Title: Journeys
Author: Abdul Rahim
Published: November 19, 2025
Last modified: July 22, 2026

---

 1. [User handbook](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/)
 2. [The Parse.ly Dashboard](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/dashboard/)
 3. [Traffic menu](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/dashboard/traffic-menu/)
 4. Journeys

#  Journeys

## **Overview**

Parse.ly Journeys combines acquisition, content, and conversion data in a single
view, enabling you to understand the journey from first click to outcome.

By visualizing audience pathways in an interactive Sankey diagram, Journeys helps
teams uncover high-performing entry points, compare traffic sources, and invest 
in the content and channels that truly drive conversions.

 * **For media:** See which articles bring in readers, how they’re discovered, and
   which ones drive subscriptions. Journeys highlights the stories that build loyalty
   and the channels that deliver your most engaged readers.
 * **For enterprise:** Connect campaigns, content, and on-site behavior to measurable
   conversions. Journeys reveals which assets influence outcomes, helping you refine
   acquisition and content strategies with confidence.

**Note**

Journeys works best when **[Conversions](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/dashboard/optimization-menu/conversions-tab/)**
tracking and **[Google Search Console (GSC)](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/tools-features/google-search-console/)**
are enabled for your account. Only [users with access](https://docs.parse.ly/site-settings/users/#edit-access)
to **Campaigns**, **GSC**, and **Conversions** data will be able to view the full
reader pathways.

## **Why use Journeys**

Journeys makes it easier to understand and optimize the performance of your acquisition
and content strategies. With it, you can:

 * **Identify top-performing campaigns and keywords** — See which ones generate 
   the most conversions.
 * **Understand content entry points** — Discover which articles best capture new
   visitors.
 * **Compare channels** — Find out whether campaigns or organic search drive more
   valuable traffic.
 * **Optimize strategy** — Focus on high-performing conversion types and improve
   the efficiency of your conversion pipeline.

## **Key features**

 * View reader journeys covering up to the **last 91 days**.
 * Adjust the number of **top posts (first content)** displayed — from 3 up to 40.
 * Switch between **top-performing** and **least-performing** entry sources.
 * Explore **aggregated paths** in an interactive **Sankey diagram**.
 * Use **pinning** to highlight specific pathways for a given entry source, first
   content, or conversion event.

## **How to use Journeys**

 1. In your Parse.ly dashboard, open the **Traffic** menu and select **Journeys**.
 2. If your account includes Google Search Console data, switch between **traffic sources**(
    e.g., Campaigns or GSC) using the **Traffic Source** toggle.
 3. Use filters to narrow down your view:
 4.  * Show **top-performing first content**.
     * Explore **specific pathways** for converting or non-converting content.
     * Sort the Sankey diagram by **number of views** to entry sources.
     * Expand the **date range** to include more data.
 5. Use the **pinning** feature to highlight important pathways — for example, a specific
    campaign, article, or conversion type.

![](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/11/image-8-1-scaled.png)

## **Requirements**

| **Component** | **Required for full experience** | **Description** | 
| Campaigns | ✅ | Needed to view acquisition sources such as campaign UTM data. | 
| GSC (Google Search Console) | ✅ | Enables organic keyword and search source tracking. | 
| Conversions | ✅ | Connects reader journeys to measurable business outcomes. |

## **Access**

Journeys is enabled for all Parse.ly accounts but can only be accessed by users 
with permission to view the relevant Parse.ly features. Admins can manage user access
and permissions by following the steps in our guide: [Edit user access](https://docs.parse.ly/site-settings/users/#edit-access).

## **Best practices**

 * **Enable Conversions** tracking to visualize the complete reader flow from acquisition
   to conversion.
 * **Connect Google Search Console** to include organic search data in your pathways.
 * **Compare multiple date ranges** to understand how reader journeys change over
   time.
 * **Pin key campaigns or articles** to monitor their downstream impact.

Last updated: July 22, 2026