Clickstreams and data collection in analytics

Basically clickstreams is a methodology of determining the pathway users are taking through your site.

Whenever a user interacts with your site and its various elements this data is being stored in a log file in Google analytics or whatever analytical platform you are using.  In order to achieve this three components are used;  page titles, browser cookies, and a web server log file.  This log file is processed by Google analytics to create reports in your console.

Web analytics can never be completely accurate. When you have a high volume of visits, the quality of your analysis can be hampered by sampled data.  Some reasons this data could be slanted is; improper page coding, disable JavaScript in browsers, interrupted connections and firewall preventing data being collected. The same user using multiple devices as well as multiple users using the same computer will also effect the data collected.

It’s up to your Google analytics admin to filter and and segment this data to be accurate enough for actionable analysis.