ClickStream

ClickStream refers to the path usually involving a series of hyperlinks, that a web user or a group of users follows while navigating the web. It maps out an entire journey of a web user in a specific website, from beginning to the moment they take action. The data may include metrics such as web pages visited, time spent on every page, and other relevant insights.

Clickstream analytics, which involves analyzing the entire journey of a web user, is used in activities such as employee productivity analysis, web activity analytics, SEO, market research, and many others.

Clickstream analytics has two categories; traffic analytics and E-commerce analytics. Traffic analytics tracks metrics such as page load time, time spent on individual pages, and many others. This type mainly works at the server level. For E-commerce analytics, the main objective is measuring site effectiveness in terms of conversions.

Collecting ClickStream Data

Accurate data is key to getting the best out of ClickStream analytics. Thanks to a plethora of third-party tools, collecting ClickStream data has become easier. There are many tools, Google Analytics being one of the popular tools. It offers data such as the number of page views, user interaction with a site, and many others. Some other sources such as Internet Service Providers have access to high-quality clickstream data.

However, privacy concerns have been growing lately. This is because many companies have been generating revenue from user’s ClickStream data, illegally. Such information, usually phone numbers, email addresses, and other relevant user data, is used for creating targeted advertising campaigns.

ClickStream Applications

As stated earlier, there is a lot of value in ClickStream data. Here are some ways ClickStream data can be used:

• Understanding user behavior is important when it comes to marketing. ClickStream data provides companies with valuable insights to help them ran successful campaigns.
• Webmasters, bloggers, or researchers can also use ClickStream data to increase website effectiveness.
• ClickStream data gives companies competitive advantages over each other.
• By using ClickStream analytics, companies in the E-commerce industry can customize their customer experiences for improved customer satisfaction and increased ROI.