First-Click vs Last-Click Attribution

The First-Click vs Last-Click Attribution chart compares the channel that began a converting journey with the channel recorded immediately before conversion.

Use it to understand which channels tend to introduce converting visitors and which channels tend to close or recover those journeys.

The chart compares two attribution views of the same confirmed conversion activity:

First-Click assigns credit to the first recorded channel in the visitor’s attribution journey.
Last-Click assigns credit to the final recorded channel before conversion.

This feature is available when the selected website uses Cookie tracking. Persistent visitor identification is needed to connect touches across visits.

What the chart helps you answer

The chart can help you identify:

Channels that often introduce visitors who later convert.
Channels that appear more frequently at the end of converting journeys.
Whether visitors initially acquired through one channel later return through another.
Whether Direct traffic commonly closes journeys started elsewhere.
How the channel comparison changes when you use revenue instead of converting sessions.
How a particular conversion path, campaign, audience, or period differs from the wider website.

The chart is an attribution comparison. It does not claim that a channel caused the conversion on its own.

Before you begin

You need:

A website selected on the Conversion dashboard.
Cookie tracking enabled for that website.
At least one active conversion path with configured conversion zones.
Confirmed path-completion data.
Completed attribution processing for the selected period.

The chart uses confirmed conversion-path completions. Standalone zone conversions that do not complete a path are not included.

Choose the reporting scope

Use the Conversion dashboard filters before interpreting the chart.

Date range

Choose the period you want to analyse. Both the first and final dates are included.

Recent conversion and attribution data may not appear immediately because background processing must complete first.

Website

Choose the website whose conversions you want to analyse.

The chart does not combine websites. If no website is selected, Wheremore asks you to choose one.

Conversion path

Choose a particular path to analyse its completed journeys, or use all eligible paths for the selected website.

When all paths are selected:

Revenue includes every qualifying path completion.
Converting Sessions counts each session once, even if it contains more than one qualifying path completion.

Campaign

Choose a campaign to restrict the results to conversions whose attributed same-website touch history contains the selected utm_campaign .

Campaign matching is case-insensitive and uses the campaign value recorded by Wheremore.

Audience

The audience filter can separate:

Prospects — unauthenticated visitors.
Identified Visitors — authenticated visitors.
All Traffic — both groups.

This audience classification is different from attribution identity. A prospect can still have a persistent cookie identity, while an identified visitor represents a visitor authenticated on the monitored website.

Device

Where the dashboard provides a device filter, you can restrict the results to Desktop, Mobile, or Tablet conversions.

The device filter applies to the conversion record. The chart does not claim to track the same person reliably across different physical devices.

Choose the chart metric

Use the buttons in the chart header to switch between Revenue and Converting Sessions.

Revenue

Revenue compares the total recorded conversion value attributed to each channel under the first-click and last-click models.

Use Revenue when:

Your conversion paths contain meaningful values.
You want to compare channel value rather than conversion volume.
All included conversions use one consistent currency.

Wheremore does not convert currencies. Revenue is only displayed when every included completion has the same non-empty currency.

If the selected data contains missing or mixed currencies, Wheremore switches to Converting Sessions and explains why Revenue is unavailable.

Converting Sessions

Converting Sessions compares the number of distinct sessions credited to each channel.

Use it when:

Your conversions have zero or no monetary value.
You are measuring leads, registrations, enquiries, or other non-revenue goals.
You want to compare conversion volume rather than value.
Revenue cannot be combined because currencies differ.

Each qualifying session is counted once in each attribution model. If one session completes multiple selected paths, it still contributes one converting session to the comparison.

How Wheremore calculates the chart

Wheremore starts with confirmed conversion-path completions matching the selected filters.

Only fully attributed completions are included. A fully attributed completion has a persistent visitor identity and a completed attribution model.

For each qualifying conversion:

Wheremore reads the first recorded channel from its attribution model.
Wheremore reads the final recorded channel from the same model.
It assigns the conversion value to both channel views for the Revenue comparison.
For the Sessions view, it counts each qualifying session once.
It groups and normalises equivalent channel names.

Blank channel values are shown as Unknown.

Both series represent the same underlying selected conversion activity. They are alternative ways of assigning credit, not two separate sets of conversions.

How to read the chart

Each channel can have two bars:

The First-Click bar shows the result when the start of the journey receives credit.
The Last-Click bar shows the result when the final channel before conversion receives credit.

The chart orders channels by their combined importance in the current metric.

First-Click is higher

If a channel has a larger First-Click bar than Last-Click bar, it appears more often as an introducing channel than as the final conversion channel.

This can indicate an acquisition or discovery role. Visitors may first arrive through that channel and later return through Direct, organic search, email, or another source before converting.

Last-Click is higher

If a channel has a larger Last-Click bar than First-Click bar, it appears more often at the end of converting journeys.

This can indicate a closing, recovery, reminder, or navigational role. It does not necessarily mean the channel created the original demand.

The bars are similar

Similar bars can mean:

The channel frequently both introduces and closes its journeys.
Many journeys contain only one recorded channel.
Visitors remain within the same channel classification throughout the attribution window.

Revenue and sessions tell different stories

A channel can lead by sessions but not by revenue, or lead by revenue with relatively few sessions.

That difference can reveal:

Higher-value conversions from a smaller channel.
Many low-value conversions from a high-volume channel.
Different path or product mixes between channels.

Review both metrics when conversion values are available.

How Direct is treated

Wheremore uses a literal last-click model. If Direct is the final recorded channel before conversion, Direct receives last-click credit.

This may differ from advertising and analytics platforms that ignore Direct and instead credit the previous non-direct channel.

A large Direct last-click result often means visitors initially discovered the website elsewhere and returned directly before converting. It does not mean Direct necessarily originated those journeys.

This chart requires Cookie tracking because first-click and last-click comparison depends on connecting attribution touches through a persistent visitor identity.

With Cookie tracking, Wheremore can connect eligible visits made by the same browser identity within the attribution window.

With Cookieless tracking:

Each session remains isolated.
Wheremore cannot reliably reconstruct a multi-visit attribution journey.
The First-Click vs Last-Click chart is therefore hidden.

Cookie tracking does not provide reliable cross-device identity. A visitor using a phone and a laptop may still appear as separate identities.

What the chart does not show

The chart does not:

Prove that a channel caused a conversion.
Combine different currencies.
Include incomplete conversion paths.
Include standalone zone conversions.
Reliably identify the same visitor across devices.
Reproduce the attribution rules used by Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, or another platform.
Show results before conversion and attribution processing completes.
Use SEO market selection; it is scoped by website, conversion path, campaign, audience, date, and device.

Recommended workflow

Select the website and date range.
Start with all paths and all campaigns to understand the broad pattern.
Compare Revenue and Converting Sessions.
Look for channels with materially different first-click and last-click bars.
Filter to a conversion path to see whether the pattern belongs to a particular goal.
Filter to a campaign to evaluate its role in assisted journeys.
Review Channel Performance and Marketing Journey Mix for supporting detail.
Use Funnel Design Validation if the issue appears to be within the path rather than the acquisition channel.

Examples

Social has 30 converting sessions under First-Click and 10 under Last-Click.

This suggests Social commonly introduces visitors, but many return through another channel before converting. Judging Social only by last-click results would understate its discovery role.

Direct is stronger at last click

Direct has 5 converting sessions under First-Click and 25 under Last-Click.

This suggests visitors often return directly when ready to convert. Investigate which first-touch channels initially introduced those visitors.

Email is strong in both views

Email has similar first-click and last-click revenue.

Email may both start and close journeys, or its converting journeys may contain few other recorded channel touches. Review Marketing Journey Mix to see the actual channel sequences.

Exporting the chart

Use the chart menu to:

View the chart in full screen.
Download a PNG image.
Download a JPEG image.
Download a PDF document.
Download an SVG image.

The export reflects the current metric and dashboard filters.

Troubleshooting

The chart says to select a website

Choose a website in the Conversion dashboard filters.

If a website already appears selected, refresh the page and select it again. The chart uses the shared dashboard filter state.

The selected conversion path is not available

The selected path may:

Belong to another website.
Be inaccessible in the current workspace.
Be inactive.
Fall outside its active schedule.
Have been deleted or changed since the page loaded.

Select the website again, then choose an available path.

The chart is not displayed

Confirm that Cookie tracking is enabled for the selected website. The chart is intentionally unavailable for Cookieless tracking.

No attribution data is available

Check that:

The selected period contains completed conversion paths.
Conversion zones are configured and recording activity.
The selected path and campaign have qualifying completions.
Conversion and attribution background processing has completed.
The audience filter is not excluding the available conversions.

Revenue is unavailable

Revenue is disabled when included completions contain:

More than one currency.
A missing currency.
No qualifying revenue records.

Use Converting Sessions or narrow the filters to one consistent currency.

First-click and last-click values are identical

This can be valid. The selected journeys may contain one recorded channel or retain the same channel from introduction to conversion.

The totals differ from another platform

Wheremore:

Uses its own tracked conversion paths and zones.
Requires confirmed path completion.
Includes Direct as a literal last click.
Uses Wheremore’s attribution window and identity rules.
Applies the current Wheremore dashboard filters.

Other platforms may use different conversion definitions, consent states, attribution windows, identity methods, time zones, or rules for Direct traffic.

Recent conversions are missing

Conversion capture, attribution touches, attribution models, and dashboard aggregates are processed in the background. Allow processing to finish and reload the dashboard.

Key point

Use First-Click vs Last-Click Attribution to understand channel roles, not to choose a single universally “correct” attribution model.

First click is useful for recognising discovery. Last click is useful for understanding the final route to conversion. The most useful insight is often the movement between the two.