How to use Top Conversion Paths Report in Google Analytics

Step-1: Navigate to the ‘Top Conversion Paths’ report:

Step-2: Make sure the date range of the report is set to the last three months.

Step-3: Unselect all Goal Conversions from the ‘Conversions’ drop-down menu and then click on the ‘Apply’ button:

Step-4: Click on ‘Conversion Segments’ button:

Step-5: Click on the button ‘Create New Conversion Segment‘ as shown below:

Step-6: Name the new conversion segment as ‘Effect of PPC on organic search Traffic’ and then define the segment as shown in the screenshot below:

Here I am telling Google Analytics to include all those conversion paths which contain ‘Paid Search’ as interaction anywhere in the ‘MCF Channel Grouping’ path and ‘organic search’ as a last interaction.

Step-7: Once you have defined the conversion segment then click on the ‘Save Segment’ button. This action will not only create a new conversion segment but also apply the conversion segment to the ‘top conversions path’ report.

Now you can measure the impact of PPC (Paid search traffic) on Organic Search Traffic:

Note: Make sure that you sort the data table by the ‘conversion value’ column before you interpret this report.

From the data table above, we can conclude the following:

>> Paid search assisted 1,344 conversions in the first row, 304 conversions in the second row, 308 conversions in the third row, and so on.

>> In total, paid search assisted in 4,589 conversions worth $272k. These conversions were closed by organic search. In other words, organic search got the credit for these sales.

>> Without the assistance of paid search, these conversions would not have occurred in the first place.

>> Without the assistance of paid search, organic search would not have been able to close these conversions.

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Measuring the impact of Organic Search on PPC Traffic

The conversion segment below will tell you how organic search traffic helped the PPC campaign’s conversions.

Step-1: Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Organic Search on PPC Traffic’:

Here I am telling Google Analytics to include all those conversion paths which contain ‘Organic Search’ as interaction anywhere in the ‘MCF Channel Grouping’ path and ‘Paid search’ as a last interaction.

Step-2: Once you have defined the conversion segment then click on the ‘Save Segment’ button. This action will not only create a new conversion segment but also apply the conversion segment to the ‘top conversions path’ report.

Now you can measure the impact of Organic Search Traffic on PPC (Paid search traffic):

Note: Make sure that you sort the data table by the ‘conversion value’ column before you interpret this report.

From the data table above, we can conclude the following:

>> Organic search assisted 230 conversions in the first row, 59 conversions in the second row, 57 conversions in the third row, and so on.

>> In total, organic search assisted in 770 conversions worth $36k. These conversions were closed by paid search traffic. In other words, paid search got the credit for these sales.

>> Without the assistance of organic search, these conversions would not have occurred in the first place.

>> Without the assistance of organic search, paid search would not have been able to close these conversions.

You can similarly define and apply conversion segments to determine the influence of other marketing channels.

For example:

Measure the impact of organic search on direct traffic
Measure the impact of display ads campaigns on organic search traffic
Measure the impact of social media on organic search
Measure the impact of paid search traffic on direct traffic
Measure the impact of social media on direct traffic
Measure the impact of email on direct traffic

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My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization

Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization

Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics

Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond

Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook

Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.

Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.

Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.

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This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.

Himanshu Sharma

Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com

Himanshu helps business owners and marketing professionals in generating more sales and ROI by fixing their website tracking issues, helping them understand their true customers' purchase journey and helping them determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.

He has over 12 years of experience in digital analytics and digital marketing.

He was nominated for the Digital Analytics Association's Awards for Excellence. The Digital Analytics Association is a world-renowned not-for-profit association that helps organisations overcome the challenges of data acquisition and application.

He is the author of four best-selling books on analytics and conversion optimization: