How to Follow Digital Footprints Using GA4 Path Exploration

By Dr. Robert Urban | Marketing Consultant

Have you ever gone hiking in the woods and you stumble across a trail where you can clearly see a thousand people have marched through there, (if in Florida possibly from people fleeing bears.) That’s what we in the web business call a “beaten path.” And believe it or not, your website has these too. Only instead of grass and dirt, it’s mouse clicks and frustration. Hopefully less frustration.

Just like a normal path, digital footprints do get left behind. And to find those trails and figure out where your visitors keep wandering off or getting lost, you’ve got this handy little thing called built within Google Analytics 4 called “Path Exploration.” It’s like tracking Bigfoot, except you can actually get a clear picture of what you are trying to find.

Here’s how it works: Path exploration lets you see exactly how users are navigating through your site, like seeing the exact path my kids take when they pretend they can’t find their shoes, even though they’re clearly by the front door. GA4 shows you every click, scroll, and stop visitors make, giving you a clear picture of whether they’re smoothly cruising through your site or stuck somewhere repeatedly clicking on the same button like an old lady at the slots in Vegas.

GA4 has two modes: Forward and Reverse. Forward is the basic one, where you pick a starting point- for example, your homepage-and then it shows you everywhere people go afterward from there. Reverse is like doing detective work- you reverse engineer it- going backwards, starting at the end and figuring out how people got there. Like those movies that show you the ending first, and then filling in the context- (I hate those kind of movies)

How do you get to this magical place called Path Exploration? Easy.

Sign into your GA4 account (remember almost all of your google stuff (Youtube, search console, ads, analytics, gmail, LSA, GMB,) is often tied to the same username/pass- you can set it up, but have 2 factor set up to help prevent bad guys getting in from one by having access to the other).
Click “Explore” on the left-hand side.
Choose “Path Exploration,” conveniently located at the top right.
Hit “Start Over,” and you’re ready to Sherlock Holmes your digital traffic.

Now, reading one of these reports is way easier than deciphering IKEA furniture instructions. GA4 uses something called nodes, which are just fancy dots, to show you where people are going. Big nodes mean lots of visitors; small nodes mean fewer visitors. Darker nodes might mean more engagement.

Hover over the nodes to see details, like how many people visited, how long they stayed, or how quickly they left, like your friends after you tell them you need help moving again. You can also filter things down by demographics, devices, or even traffic sources, helping you figure and delineate behavior by medium and even campaign.

Now, how often should you run these GA4 path exploration reports? Honestly, regularly is good. Like checking your smoke detectors or your kid’s grades-ignoring either will eventually lead to panic. Definitely check after major updates, new marketing campaigns, or anytime your boss asks suspiciously, “Hey, how’s the website doing?” That way you always sound smarter than you probably feel.

Finally, here’s what you can actually do with this info:

Spot where users keep dropping off (and fix it).
Identify popular paths (and make more of that stuff that your users like).
Discover loops, or “circles of frustration,” as I call them (and remove them).
Especially in E-commerce- very easy to see where people “lose interest” and abandon the cart (leave the site) – remember the less clicks the better
Track conversion paths (and replicate success). Remarket and upsell on conversion final/integrate with email marketing campaign
See which content performs best (and promote it like it’s your firstborn).
Segment visitors to better understand who’s browsing your site and who’s there by accident (like someone who got lost looking for the DMV).
You can also see unusually high levels of activity which could mean a security breach as well- while there are other detection methods that are better, still something to be aware of. (unless you are an international supplier, I would suggest IP blocking all of Russia, China, Korea as that is 90 percent of malicious attacks originate from)

In short, GA4 Path Exploration is your map through the digital wilderness. It’s easier to use than a compass (unless you have spent time in a crow’s nest on a pirate ship and are an expert) and unlike real hiking, you don’t need bug spray. Which, honestly, is the biggest selling point for me. Florida bugs drink bug spray and will swat you right back.

If you have any questions or need any more clarity on this or anything else related to Digital marketing, feel free to reach out. I also know a lot about giraffes in case you have questions related to those as well.

Until next time,

Robert Urban