Click

Definition

Click is the action (and sound) made with a computer’s mouse to select an item onscreen. It is also a verb: to click is to activate the mouse to make a selection. It is the selections being made that are of interest to marketers. [1]

The Internet Advertising Bureau defines the term click in several different ways: [2]

• a metric that measures the reaction of a user to an online advertisement (clickthroughs, in-unit clicks, and mouseovers)
• the opportunity for a user to download another file by clicking on an advertisement, as recorded by the server
• the result of a measurable interaction with an advertisement or key word that links to the advertiser’s intended website or another page or frame within the website
• a metric that measures the reaction of a user to linked editorial content

A clickstream is the path (i.e., order of pages) of a user through a website or series of websites while using the internet. It indicates what elements of a site are effective, and which are not. [1]
The analysis of clickstream data often yields significant customer insights, for example: [3]

• What path is a customer most likely to take prior to purchase?
• Is there a way to make the popular paths even easier to navigate?
• Should unpopular paths be changed or even eliminated?
• Do purchases come at the end of lengthy or short sessions?
• At what pages do sessions end?

See also

• Cost per click
• Clickthrough rate

References

1. Universal Marketing Dictionary Project, 2024.
2. IAB, Glossary of Interactive Advertising Terms v. 2.0., iab.net/media/file/GlossaryofInteractivAdvertisingTerms.pdf  (April 2014).
3. Farris, Paul W.; Neil T. Bendle; Phillip E. Pfeifer; and David J. Reibstein (2010). Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.