How to Create Path Exploration in Looker Studio

Ever wonder what people do after they land on your website? You see a spike in traffic to a blog post, but where do those visitors click next? And then where do they go after that? Creating a path exploration report helps you map out these exact user journeys, visualizing how people navigate through your site from one page to the next. This tutorial will walk you through exactly how to build and analyze a path exploration report in Looker Studio using your Google Analytics 4 data.

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What is a Path Exploration Report?

A path exploration report shows the sequential journey that users take on your website or app. Think of it like a map of the most common roads people take to get from one point in a city to another. Instead of roads, you're mapping web pages or events, and instead of cars, you're tracking user traffic.

If you've used Google Analytics for a while, you might remember the "Behavior Flow" reports in the old version (Universal Analytics). Path Exploration in GA4 - and the version we can build in Looker Studio - is the modern, more flexible successor to that report. It answers critical questions like:

• What are the top 5 pages that users visit after reading a blog post?
• Where are users dropping off most frequently in the signup process?
• Do people look at the pricing page before or after the features page?
• Are users getting stuck in a loop, endlessly clicking between two pages?

By mapping these journeys out, you're no longer guessing about user behavior, you're seeing it laid out clearly in a simple chart.

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Why User Path Analysis Is a Game-Changer

Understanding user paths isn't just an academic exercise - it's about finding an actionable way to improve website performance. Here's why building a path exploration report is so valuable:

• Pinpoint User Friction: The most obvious benefit is spotting where people leave your site. If you see a large number of users go from 'Homepage' to an outdated 'Products_old' page and then immediately exit, it's a huge sign that you need to fix that outdated link. A path analysis makes these friction points stand out immediately.
• Optimize Your Conversion Funnels: You have an ideal path in your head: 'homepage' > 'features_page' > 'pricing_page' > 'contact_us_form'. But are actual users following this 'happy path'? You might discover people are detouring to your 'about_us' or 'case_studies' pages because they need to build more trust first. This will help you strengthen those pages - not just your pricing pages.
• Improve Content Strategy: If your blog is about content marketing strategy, then after someone reads an article named 'SEO basics', the user will probably want to see your other post 'how to write blog content'. The path analysis reveals if visitors are clicking on this content, indicating that you have an effective content strategy. You will be able to improve your website's content links (internal to external ones) just for maximizing session duration and helping users accomplish their objectives.
• Prove Marketing ROI: When paired with UTM filters, it's easy for the path analysis system to demonstrate exactly what traffic is coming in when running a new Facebook ad marketing campaign. From there, people clicking in my new 'product page' may buy. This will help improve my site layout, which will increase purchase rates!

In short, it stops you from making changes based on your gut feeling and starts making decisions based on data showing what your users are actually doing.

How to Create a Path Report with Looker Studio

You can create a Path Analysis Report using a 'Sankey Chart' type within Looker Studio. This is a perfect free way of making charts. You'll be able to visualize user flows from one event to another. Here's how it's done step-by-step.

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Step One: Connect Your GA Data Source

• Open a Looker Studio project and click the 'New Report' button.
• Click 'Connect to your GA data source'. If you've never connected a Google Analytics source before, you'll have to authorize that application and sign in with Google.
• Select the account and property to which you want to add a data source. Select the proper property for your site.

Quick Tip for Selecting the Data Source

After selecting a new or existing Google Analytics source, you'll notice the dimensions and metrics appear. If not selected by default, click 'event_name' and 'page_title' from the list because these are core to a path analysis report.

Step Two: Add a Sankey Chart to the Canvas

The secret to creating the chart for a path analysis in Looker Studio is using the 'Sankey' type. It may look complicated, but don't worry - it's simply showing how a value (like users) flows between different categories, such as:

• Open the 'Insert' tab in the nav bar and find 'Sankey Chart' from the dropdown. Click on it to add it to the canvas.
• Don't panic, the first Sankey chart you have will probably look like a mess of random data. But we're going to configure that correctly.

Step Three: Configure the Chart Dimensions and Measures

This is the most important step. We're telling Looker Studio to map out the steps that the person has gone through. It's about adding the 'Page path' and 'Query String' dimensions multiple times. Let's get started:

1. On the Chart Editor panel, which appears at the right of your canvas, find the 'dimensions' section. This is where we choose our first step.
2. Add dimension, then search for 'page_path' and 'screen_classes' or 'page_title'. This is your starting point or node in the chart.

Step Four: Analyze Your Path Analysis Chart

Now that you've finally got the chart set up, let's look at what we have on offer in front of our eyes!

• Identify Your Happy Paths: The 'happy path' is the path that you want most users to follow. A 'happy path' may be 'blog post' > 'product page' > 'cart' > 'thank you page'. Once you find the happy path in your data, you can start to improve that path to increase the volume of people following that path.
• Find Friction Points or Dead Ends: When you can't find a happy path or when users are dropping off from the page, then you have dead-ends in your data flow. You should find the dead ends and see how you can make that better. For example, if a visitor goes to your 'pricing' > 'sign up form' and then drops off, this could mean the pricing is not correct or the sign-up form has an error.
• Locate Unexpected Loops: Sometimes you will note loops in your data. A user may go to the 'about us' page, then go back to the 'homepage', and again 'about us'. This could be a problem with site navigation. But sometimes it's good, a loop between 'product pages' and 'case studies' could show an engaged user who wants more information.

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Tip for Better User Path Analysis

Just building the chart is a good start. But you can unlock deeper insights with a few more tricks:

• Use Filters Strategically: You don't have to look at every single path. Use filters to concentrate on what is more important. For example:
• Segment Your Audiences: Instead of just filtering, you can segment your users into groups like new or returning. This can show different behaviors. Maybe returning users go to your blog first while new ones go to the homepage.
• Extend the Path: If you need to track longer journeys, just add more dimensions (nodes). You can add nodes 5, 6, etc. Just remember that your data dilutes the further you get from the start.

Final Thoughts

Building a path analysis in Looker Studio is a superpower for any marketer. It helps you stop guessing what users want and start seeing their behavior. With a Sankey chart and your GA data, you can visualize the journeys they take on the site, find friction points, and improve the content to convert more!

While these techniques are great for DIY'ers, we built Graphed because we think getting these insights should be easier. Instead of manually configuring Sankey charts and dragging dimensions, we let you just ask what you're looking for in natural language, like "show me user journey from our Facebook campaign." We connect to all of your data sources (like Google Analytics or Shopify) to automatically create dashboards that help you see the full picture without the data wrangling. If you want to spend less time building reports and more time acting on them, you can try out our tool for free by clicking the link: Graphed.