Digital marketers heavily rely upon data analytics tools to make informed decisions about various aspects of their initiatives. Heatmap testing is one of those useful tools with a wide variety of benefits. Read on for an introduction to heat maps as well as a guide to heat map testing platforms and how to go about implementing and analyzing them. Have additional questions about heat map testing or are interested in testing your own site? Learn more about Anvil’s extensive and thorough heat map testing services available for websites of all sizes.
What is a Heatmap?
Have you ever wondered which site elements get clicked on the most? Does the layout of your landing page present the best possible user experience? Those questions, and more, can be answered with a website heat map that visualizes the areas of a webpage users most frequently engage with. The most common coloring system utilizes red as the “hot spots” and blue as the areas of a page that get ignored.
Along with click data, heat maps also provide scroll data, move data, and recordings. Even better, you can get separate maps for desktop, mobile, and tablet web pages.
Heat Mapping Tools
The two most popular heat mapping tools are Hotjar and Crazy Egg. While a majority of their features are the same, there are a few differences that could dictate which tool you use.
- Hotjar is the most widely used tool, offers a free 15-day trial, and records move data, unlike Crazy Egg.
- Crazy Egg offers a free 30-day trial and records the amount of time users spend on-page elements, unlike Hotjar.
Despite their differences, both platforms offer the opportunity to deep dive into user behavior. As a bonus, they are both very quick and easy to install so the bulk of your time can be spent on analysis.
Create a Heatmap
As mentioned above, the creation of heatmaps and installation of code are straightforward. The steps will generally be the same for any tool.
- Configure your heat map settings. These include steps such as adding page URLs you wish to test and setting the duration of the test.
- Install the tracking code. Any heat mapping tool provides a code snippet that needs to be placed on the page getting tested. While you can accomplish this in a variety of ways, the easiest methods include:
- Google Tag Manager: Copy and paste your Crazy Egg account number into the tag setup, or copy and paste the Hotjar site ID.
- WordPress Plugin: Implementation will vary across different plugins; however, you will most likely copy and paste your account number or site ID.
- Manual: Copy and paste the code snippet into the <head> section of each webpage you are tracking.
Analyze a Heatmap
Are Users Clicking?
Web pages have all types of clickable elements: buttons, clicks, CTAs, videos, and downloads. Understand the site element users gravitate towards. This will help guide the elements which should be featured above the fold. For buttons, heat map testing is valuable for A/B testing to determine the most effective placement, coloring, and messaging.
Are Users Missing Important Information?
A scroll map helps to understand how far down users typically travel. If users commonly scroll about 50% down, site elements towards the bottom will get missed. If a conversion point lives at the bottom of the page, it is unlikely users will find it which means it should get moved to the top of the page.
Are Users Getting Confused?
Does your heatmap show users engaging with unclickable site elements? Are users quickly scrolling and jumping across multiple pages with no interaction with site elements? If you discover this activity during analysis, review the appearance of clickable vs non-clickable elements and revise their design to make it more clear for users. Review page layouts and interlinks to ensure users can find what they need.
Which Landing Page gets More Conversions?
Heat map testing is highly valuable for paid campaigns and any active landing pages. After users have clicked on the ad and come to the landing page, what happens? Do users follow through and convert? Do users miss the CTAs? If conversion points get ignored, perhaps their placement or messaging need work. Do users scroll and leave? Be sure that important information can be easily found.
Get clear insights about user behavior and understand how to improve your web pages with heat map testing. Contact Anvil Media today for more information on heatmap testing.