Wondering why the Google Analytics reports for are showing different data for visits than the reports from the new Multi-Channel Funnels show for path length? Looking at the definitions it becomes clear that there may be a multi-step path within one visit.
From Google Analytics:
Visits: Site Usage – The number of times your visitors has been to your site (unique sessions initiated by all your visitors). If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity will be attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes will be counted as part of the original session.
Conversion paths, the sequences of interactions (i.e. clicks/referrals from channels) during the 30 days that led up to each conversion and transaction. Conversion path data include interactions with virtually all digital channels. These channels include, but are not limited to:
- paid and organic search (on all search engines along with the specific keywords searched)
- referral sites
- social networks
- email newsletters
- direct
The Path Length report shows how many conversions resulted from conversion paths that contained 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12+ channel interactions.
It is possible for a visitors to have many channel interactions (clicks) during a 30 minute session which is counted as one visit by Google Analytics. So that is why the data looks so different.
Our Multi-Channel Funnel data shows that 59% of purchases and 56% of revenue is from paths with a path length of 1. While a “visits to transaction” report shows that 80% of of the purchase occur after 1 visit. So in a 30 minute “visit” the average visitor who purchased, had more than one interaction (click) giving a path length > 1. Not surprising.
Now you know why the data from each report looks different, wouldn’t it would be nice to see path length per visit and path length per visit.
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