Core/Dash Dimension: Top level Pathname

Dimension: Top level Pathname (ff)

Individual URLs provide specific data. Top Level Pathname aggregates this traffic by the first directory in the URL path. This automatic grouping allows you to audit the performance of entire business units and templates in a single view.

The Purpose of Pathname Analysis

Performance bottlenecks often exist in the code structure rather than specific content. The Top Level Pathname maps directly to your application's route structure..

• Template Isolation: Grouping by catalog or inventory sections aggregates performance for every item in your database. If this entire path is slow, you have identified a flaw in the product page template rather than a single bad image.
• Architecture Comparison: Compare your CMS-driven content routes against your dynamic e-commerce routes. Significant variance in TTFB between these sections suggests that one stack is less performant than the other.
• Feature Auditing: Checkout funnels and cart pages often load heavy third-party scripts that other pages do not. This view isolates that impact so you can measure the cost of those integrations.

Metric-Specific Scenarios

Use pathname grouping to diagnose specific types of regression.

1. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): High LCP on media-rich catalog pages often points to a slow API call delaying the main product image. Conversely, high LCP on text-heavy blog routes usually indicates unoptimized hero images in the article template.
2. CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): If long-form content pages have a poor CLS score, check for ads or dynamic elements injected into the content body. If transactional steps shift, look for late-loading shipping calculators or trust badges.
3. INP (Interaction to Next Paint): A high INP on search interfaces indicates that your filtering or search logic is blocking the main thread. This identifies a need to optimize complex JavaScript interactivity.
4. TTFB (Time to First Byte): A disparity in TTFB between authenticated user areas and static landing pages highlights the cost of server-side rendering for logged-in users versus cached public pages.

Improving the Core Web Vitals

Use the Top Level Pathname to direct your engineering resources.

• Identify the Slow Path: Sort the table by Impact. Locate the directory (e.g., /blog/) with the highest volume of poor performance.
• Inspect the Constituents: Click the path to filter the dashboard. Switch to the URL dimension to view the individual pages comprising that group.
• Distinguish the Cause: Analyze the distribution of slow URLs within the path:

Systemic Failure: If the majority of URLs in the path are slow, the issue lies in the shared template code or backend logic. Fix the template to resolve the entire group.

Specific Outliers: If only a few high-traffic URLs are slow, specific content assets (like a heavy video or unoptimized image gallery) are skewing the aggregate p75. Optimize those specific pages to restore the path's health.