Build sequential segments

Sequential segments are created by using the THEN operator, instead of AND or OR. THEN implies that one segment criteria occurs, followed by another. By default, a sequential segment identifies all matching data, showing the filter “Include Everyone”. Sequential segments can be further filtered to a subset of matching hits using the “Only Before Sequence” and “Only After Sequence” options.

Additionally, you can constrain sequential segments to a specific duration of time, granularity, and counts between checkpoints using the After and Within operators.

Here is a video on sequential segmentation:

Include Everyone section_75ADDD5D41F04800A09E592BB2940B35

When creating a segment where “Include Everyone” is set, the segment identifies paths that match the given pattern as a whole. This is an example of a basic sequence segment looking for one hit (Page A) followed by another (Page B) as visited by the same visitor. The segment is set to Include Everyone.

Only Before Sequence and Only After Sequence section_736E255C8CFF43C2A2CAAA6D312ED574

The options Only Before Sequence and Only After Sequence filter the segment to a subset of data before or after the specified sequence.

For example, consider a sequence of B -> D. The three filters would identify hits as follows:

Example 1: B then D appears once

Example 2: B then D appears multiple times

Let’s also frame this concept with the Hit Depth dimension.

Example 3: Hit Depth 3 then 5

Dimension Constraints section_EAFD755F8E674F32BCE9B642F7F909DB

In a “within” clause, in between THEN statements, you can add, for example, “within 1 search keyword instance”, “within 1 eVar 47 instance”. This constrains the segment to within one instance of a dimension.

Setting a ‘Within Dimension’ clause between rules allows a segment to restrict data to sequences where that clause is satisfied. See the example below, where the constraint is set to “Within 1 page”:

Simple Page View sequence

Identify visitors who viewed a page and then viewed another page. The hit-level data will filter this sequence irrespective of previous, past, or interim visit sessions or the time or number of page views occurring between.

Example: Visitor viewed page A, then viewed page B in the same or another visit.

Use cases

The following are examples of how the segment can be used.

Create this segment

You nest two page rules within a top-level Visitor container and sequence the page hits using the THEN operator.

Visitor sequence across visits

Identify those visitors who fell out of a campaign but then returned to the sequence of page views in another session.

Example: Visitor viewed page A in one visit, then viewed page B in another visit.

Use Cases

The following are examples of how this type of segment can be used:

Create this Segment

This example nests two Visit containers within the top-level Visitor container and sequences the segment using the THEN operator.

Mixed-level sequence

Identify visitors who view two pages across an undetermined number of visits, but then view a third page in a separate visit.

Example: Visitors visit page A and then page B in one or more visits, followed by a visit to page C in a separate visit.

Use Cases

The following are examples of how this type of segment can be used:

Create this segment

Aggregate containers

Adding multiple Hit containers within a Visitor container lets you employ the appropriate operators between the same type of containers, and to use rules and dimensions such as Page and Visit Number to define the page view and provide a sequence dimension within the Hit container. Applying logic at the Hit-level lets you constrain and combine matches at a same-level of hits within the Visitor container to build a variety of segment types.

Example: Visitors visited page A after the first hit in the sequence of page views (page D in the example), then visited either page B or page C without regard to the number of visits.

Use Cases

The following are examples of how this type of segment can be used:

Create this segment

“Nesting” in sequential segments

By placing checkpoints at both the Visit and Hit level, you can constrain the segment to meet requirements within a specific visit as well as a specific hit.

Example: Visitor visited page A then visited page B in the same visit. In a new visit, the visitor then went to page C.

Create this segment

Exclude hits

Segment rules include all data unless you specifically exclude Visitor, Visit, or Hit data using the Exclude rule. It allows you to dismiss common data and create segments with more focus. Or it allows you to create segments excluding found groups to identify the remaining data set, such as creating a rule that includes successful visitors who placed orders and then excluding them to identify “non-purchasers.” However, in most cases it is better to create rules that exclude broad values rather than trying to use the Exclude rule to target specific include values.

For example:

The Exclude operator can be employed to identify a sequence where specific visits or hits are not performed by the visitor. Exclude Checkpoints can also be included within a Logic Group.

Exclude between checkpoints

Enforce logic to segment visitors where a checkpoint did not explicitly occur between two other checkpoints.

Example: Visitors that visited page A and then visited page C—but did not visit page B.

Use Cases

The following are examples of how this type of segment can be used:

Create this segment

Create a segment as you would for a simple, mixed-level, or nested sequential segment and then set the EXCLUDE operator for the container element. The example below is an aggregate segment where the three Hit containers are dragged to the canvas, the THEN operator assigned to join the container logic, then exclude the middle page view container to include only visitors that went from page A to Page C in the sequence.

Exclude at beginning of sequence

If the exclude checkpoint is at the beginning of a sequential segment, then it ensures that an excluded page view did not occur before the first non-excluded hit.

For example, A restaurant wants to see users who tend to avoid the main landing page and go directly to the Order Out page. You can view this data by excluding hits to the landing page and including hits to the Order Out page in a sequential segment.

Create this segment

Create two separate Hit containers within a top-level Visitor container. Then set the EXCLUDE operator for the first container.

Exclude at end of sequence

If the exclude checkpoint is at the end of a sequence, then it ensures that the checkpoint did not happen between the last non-excluded checkpoint and the end of the visitor sequence.

For example, a clothing store wants to see all visitors that viewed a product page but never visited their shopping cart afterward. This example can be simplified to a visitor going to page A then never going to page B in current or subsequent visits.

Create this segment

Build a simple sequence segment by dragging two Hit containers to the canvas and connecting them using the THEN operator. Then assign the EXCLUDE operator to the second Hit container in the sequence.

Logic Group containers

Logic Group containers are required to group conditions into a single sequential segment checkpoint. The special Logic Group container is available only in sequential segmentation, to ensure its conditions are met after any prior sequential checkpoint and before any following sequential checkpoint. The conditions within the Logic Group checkpoint itself may be met in any order. By contrast, non-sequential containers (hit, visit, visitor) do not require their conditions to be met within the overall sequence, producing unintuitive results if used with a THEN operator.
The Logic Group container was designed to treat several checkpoints as a group, without any ordering among the grouped checkpoints. In other words, we don’t care about the order of the checkpoints within that group. For example, you can’t nest a Visitor container within a Visitor container. But instead, you can nest a Logic Group container within a Visitor container with specific Visit-level and Hit-level checkpoints.

Logic groups may seem daunting - here are some best practices on how to use them:

Logic Group or Hit/Visit container?
If you want to group sequential checkpoints, then your “container” is Logic Group. However, if those sequential checkpoints must occur within a single hit or visit scope, then a ‘hit’ or a ‘visit’ containers are required. (Of course, ‘hit’ does not make sense for a group of sequential checkpoints, when one hit may credit no more than one checkpoint).

Do Logic Groups simplify building sequential segments?
Yes, they can. Let’s assume you are trying to identify this segment of visitors: Visitors that viewed page A, then viewed each of the pages of B, C, and D

You can build this segment without a Logic Group container, but it’s complex and laborious. You must specify every sequence of pages that the visitor could view:

A Logic Group container greatly simplifies building this segment, as shown here:

Build a Logic Group segment section_A5DDC96E72194668AA91BBD89E575D2E

Like other containers, Logic Group containers can be built in multiple ways within the Segment Builder. Here is a preferred way to nest Logic Group containers:

Logic Group checkpoints in any order

Using the Logic Group lets you meet conditions within that group that reside outside of the sequence. This allows you to build segments where a Visit or Hit container happens irrespective of the normal hierarchy.

Example: Visitors who visited page A, then visited page B and page C in any order.

Create this segment

Page B and C are nested in a Logic Group container within the outer Visitor container. The Hit container for A is then followed by the Logic Group container with B and C identified using the AND operator. Because it is in the Logic Group, the sequence is not defined and hitting both page B and C in any order makes the argument true.

Another example: Visitors who visited page B or page C, then visited page A:

The segment must match at lease one of the logic group’s checkpoints (B or C). Also, logic group conditions may be met in the same hit or across multiple hits.​

Logic Group first match

Using the Logic Group lets you meet conditions within that group that reside outside of the sequence. In this unordered first match segment, the Logic Group rules are identified first to be either a page view of page B or page C, then the required view of page A.

Example: Visitors that visited either page B or page C, then visited page A.

Create this segment

Page B and page C dimensions are grouped within a Logic Group container with the OR operator selected, then the Hitcontainer identifying a page view of page A as the value.

Logic Group exclude AND

Build segments using the Logic Group where multiple page views are aggregated to define what pages were necessary to be hit while other pages were specifically missed. ****

Example: Visitor visited Page A, then explicitly did not visit page B or C, but hit page D.

Create this segment

Build this segment by dragging Dimensions, Events, and pre-built Segments from the left panes. See Building a Logic Group Segment.

After nesting the values within the Logic Group, click the Exclude button within the Logic Group container.

Logic Group exclude OR

Build segments using the Logic Group where multiple page views are aggregated to define what pages were necessary to be hit while other pages were specifically missed.

Example: Visitors that visited page A, but did not visit either Page B or Page C before Page A.

Create this segment

The initial B and C pages are identified in a Logic Group container that is excluded, and then followed by a hit to page A by the visitor.

Build this segment by dragging Dimensions, Events, and pre-built Segments from the left panes.

After nesting the values within the Logic Group, click the Exclude button within the Logic Group container.

Build time-within and time-after segments

Use the Within and After operators built in to the header of each container to define the time, events, and count.

You can limit matching to a specified duration of time by using the Within and After containers and specifying a granularity and count. The Within operator is used to specify a max limit on the amount of time between two checkpoints. The After operator is used to specify a minimum limit on the amount of time between two checkpoints.

After and Within Operators section_CCAF5E44719447CFA7DF8DA4192DA6F8

The duration is specified by a single uppercase letter representing the granularity followed by a number representing the repetition count of the granularity.

Within includes the endpoint (less than or equal to).

After does not include the endpoint (greater than).

Use the After operator

Example: Visitors that visited page A then visited page B only after 2 weeks.****

Create the Segment: This segment is created by adding a Visitor container with two Hit containers. You can then set the THEN operator, and open the AFTER operator drop down and set the number of weeks.

Matches

When given “After 2 weeks”, if a hit to page A happens on June 1 2019, at 00:01, then a following hit to page B will match as long as it comes before June 15 2019 00:01 (14 days later).

Use the Within operator

Example: Visitors who visited page A then visited page B within 5 minutes.

Create the segment: This segment is created by adding a Visitor container, then dragging with two Hit containers. You can then set the THEN operator, and open the AFTER operator drop down and set the interval: hits, page views, visits, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, quarters, or years.

Matches

Matches must occur within the time limit. For the expression , if a visitor hits page A happens at 00:01, then a following hit to page B will match as long as it comes on or before 00:06 (five minutes later, including the same minute). Hits within the same minute will also match.

The Within and After operators

Use Within and After to provide a maximum and minimum endpoint at both ends of a segment.

Example: Visitors that visited page A then visited page B after 2 weeks but within 1 month.

Create the Segment: Create the segment by sequencing two Hit containers within a Visitor container. Then set the After and Within operators.

Matches

Any visitors hitting page A on June 1, 2019 are returning after June 15, 2019 00:01, but before July 1, 2019 are included in the segment. Compare with Time Between Exclusions.

The After and Within operators can be used together to define a sequential segment.

This example depicts a second visit to hit page B after two weeks but within a month.