Previous page path GA – easy way to follow the user

Previous page path is the dimension that a lot of UX specialists didn’t know how to use correctly. The dimension is tightly engaged to user flow construction. This valuable dimension could show previous user step in user flow. Thus, we can track all user way from the first step to the exit page. But we need to notice that previous page path ought to use in connection with landing page or page dimensions. The reason for this connection is easy to understand: you need to check the page and understand what is user's previous path to this page thus you ought to specify this page for Google Analytics.

Now let's see how it works. For this purpose, open Google Analytics account and go to site content item and after that to landing page tab. For complete tracking of user flow, you need to add secondary dimension by clicking secondary dimension and choosing previous page path. After that Google Analytics showed part of the user's flow on the site contained 2 first steps of the user.

A lot of previous page path items have value entrance. It means that the landing page is the first page on the user flow. Thus, the user started their journey from this page. But notice that you need to check exit page too because the user could leave your site immediately from the first page.?It's one of the reasons for the huge bounce rate. Also, you can build graphs and charts with user flow depending on data from Google Analytics in Google data studio or power BI. You can add to your graphs metrics such as users, new users, bounce rate, session duration, and pages per session. This complex approach helped to understand where the bottleneck on your site is.