Website creators and administrators have become accustomed to viewing their content and structure primarily in the context of SEO and SEM . However, they sometimes forget that their primary purpose is to serve users and meet their needs. It turns out that sometimes small changes – for example, in a website's layout – can translate into significantly higher conversions. Heat maps can help identify visitors' expectations. Learn how they work!
What is a website heatmap?
A website heat map is a visual representation of user behavior. It's a tool that indicates which areas of a website are "hot," meaning they attract more attention, and which are "cold," meaning they're much less interesting from a visitor's perspective.
A heat map can be created in various ways and based on several types of data (more on this later). When prepared for a given website, it takes the form of a screenshot with spots marked in different colors . Deep red indicates the most interest, orange, yellow, and green are intermediate colors, while blues and purples indicate the "coldest" areas, which are least likely to attract any interest from internet users.
Heat maps show whether users:
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- they reach the most important information,
- easily find links, buttons and other references on the website,
- they focus their attention on unimportant elements,
- encounter obstacles to the free and comfortable use of the website.
Analyzing the data collected in the form of a heat map allows for a website to be significantly better tailored to user expectations and to enhance its functionality. The knowledge gained in this way can also significantly help increase conversions , i.e., the number of orders, quote requests, or other forms of contact with the company.
How are heat maps created?
A heat map is typically a cumulative composite of data collected from several studies. Sometimes it's associated with eye tracking, or with clickmapping. In reality, it's a combination of several types of information collected in different ways. The most common methods used to create heat maps include:
- click analysis – clicktracking,
- tracking page scrolling – scrolltracking,
- examining elements that attract attention – attentiontracking,
- tracking cursor movements on the screen – movetracking.
These can be presented as a combined report or as separate analyses. This data allows us to precisely understand user behavior and, consequently, tailor our website accordingly. This not only increases conversions, but also improves the user-friendliness of the website itself, and therefore, user satisfaction.
It's worth creating separate heat maps for your desktop and mobile site. This allows you to compare how users behave across devices and determine whether your site offers similar conversion rates across different devices.
Heat maps and eye tracking
Eye tracking is also a popular method for measuring visitor engagement and usability. While often presented as a heat map, this is a separate analytical tool. Eye tracking tracks eye movements. It's used in many areas, including website usability analysis.
During the procedure, a device that analyzes eye movements is connected to a computer. A focus group study is then conducted. Participants are asked to perform specific tasks on a given page. This allows them to determine, for example, how easy it is to find the required information or perform actions such as making a purchase or registering on a website. Data provided by eye tracking can be very valuable, but heat maps shouldn't be considered exclusive to this study. It can be part of a website analysis, but various tools are more commonly used to examine the aforementioned parameters.
It's also important to remember that eye-tracking research is conducted under simulated conditions, on a selected group of participants. Therefore, it isn't necessarily representative. Meanwhile, heat maps are typically created based on data collected from real website users in natural conditions.
Heat map – who needs it?
Are you wondering if creating a heat map is worth it? Do you even need this type of solution? It's a very useful option – provided, however, that the results obtained are properly analyzed and the conclusions drawn translate into actions to adapt the website to the expectations and needs of users. The benefits of creating a heat map will primarily be felt by those who:
- despite the ongoing SEO activities do not enjoy satisfactory conversion,
- are worried about high page bounce rates,
- they achieve good results in terms of organic visits, but much worse among mobile users,
- want to customize the page template to the user's needs,
- they have no idea how to make functional changes to the website,
- they want to find out whether the mechanisms used work as intended.
In short, heat maps are for anyone who wants to improve their website and make it more effective . A user-friendly, functional website is increasingly bringing tangible benefits. However, it's important to remember that heat map analysis is just one step in improving a website. SEO , competitor monitoring, and other activities shouldn't be overlooked . Only a holistic approach to website development can yield tangible results.
Website heat map – how to use it?
A carefully prepared heat map is an excellent source of information for website administrators. The question is: how to use it? There are many possibilities. Let's explore what the heat map data reveals and how it can be translated into a more functional and, more importantly, more effective website design.
It's long been known that website text is scanned rather than read by visitors. A heat map can tell you which elements attract visitors' attention, and therefore where to place the most important information. Scrolltracking can also help you understand where on the page users typically go. This may suggest the need to shorten or divide the content. It's also worth considering the presentation format – short paragraphs and bullet points containing concise information will yield much better results. Don't forget about headings either – they should be attractive and enticing, while also containing the most important keywords. At the very bottom of the page, you can include less important text from a user's perspective, which will nevertheless aid in website SEO.
- Improving site navigation
A heatmap analysis will tell you a lot about the effectiveness of the links on your page. Are the buttons and links generating the right amount of interest? Do users have trouble finding the offer tab or the icon that takes a product to the cart? A click-through rate test will also help you verify that the links in the text are in the right places. If their performance is unsatisfactory, try moving them to places that generate more interest from site visitors. It's also worth checking whether the links that are actually clicked lead to the most important tabs and help increase conversion rates. If the buttons aren't performing as well as they should, it might be worth enlarging them, highlighting them, or repositioning them. Also, make sure they contain a call to action (CTA) – a phrase that encourages action (e.g., "Check it out," "Order," "Learn more").
Heat map analysis may also reveal that some navigation elements are unnecessary. If a side menu, banner, or button isn't engaging, they may just be taking up valuable space that could be better served by something else.
- Detection of problem areas
Broken or invalid links, especially those placed in a high-click area, are a huge missed opportunity . A user who is tricked into doing so may become irritated and never return to the site! Therefore, it's important to check all links for functionality and fix them as soon as possible – especially if they are highly popular with internet users.
- More effective suggestions
Many online stores include sections on their product pages with other recommended or similar offers. It's worth checking whether this suggestion is actually working using a heatmap. If not, it might be worth changing the design or positioning of the section. It might seem like a minor detail, but it can significantly impact the user's time spent on the site and, even more importantly, conversions.
Responsive design is essentially a must-have for every website. It should display correctly on various devices and be functional and user-friendly regardless of the user's screen size. However, a website that is responsive in theory doesn't always offer the desired functionality for mobile users in practice. Creating a heat map can be very helpful in assessing a template and adapting it to user needs. If accessing key features and information requires endless scrolling, some elements obscure others, or buttons are misplaced, visitors will quickly lose patience and leave the page. These are unacceptable mistakes that can significantly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
Heatmap tools
Heatmap tools are widely available online. Most are paid, some offer limited free plans, and others offer free trials. Using them isn't complicated—usually, all you need to do is copy the tracking code to your website. Which ones are worth considering?
- Crazy Egg It creates heat maps based on clicks and page scrolling. It also presents click statistics for individual elements. Other features include A/B testing and session recording. Package prices start at $24. A 30-day trial is available.
- Hotjar This app offers many interesting features and is available at affordable prices. Prices vary and depend primarily on the number of page views analyzed each day. Importantly, Hotjar also offers a free plan, though it's obviously quite limited. Advanced features can also be tried for free during the trial period. A downside to the app is that it can slow down the page.
- Inspectlet This tool creates heat maps based on clicks, scrolling, and cursor movements. It also allows you to record your screen during visits, allowing you to see exactly how users navigate your site. Other tools offered include form analysis and A/B testing. A free package is available for testing basic features on a limited basis.
- Mouseflow It can track cursor movements, page scrolling, clicks, and attention-grabbing elements. Based on this information, it creates heat maps. It also allows you to record website user activity and conveniently browse the data. It also tracks activity between subpages and examines how users interact with forms. The cheapest package costs $24. A free plan for 100 visits per month is also available. A free 14-day trial is available.
The features offered by these tools are usually similar. Therefore, you can primarily focus on their functionality or data presentation. Most applications offer free trials – it's worth taking advantage of them to choose the right tool for your website . 🙂
Frequently asked questions about heat maps
A heat map is a graphical analytical tool that depicts user behavior and activity on a website using a color scale. Areas where users click most often, move their cursor, or gaze the longest are marked with "warm" colors (red, orange). Areas ignored or visited less frequently remain "cool" (blue, green).
There are three types of maps most commonly used in web analytics:
- Click maps: Show which elements (links, buttons, graphics) users click on most often.
- Hover/Move maps: Tracks the user's mouse movements, which often reflects the path their eyes take when reading a page.
- Scroll maps: Illustrate how far (to what point) users scroll on a given page before leaving it.
Heatmaps allow you to accurately identify design flaws and improve user experience (UX). They'll help you understand whether key buttons (like "Buy Now" or a contact form) are visible, which elements are distracting customers, and why users abandon their carts or miss important information at the bottom of the page.
Rage clicks are when an irritated user repeatedly clicks on a single element because it's unresponsive (e.g., a broken button or an image that looks like a link but isn't). Clickmaps immediately expose such areas, recording a massive cluster of "hot" spots, which is a clear signal that the website needs urgent technical improvement.
There are many popular tools available on the market that allow you to easily generate heatmaps by pasting a shortcode onto your website. Some of the most popular include Hotjar, Crazy Egg, Yandex Metrica, and the free Microsoft Clarity tool.
No. Heatmaps are a perfect complement to traditional analytics, not a replacement. Google Analytics provides hard quantitative data (how many people visited the site, where they came from, what the bounce rate was), while heatmaps provide qualitative context—they show how those people behave on the site itself and help understand the underlying causes of the statistics.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- A heat map is a visual representation of user behavior, with colors illustrating the areas of most and least interest to visitors. It is based on analysis of clicks, scrolling, attention, and cursor movements.
- Heatmaps allow you to analyze content, improve navigation, detect issues, and increase site responsiveness. Tools such as Crazy EGG, Hotjar, Inspectlet, and Mouseflow can create them.
