterns

Attribution Reports:

• Assigns credit to channels based on rules
• Prescriptive: "Which channels should get credit?"
• Credit divided by model (first-click, last-click, etc.)
• Summarised by channel
• Best for budget allocation

Use both together:

• Paths show the journey patterns
• Attribution shows which channels to fund

Q: Why is "(direct)" so high? Is our marketing not working?

A: High direct traffic can mean several things:

Positive interpretations:

1. Strong brand: People know you and come directly
2. High loyalty: Repeat customers returning
3. Word of mouth: People hearing about you offline
4. Saved/bookmarked: Previous visitors returning

Potential issues:

1. Tracking gaps: Marketing touches not captured
   • Social app traffic (Facebook, Instagram apps)
   • Dark social (messaging apps like WhatsApp)
   • Email apps that strip referrers
2. Internal traffic: Staff browsing your site
3. Attribution window: First touch happening outside tracking window

How to evaluate:

• Check timing: Do directs convert immediately or after delay?
• Review sources: Look at other analytics for referrer data
• Survey customers: Ask how they heard about you
• Test tagging: Ensure all campaigns properly tagged

What's normal:

• E-commerce: 20-40% direct
• B2B: 30-50% direct
• Established brands: 40-60% direct
• New businesses: 10-30% direct

Q: Should I optimise for the most common paths or the highest revenue paths?

A: Both, but prioritise differently:

Optimise high-volume paths for:

• Incremental improvements
• Reducing friction
• Scaling what works
• Protecting your base

Optimise high-revenue paths for:

• Better experience for valuable customers
• Premium positioning
• Upselling opportunities
• Customer lifetime value

Example strategy:

Path 1: "organic → paid_search" (200 sessions, £15,000)

• High volume, medium value
• Action: Improve paid search conversion rate by 10% = 20 more conversions

Path 2: "display → email → organic" (25 sessions, £12,000)

• Low volume, very high value (£480 per session!)
• Action: Increase display to drive more into this valuable journey

Best approach: Tackle both. Quick wins on high-volume paths, strategic investments in high-value paths.

Q: How far back do these paths look?

A: The attribution window depends on your SERP360 configuration, typically up to 120 days:

Standard windows:

• 30 days (most common)
• 60 days (longer consideration)
• 90 days (complex B2B)

What this means:

• Paths show touchpoints within this window before conversion
• First touch outside window is not captured
• Journeys longer than window are truncated

Example with 30-day window:

Actual journey:

• Day 1: Saw display ad
• Day 35: Clicked paid search ad
• Day 40: Converted via organic search

What you see in paths:

• "paid_search → organic" (display not captured, happened >30 days before)

How to check your window:

• Look at "Journey Length" KPI
• If avg is close to your window (e.g., 28 days with 30-day window), you may be missing early touches
• Consider extending window for complex products

Q: Why do some paths have the same channel multiple times?

A: Because customers interact with the same channel across multiple sessions.

Example: "email → email → paid_search"

What happened:

1. Email 1: Monday - Received newsletter, clicked, didn't convert
2. Email 2: Friday - Received promotional email, clicked, didn't convert
3. Paid Search: Next Monday - Searched brand, clicked ad, converted

Why this matters:

• Shows nurturing at work
• Multiple touches from same channel can be necessary
• Frequency and persistence matter
• Don't evaluate channels on first-touch conversion alone

Common repeating patterns:

• email → email: Nurture sequences
• paid_search → paid_search: Multiple searches during research
• organic → organic: Repeated research visits

Q: How do I know if a channel is "working" if it appears in the middle of paths?

A: Middle-position channels are often the most undervalued. Here's how to evaluate them:

1. Frequency Analysis

Count how often the channel appears in any position:

Display appears in:
- display → paid: 45 sessions
- organic → display → email: 23 sessions
- social → display → organic: 34 sessions
- paid → display → organic: 12 sessions

Total influenced: 114 sessions

2. Path Value Comparison

Compare paths with and without the channel:

Paths with display:
- Average revenue: £142 per session
- Average path length: 3.2 touches

Paths without display:
- Average revenue: £87 per session
- Average path length: 2.1 touches

Insight: Paths including display are higher value. Display appears to attract better customers who are willing to engage longer.

3. Position Analysis

Some channels work better in specific positions:

• Awareness channels (display, social): Often appear first or second
• Consideration channels (email, organic): Often in middle
• Decision channels (paid search, direct): Often appear last

Don't eliminate a channel just because it doesn't close sales. It may play a critical role in creating awareness or nurturing that others capitalize on.

Troubleshooting

Issue: "(direct)" is 80%+ of all paths

Likely causes:

1. Tracking not implemented: UTM parameters missing
2. App traffic: Mobile apps don't pass referrers
3. Email clients: Some strip referrer data
4. HTTPS → HTTP: Referrer lost in protocol downgrade
5. Very short window: Touches happening outside attribution window

Diagnostics:

1. Check if your marketing links have UTM parameters
2. Review traffic sources in Google Analytics
3. Test tracking on different devices/browsers
4. Verify attribution window length

Quick test: Click your own marketing links and see if they appear tracked.

Issue: Not seeing expected channels

Channel missing entirely:

1. Verify tracking: Are links properly tagged?
2. Check volume: Is there enough traffic to generate paths?
3. Review filters: Are you filtering out this traffic?
4. Test touchpoint: Click the channel yourself and see if it tracks

Channel appears less than expected:

1. Position in journey: May appear mid-journey (expand rows to check)
2. Attribution window: Impact outside tracking window
3. Assisted vs direct: Channel assists but doesn't get last-touch credit

Issue: Top paths don't match expectations

If your top paths seem wrong:

1. Verify date range: Are you looking at correct period?
2. Check filters: Domain, path, campaign filters applied?
3. Review recent changes: Did campaigns launch/end?
4. Seasonal factors: Is this period typical or unusual?
5. Data quality: Any known tracking issues this period?

Example:

Expected: Paid search driving most conversions

Actual: Email is top path

Possible reasons:

• Major email campaign ran this period
• Paid search budget was reduced
• Email list grew significantly
• Product/offer particularly suited to email audience

Issue: Can't expand rows / No device data

If expanded rows are empty:

1. Cookie tracking required: This feature needs cookie-based tracking
2. Date range: Try extending the date range
3. Path volume: Very low-volume paths may have insufficient data
4. Recent data: Just-occurred conversions may not have detail yet

Check: Do other paths expand successfully? If yes, it's likely a volume issue for this specific path.