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Web analytics & metrics

Clickstream data

Also known as: clickstream, click path data

Clickstream data is the recorded sequence of pages a user visits and the clicks the user makes along the way. Each record typically holds a timestamp, a page, the preceding page or source, and some kind of user or session identifier. Put together, the records show a path through a website, for instance from a search result to a category page, a product page and a checkout.

How is clickstream data collected?

According to reports, website owners collect it themselves through a JavaScript tag, which is the usual approach of web analytics tools, or from server log files. Third-party providers assemble clickstream data from panels and sell aggregated results. DataForSEO says it collects such data through plugins, browser extensions and other applications, and combines it with Google Keyword Planner data to estimate search volume. Similarweb lists a network of its own consumer products that aggregate anonymous device data as one of its sources for traffic estimates. A panel only covers the users of the participating products, for example certain devices, browsers or countries. Vendors therefore extrapolate, and the results are estimates that can be skewed (assessment).

What is clickstream data used for?

According to reports, typical uses are:

  • Finding pages where visitors leave and steps where they drop out of a funnel
  • Comparing paths of visitors from different sources
  • Feeding attribution models
  • Estimating audience and traffic of competitor sites (panel data)

For SEO teams the own-site variant matters most. It shows what visitors do after they arrive from search, which Search Console cannot show.

Example

A visitor’s session reads as a list:

Code
10:02:11  /guide/running-shoes   (source: organic search)
10:02:48  /category/trail-shoes
10:03:30  /product/trail-pro-2
10:05:12  /cart

Privacy

Clickstream records can identify a person when they are linked to a user ID. In Germany, § 25 TDDDG covers consent for storing information on a user’s device or reading it, for example with cookies, and names exceptions for what is strictly necessary for a service the user explicitly requested. Article 6 GDPR lists the legal bases for processing personal data.

This is not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Clickstream – Gabler Wirtschaftslexikonwirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de
  2. Clickstream data – DataForSEO Blog (secondary)dataforseo.com
  3. § 25 TDDDG – Gesetze im Internetgesetze-im-internet.de
  4. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Article 6 – EUR-Lexeur-lex.europa.eu
  5. What are clickstream-based metrics and how do we calculate them? – DataForSEO Help Center (methodology)dataforseo.com
  6. Similarweb Data Methodology – Similarweb Knowledge Centersupport.similarweb.com

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