A heatmap is a visual guide showcasing your page visitors’ exact clicks in a CRO ( Conversion Rate Optimization) tool. When the area on your heatmap gets brighter, clicks are more frequent. The darker area, on the other hand, involves a lower frequency of clicks. Using heatmaps can be very easy. In this article, we will learn conversion rate optimization using heatmaps.
There is so much that can go wrong when a visitor reaches your eCommerce website. The idea that your website’s landing page can make or break your conversions is not born out of thin air. However, many pitfalls can decrease or halt the customers’ point of arrival on your website.
It all comes down to what desired action you take to optimize the conversion rate on your website. This is where heatmaps can become the best ally for your eCommerce website. After an analytical review, a heatmap can display problems and optimization chances so that you can increase your site’s conversion rate.
What is a Website Heatmap
In essence, a website heatmap refers to a collective set of recordings that encompasses all the mouse movements and clicks of your online visitors. Simultaneously, the colors highlight the frequency of clicks. Red, for instance, represents the “hottest” with the highest click frequency, while blue signifies the “coolest” as the lowest frequency of clicks.
Contrary to naïve misconception, conversion rate optimization using heatmaps is easy to understand. The visualization pattern can give you a comprehensive insight as to which portion of your page is getting the most attention from your visitors.
If you operate an online eCommerce business and opting for a higher conversion rate, you will inevitably have to use website heatmaps like a scroll, move, click heatmaps. These heatmaps are perfect for finding out about your visitors’ interactions and behavior on your eCommerce site.
What are the Different Types of Heatmaps?
- Click map
Click maps displays where most of your visitors clicked on a specific page. With the utilization of click maps, you can get rid of page distractions and further streamline the user experience on your eCommerce website. You can also find out solutions that might be distracting the design factors of your eCommerce website.
What’s interesting is that you can use click maps to recognize problems where people are clicking on product items that are no longer clickable. Additionally, you can find out a wide array of elements that might not be interested to your visitors in terms of clicks. You can, of course, learn about other factors that visitors are consistently clicking on.
- Scrollmap
With scroll maps, you can find out the exact entry point and exit points of a page. In fact, you can get data as to where your visitors scroll down and where they decide to leave. And all you will have to do is divide your eCommerce web page into multiple folds.
By utilizing this heat map, you can check till what exact fold your visitor had the most interest. Ideally, scroll maps are perfect for extensive web pages; such as a blog post that contain a lot of information. After implementing this heatmap on your dedicated blog, you can keep an eye on your visitors’ interactions and interests.
- Movemap
Website Movemap is suitable when your targeted users are using specifically a desktop computer. These are valuable for pinpointing where your users move their mouse on the monitor screen throughout the page. If the mouse cursor remains for a long time, it will get hotter.
The ‘hot’ spots essentially represent where your visitors like to pause. Move map practically shows you a sense of direction as to where people “may” be searching for on your web page. Clickmap, Scrollmap, Movemap can guide you to understand everything you need to know about your visitors.
How Useful are Heatmaps to Optimize a Page?
Well, heatmap analytics can help you find out where your visitors are searching for more data through the regularity of total clicks. In a few instances, you can find new chances to link useful and important content on your website. The idea is to increase the relevance of the content because of its significance to visitors.
Although it depends on what visitors click on, you can deploy unique content strategies. After that, you can compare the heatmap information with your analytical set of data. For instance, you might see a trend of the most utilized filter that better categorizes items on your website page.
Interestingly, you can compare the same data with paid search data and get more keyword research about your visitors. Maybe your visitors are using a specific filter to expand or narrow down items. In any case, the key is to get more content ideas through keyword research that might help you attain more relevant visitors. Remember, you can use this information to improve the functionality, structure, and design of your eCommerce website.
What are the Tools Available for Heatmaps
Although there is a multitude of solutions, you should opt for the following top three (3) heatmap tools:
- Hotjar
HotJar webpage heatmap is a platform that allows you to understand even the most complex user behavior to improve overall user experience. You shouldn’t, however, make Hotjar heat-mapping platform as a substitute to Google Analytics.
Apart from the clear visualization of a heatmap, you can check the scroll depth of each page. With Hotjar, you can also enjoy the perks of screen recordings, a click heatmap, and sales funnel analytics application.
- Crazyegg
CrazyEgg is arguably the most recognized heat-mapping tool that the marketplace has to offer. The best part of the software is how you can take a snapshot of practically any specific URL. After that, you can gather data from each visitor’s click and set overlays on top of your web page.
If you desire detailed visitors’ data, Crazyegg can make that wish true. It doesn’t just display where users are clicking; it can also show you which countries your users originate, the type of device to access your eCommerce website, and other resourceful intelligence.
- HumCommerce
HumCommerce is an eCommerce-based conversion rate optimization tool that is free of cost. It offers behavioral analytics that can show you entire session recordings of your visitors. With its conventional analytics, you can find traffic sources and segmented traffic data. HumCommerce also allows you the freedom to produce three different kinds of heatmaps (i.e., click, scroll, and move).
Role of Heatmap in Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization may be the Holy Grail for eCommerce websites, but it’s the map that offers a wealth of data related to users’ entire browsing decisions. In simple terms, a heatmap showcases clear and unclear friction points.
Without this functionality, you wouldn’t be able to find website elements that might be clickable but aren’t remotely static. Furthermore, using heatmaps helps you understand how your users interact with CTAs. That’s fundamental to page interactions because it illustrates which parts of the page visitors prefer to interact with the most.
Measure CTA performance using heatmaps – HumCommerce.
As a result, you also find certain page elements that discourage users from continuing down the conversion path. And when you have color-coded conversion paths, you can quickly grasp the insights. A heatmap is essential to CRO because it collects data from many visitors.
It is the age of digitalization, where you don’t have to leave behind the comfort of your workstation to get valuable insights. Gone are the days when you had to spend on focus groups to get users’ data. Besides, the accuracy of heatmaps is unparalleled and represents the correct likelihood of user interaction on your web page.
What Can You Learn from Heatmaps?
From bounce rate to page visits, a heatmap can tell you the complete story about your visitors. If your site has plenty of sliders, content, dropdowns, or other similar clickable factors, you can use a heatmap to track down the analytical data.
Heatmaps can practically help you track all of these elements to understand users’ interaction on your website. And setting up a heatmap is more instantaneous than you think. For experiments, you just need to insert the code into your eCommerce site. That said, you will need to gather a substantial amount of traffic in your heatmap to start experiments.
Common FAQs Related to Heatmap
- What are the uses of heatmaps in A/B testing?
Well, a heatmap is essentially a fundamental aspect of your visitors’ research strategy. The usability of heatmaps allows you to prepare more practical A/B tests. However, your A/B testing is interconnected with your sales funnel, customer testimonials, and even interaction value.
- How are heatmaps used for conversion optimization?
For starters, using a heat map helps you spot the exact areas that are getting the most attention. Though you may think this might be enough for conversion optimization, you can jump down the rabbit hole for heatmap analysis.
As much as clicks and scrolls on page matter, you can use heatmap analysis to determine what areas users are most drawn to when it comes to your product placements or sign-up buttons. And the more details you can find, the more opportunities for conversion rate optimization you will achieve.
- How is heatmap analysis done?
You can use heatmaps to gauge if your users are experiencing distractions on your eCommerce website. And heatmap analytics can help you identify which images resonate the most with your visitors. In simple terms, you can gradually prepare your website for conversions and observe what is effective and what isn’t.
What would happen without Heatmaps?
Without heatmaps, you would be able to see what page your users are clicking with more regularity. And when you don’t know which page is getting the most attention, you cannot logically change the page location. Without heatmaps, you also cannot find flaws in the designed pattern of your page flow. A heatmap shows you the readability and depth of your web pages.
Whether it’s website redesign, identification of location, on-page links, content improvement, pop-ups evaluation, usability audit, bounce rate, online conversion, review of distinct offers, or CTA analysis, your eCommerce website should be eternally grateful to heatmaps. Conversion rate optimization using heatmaps is crucial for eCommerce businesses.
Conclusion
Today, optimizing conversion rates using heatmaps is more cost-efficient and convenient for your eCommerce website than ever. In fact, there should be no reluctance on your side to make the most out of heatmaps for optimal conversion rate optimization.
Moreover, the significance of each tool can garner different results. However, you can select the ones that cater to your online business needs. In hindsight, a single glance at the heatmap can tell you about different factors that are increasing or decreasing the traffic on your eCommerce website.
Besides, you don’t necessarily have to conform yourself to boring charts or graphs. The advanced visualization of heat-mapping has captivating visual aesthetics that are easy to navigate. And how you contextualize a piece of information can help you increase your page performance, attain customers for an extended period, and generate more revenue than you can imagine.
