How to interpret conversions data

After Content Conversions have been enabled, it’s important to consider how conversions are calculated and attributed in the Parse.ly Dashboard.

Envision conversions via user journeys

The above chart shows three users’ journeys through a set of pages and how their page views count toward conversions. The conversion count is dependent on the attribution model: First Touch, Linear, Last Post Touched, or Last Touch.

The Last Post Touched model considers whether a page is a non-post (transactional: order confirmation, shopping cart, newsletter sign-up, etc. pages) or post (“meaningful content”: blog posts, landing pages, articles, etc.). This is an important conversion attribution option, as it gives credit to content, not a transactional page containing a form.

User 1

This user’s first page view is URL A, a non-post. Next, they visit a post page (URL B), and lastly, they navigate to another non-post page (URL C), where they convert.

Once the conversion takes place, Parse.ly retroactively attributes each page of the visitor’s journey with the appropriate credit:

• URL A (non-post): This is where User 1 arrived first, so it receives 1 First Touch conversion.
• URL B (post): This is User 1’s last post seen before conversion, so it receives 1 Last Post Touched conversion.
• URL C (non-post): This is the last page that User 1 viewed, so it receives 1 Last Touch conversion.
• URLs A, B, and C: User 1 visited three total pages on their journey to conversion. Each of these three pages receives an equal portion of 1 Linear conversion, or 1/3 (0.3) of a Linear conversion.

User 2

User 2 visits two pages: a post page, then a non-post page, where the conversion occurs.

• URL B (post): This is where User 2 arrived first, so it receives 1 First Touch conversion. It’s also the last post seen before conversion, so it receives 1 Last Post Touched conversion.
• URL D (non-post): This is the last page that User 2 viewed, so it gets 1 Last Touch conversion.
• URLs B and D: User 2 visited two total pages, and each receives an equal portion of 1 Linear conversion, meaning 1/2 (0.5) of a Linear conversion.

User 3

User 3 visits four pages on their way to converting:

• URL C (non-post): This is User 3’s first page view, so it gets 1 First Touch conversion.
• URL B (post): This page will get an equal portion of the Linear conversion.
• URL E (post): This is the last post visited before conversion, so it receives 1 Last Post Touched conversion.
• URL F (non-post): As the last page that User 3 viewed, this gets 1 Last Touch conversion.
• URLs C, B, E, and F: User 3 visited four total pages, with each getting an equal portion of 1 Linear conversion. Each receives 1/4 (0.25) of a Linear conversion.

Interpreting aggregate Linear conversions

As seen in the examples above, the Linear attribution model often results in fractional conversions being credited to pages. Looking at URL B in the chart, all three users visited this page, each giving it a portion of their Linear conversion: 1/3 + 1/2 + 1/4 Linear conversions. In this example, that results in URL B having a total of 1.083 Linear conversions from the three users.

This type of fractional Linear conversions data is reflected in the Dashboard, as well: