Behavior flow is a method for understanding how people interact with a website or application. It provides a graphical representation of the paths users take from their entry point to where they leave the site, showing their movement from one page or action to the next. By mapping these interactions, website owners can gain a clearer picture of how content is being engaged with and identify potential areas of friction in the user experience.
Visualizing the User Journey
Behavior flow reports translate complex user navigation data into a visual format, like a flow chart or Sankey diagram. This chart is composed of several distinct elements that work together to illustrate the user’s journey. Understanding these components is the first step toward analyzing the information contained within the report.
The primary components are nodes, which are the individual points in the flow diagram. Nodes represent the specific pages users visit or events they trigger, like playing a video. They are organized into columns, with the leftmost column showing where users begin their sessions and subsequent columns illustrating their next interactions. This structure allows you to follow the sequence of pages visited by the largest groups of users as they move through the site.
Pathways, often shown as gray bands, connect these nodes and illustrate the path users traveled. The thickness of each connection corresponds to the volume of traffic that followed that specific path. A thicker band indicates a more frequently traveled route, while a thinner band signifies a less common one.
The report also highlights drop-offs, which show where users leave the website. A drop-off is represented by a red outflow from a node, signifying that a user exited the site from that page or after that event. Analyzing the volume of these exits helps identify pages where users are most likely to end their session.
How to Interpret Behavior Flow Data
Once you understand the visual elements, you can interpret the patterns they reveal about user behavior. These reports show where users successfully navigate your site and where they encounter obstacles. The goal is to move beyond simply observing the data and start asking questions about why users are behaving in a certain way.
Identifying pages with high drop-off rates is a primary use of these reports. A high exit rate might suggest a problem, such as content that doesn’t meet user expectations, a confusing layout, or technical issues like slow load times. For example, a high exit rate on a product page could mean the price is too high or the description is unclear.
Spotting unexpected user paths provides another insight. These are journeys that deviate from the intended route, such as a conversion funnel. A user moving from a product page back to the homepage instead of to the shopping cart is an example. Such deviations can signal that the user is lost or that the call-to-action wasn’t compelling enough.
Recognizing looping behavior is also useful. This pattern appears when users move back and forth between the same pages, which often indicates confusion or frustration. The user may be searching for information they cannot find or struggling to complete an action. Identifying these loops helps pinpoint where navigation or content clarity could be improved.
Applying Insights to Improve a Website
Applying insights from behavior flow data involves taking specific actions to enhance the website. When a page shows a high drop-off rate, investigate its user experience (UX). Check for technical problems like broken links or slow page speeds, and review the page’s content and call-to-action (CTA). Refining the CTA or clarifying the information can help reduce exits if the content doesn’t align with user expectations.
If you identify unexpected user paths, focus on optimizing those routes. Analyze the pages where users stray to understand why the intended path isn’t being followed. You may need to add more prominent internal links or visual cues to guide visitors toward the desired next step. In some cases, a redesign of the navigation menu or page layout might be required to make the journey more intuitive.
For looping behavior, the solution is to clarify the content on the involved pages. This pattern suggests users are looking for something they cannot find, so make that information easier to access. This could involve rewriting text for clarity, adding an FAQ section, or ensuring answers to common questions are prominent. Resolving the user’s uncertainty helps them move forward.
Limitations of Behavior Flow Reporting
While behavior flow reports offer valuable perspectives, it is important to acknowledge their limitations. Understanding these drawbacks helps in setting realistic expectations for the insights they can provide.
A common limitation for high-traffic websites is data sampling. To generate reports quickly, some analytics platforms analyze a subset of the total traffic instead of the complete dataset. The resulting flow report is therefore an approximation of user behavior. While this can identify major trends, sampling may obscure nuances or misrepresent smaller user segments.
The complexity of the reports is another challenge. For large websites with many pages and user paths, the flow chart can become cluttered and difficult to decipher. This visual complexity can hinder the process of extracting clear, actionable insights from the noise.
Many flow reports focus on pageviews, which may not capture the full scope of user interaction. A user can perform actions like clicking buttons or filling out forms without navigating to a new page. Newer analytics tools address this by offering path exploration reports that track a sequence of events, not just page loads. This provides a more detailed view of behavior on dynamic websites.