Heat Maps: understanding user site navigation

What are Heat Maps?

Did you know that your web navigation is currently being tracked? Don’t worry; you’re not in an Orwellian Big Brother scenario. It’s simply a part of web marketing. Today, we’re discussing heatmaps, which are an analysis tool that visually displays user actions on web pages.

The goal? To optimize website usability to increase conversions:

• Usability refers to the ease of use, understanding, and navigation of a website.
• Conversions are the actions that users take online. For example, in e-commerce, conversions mean purchases.

So, if you’ve been active online but struggle to generate traffic, make your call to action effective, or are about to create a website and want confirmation of its effectiveness, then heatmaps are for you.

The concept is simple: scroll, mouse movements, and clicks are monitored and transformed into color concentrations that show the usage density of various sections of a web page using specialized software.

The areas with the most user interaction are marked with warm colors like red and orange, while areas with fewer interactions are in cool colors like green and blue. The world of data has never been so appealing.

So, if you think internet analytics are boring and complicated, it’s time to reconsider. In fact, the creator of this tool was Cormac Kinney, who developed the idea in the mid-’90s to provide stock market operators with a visual tool to facilitate reading financial data.

At this point, paraphrasing Woody Allen: Here’s everything you wanted to know about heatmaps but were afraid to ask!

Interaction Design and Content Marketing

With heatmaps, it’s possible to deduce the quality of official websites, e-commerce sites, and blogs, and the effectiveness of interaction-based marketing strategies like banners and calls to action.

But let’s take it step by step: Have you ever stopped to think about what characteristics determine the success of your web channels?

When users browse the internet, they primarily look for two things:

• Ease of use and immediate understanding of the site’s layout.
• Useful information.

As a result, site design and content are the key elements to focus on to best satisfy users. Therefore, to optimize a website, it’s essential to work on these two major areas. With heatmaps, understanding the effectiveness of design and content is straightforward.

Interaction design: As mentioned earlier, heatmaps aim to optimize website usability. But have you ever wondered what determines usability?

The answer is simple: good usability comes from a good interface, which is the element that facilitates interaction between the user and the computer system.

This interaction is built through interaction design strategies (page construction) that aim to make the user’s approach to the elements and content within the site intuitive and immediate.

With the strategies of interaction design, you structure the site by thinking about the logical arrangement of everything that the user can click, touch, scroll, or select. At this point, it becomes clear how the primary purpose of the interface is to make navigation within a site smooth to ensure its success.

This gives us great power: through the construction of the site’s architecture, we have the ability to invisibly guide the user where we want them to go, but this only happens when we are good at building the interface’s architecture correctly.

If we make a mistake, the user will be confused, and this confusion will manifest in mouse movements on the site and therefore on heat maps. If the movement tracking is chaotic, fast, and inconsistent, we will have confirmation that the user is having difficulty navigating the path we have created for them.

In this case, aware of the problem, we can intervene to improve navigability and usability. In this light, heat maps are also very useful for examining the responsive versions of your sites on different devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

Content marketing: On one hand, interaction design ensures ease of use, while the inserted content determines user conversion. Without these, the structure would remain an empty shell.

If my site doesn’t take off or the call to action doesn’t work, perhaps it’s because I can’t provide the necessary information or because the invitations to action are not convincing and effective.

Therefore, for the success of a website, interaction design, and content marketing must go hand in hand, and the analyses performed must always take into account how these two elements influence each other.

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Different analysis for different actions

Since heat maps study user behavior within a web page, and users are inclined to perform different actions, there will also be different types of maps, all essential for gaining an understanding of the effectiveness of the constructed interaction design:

• Hover heat map: Indicates mouse movement on the interface
• Click heat map: Shows the most and least clicked elements
• Scroll heat map: Reveals the time spent at different depths on the site

Hover Heat Map

The hover heat map tracks mouse movements on the web page, showing areas where users move their mouse. Thanks to this type of analysis, it is possible to verify which areas of the site are most used and which are less used or even ignored.

This way, it will be easy to reorganize the elements of the page based on their importance to us. If important content is placed in the blue zones, where interaction is minimal, then it may be worth considering moving that element to the red zones, where users stop more frequently.

Vice versa, less relevant content, such as old articles, can be placed in less frequented areas by users to give more relevance to others. However, one should not fall into the mistake of thinking that mouse movement corresponds perfectly to eye movement; therefore, it is important to integrate this type of analysis with the other two types.

Click Heat Map

Click Heat Map is the analysis that considers the clicks (or taps in the case of smartphones and tablets) made by various users: blue points indicate areas with fewer clicks, red ones indicate areas with more clicks, and yellow dots, almost white, indicate areas with the highest concentration of interactions.

Behind each click and “non-click” hide a wealth of useful information that we can use to optimize our marketing strategy. For example, if we have included a call to action but it has very low click numbers, it could be thought that the chosen message is not effective enough, or perhaps the element to click on is placed in a rarely used area.

Aware of this, it is possible to try other solutions to achieve the desired goal and encourage users to take action. But we can also deduce indirect solutions: if there is a particularly clicked element on the site, we can consider placing relevant content near it that users should see.

In this way, we will use the already strong elements to strengthen the weak ones. If, for example, a picture on my site receives many clicks but is not linked to anything, it means that the user expects to find more information about it, and it will be necessary to create a link for that element.

Scroll Heat Map

The scroll heat map is a visual representation of the amount of time visitors spend on the site in relation to their scrolling behavior, allowing you to understand whether the user scrolls deeply on a single page or stays mostly in the initial part.

The so-called scroll depth can be an important indicator of how users perceive the quality of your site’s content. By using this information, it’s possible to redefine the priority of site content and how it is consumed, for example, by adjusting its length or logical arrangement.

The performed analyses are represented as a color gradient: it starts by indicating the starting point of the page in red and then moves to blue for the less interesting portion of the page.

The results can both provide you with input for reconsidering the placement of important elements as well as serve as a check of the underlying content’s concept. Given the uniqueness of the analysis, it’s also possible to obtain the results in percentages.

This way, you can understand whether your visitors have viewed the page in question in its entirety or, for example, only at 25%, 50%, 75%, etc.

Some analysis tips

Before using heatmaps, it is essential to understand how to approach this specific type of analysis to make the most of its potential. So, when you find yourself in front of your color patches, remember that you should observe them by following some important tips that can make a difference.

• Be deductive and use lateral thinking: To look at a heatmap, you need to go beyond appearances. The highlighted areas are not the endpoint of the analysis but the starting point, to begin a broader path that leads to reasoning about the mechanisms hidden behind that data movement and therefore behind those results. For this reason, it will be crucial to approach it with deductive detective reasoning, using lateral thinking as much as possible, understanding that an effect can be triggered by not immediately evident causes.
• Don’t think in separate compartments: To activate deductive and lateral thinking, it’s necessary not to think in separate compartments but consider all elements and results as part of a single ecosystem where everything influences each other. For example, if the call to action on my site doesn’t receive many clicks, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the cause is solely in these elements because, perhaps, the inhibition of clicks is due to other site elements (as will be seen shortly in the next paragraph). So, to provide as detailed an overview as possible, it will be crucial to use all types of heatmaps (hover, click, and scroll).
• Remember that strength lies in unity: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that heatmaps alone are enough to optimize a website; as always, unity is strength. To fully leverage the potential of heat maps, it’s essential to complete the analysis of maps with other digital marketing systems to provide a comprehensive and detailed perception of the actions to improve your presence in the crowded world of the web.
• Be aware of weak points: Make sure to conduct this type of investigation when you have high numbers to base statistics on; otherwise, the data may not be very reliable.

Examples, deductions, and strategies

So far, it’s clear that analyses conducted with heatmaps offer the possibility to improve the layout of elements on your site. However, there are different types of websites: a freelancer’s website will be different from an e-commerce site, and a blog will differ from a magazine.

Therefore, the purpose of the website influences user behavior and consequently the construction of the interface. Below are three different examples for three types of sites, imagining hypothetical scenarios and the related strategies to apply.

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Official Website of a Business

Type: official website of an herbalist

Objective: the business aims to increase the conversion rate through newsletters.

Problem: the newsletter isn’t taking off; there are very few subscribers compared to the site’s generated traffic. The call to action for subscription is placed on the homepage with the text “subscribe to the newsletter.”

Analysis: the analysis reveals that the placement of the newsletter call to action is in a high-traffic area, indicated by a red zone. Since the element is well-positioned within the page, the issue of low subscriptions must be found elsewhere.

Deduction: if the placement is effective, then perhaps improving the text of the call to action is in order.

Strategy: introducing a call to action such as “receive updates and promotions” could attract users more effectively and persuade them to subscribe.

E-commerce

Site Type: shoe e-commerce

Issue: despite a wide range of offerings, the site has few sales.

Objective: optimize sales.

Analysis: heatmaps generated from clicks highlight a lack of interaction with the purchase-oriented call-to-action buttons.

Deductions: the analysis indicates that the call-to-action buttons are placed effectively, so where does the problem lie?

By examining the head scroll maps, it is noticeable that users make frantic scrolling movements as if searching for something. At this point, it becomes evident that the product descriptions are not comprehensive.

An online shopper, lacking the opportunity for a tangible product experience, expects detailed information to compensate for the virtual nature of the purchase. It is understood that the chaotic user movements are a result of an information deficiency that inhibits clicks on the call-to-action buttons.

Strategies: write more detailed text to provide users with all the information they need.

Online Magazine

Site: current affairs magazine

Issue: minimal time spent on fashion articles.

Objective: the magazine aims to enhance the content in the fashion section.

Analysis: once users select a fashion article to read, in most cases, they quickly scroll through the entire article or only linger on the first few lines before exiting the page without reading the content in full.

Deductions: perhaps the content provided for this type of article is too lengthy.

Strategy: make the content more concise by getting to the heart of the matter immediately, possibly in a more captivating manner, given the topic, so that the user can be instantly captivated by the key information.

Advertising and Banners

So far, we have seen how heatmaps provide the opportunity to place important elements strategically on the site. This operation is crucial when it comes to inserting banners or advertisements (images and videos), as these actions are always delicate and run the risk of annoying users.

A well-conducted analysis can also determine the success of these elements, which are often perceived as “spam.” In this case, there are two tasks to be performed:

• Try to insert ads related to the site’s topic.
• Place ads and banners in visible areas that do not disturb users too much.

Thanks to heat maps, it’s possible to evaluate strategic areas for placing banners. Perhaps I can place advertising space in the yellow zones, which have a good average visibility, or position them near highly clicked and considered elements.

This way, I can achieve the best results by fully exploiting user habits.

Social Business Page

Social media pages have also been analyzed using heat maps, and the results obtained are very useful for understanding what should not be missing on your business page, based on the reference social network, and how to make the most of these valuable channels:

• Facebook: Facebook’s heatmap shows that people spend more time looking at the profile picture and the first two posts on the page. Profile information at the top of the page also ranks high, as does the number of people following the page, located on the side. Beyond the halfway point of the page, there is a significant drop in interest, and primary interest is focused on the center of the page, where status updates have been posted. These analyses can help determine the elements to consider for your business page. It will be important to use an explanatory and captivating profile picture, write detailed information, always include the link to the official website, and provide a brief but comprehensive description of the activity. Among all these, it will be particularly important to pin the most interesting posts for your business, such as upcoming events or promotions.
• Twitter: the most notable display pattern on Twitter is the depth of the screen compared to other social networks. Due to the rapid pace of incoming tweets, users are accustomed to scrolling further down the page to view tweet streams.
• Google Plus: although it is larger, the Google+ profile picture does not attract as much attention as the Facebook profile picture. More attention is given to the name, slogan, and the first post. So, for Google Plus, these are the elements that should be highlighted.
• LinkedIn: in this case too, the profile picture receives many views and is one of the first things to be looked at; however, primary attention is focused on the section displaying a person’s education, connections, and recommendations. People scan down to work experience, but in most cases, they linger on the most recent job.

In conclusion, in general, social media heat maps have highlighted the importance of the profile picture and how users’ attention immediately focuses on the left area, where (conventionally) titles, names, links, and information are placed.

Another important element is the status updates: although status updates are dynamic, whatever is at the top is clearly important to visitors, so do not post updates just to keep the profile rich; alternatively, you can pin the most important posts at the top.

A/B Tests as Analysis Verification

Based on the analyses derived from heatmaps, it is possible to conduct A/B tests to verify if the changes made are indeed more effective than the original version of the website.

But what are A/B tests? It is a kind of “experiment” that makes two versions of the same element available online. In this specific case, based on the analyses conducted with heatmaps, it will be possible to consider another variant of the site derived from the deductions obtained from user behavior.

The first version of the page is shown to half of your users, and the second to the other half. In this way, once the test is conducted, it will be possible to evaluate if the second variant of the web page is indeed more effective and efficient than the first and if the deductions obtained from the heatmaps are correct.

For example, if you notice that your users never click on a red button-shaped call to action, it is possible to think that, in addition to the non-optimal placement, it is also a color problem; maybe red is perceived as a color to “avoid.”

Thanks to the A/B test, it will be possible to have real feedback to ensure the strategic success of your web communication.

Tools and Software

Now that you know how to approach this particular type of analysis, you can take action and try out the advantages offered by heatmaps through the appropriate tools.

Creating a heatmap for your website is not a difficult operation: you can download plugins to use directly within your CMS, or use web tools where you only need to enter the URL of the web page you want to monitor.

Among the most effective choices are: heatmap.js, and heatmap.me, Inspectlet plugin, Crazyegg, Clicky, Mouseflow, Lucky Orange, and Ptengine. In most cases, the tools available on the web differ mainly in the monitoring methods they offer, as we saw at the beginning, as well as in price.

Heatmaps on Google Analytics

Google Analytics also offers a service similar to what Heatmaps provide: the analysis tool in question is called “Page Analytics“, and it is a Chrome extension.

Once the extension is downloaded, you can load a single page that you are already monitoring with Analytics to obtain various information about user interaction, such as page views, average time spent, bounce rate, real-time visitor count, and click analysis on page elements.

These clicks are reported as thumbnails next to the clicked elements, with each thumbnail containing the corresponding click count. However, unlike heatmaps, this information is displayed in scorecards and not as a gradient of heat.

There are various tools to create heatmaps; you just need to find the one that suits your needs, your objectives, and your budget. At this point, all that’s left is to try them out.

If you want to acquire comprehensive knowledge and tools to optimize your digital marketing strategies for improving your business or becoming a reference point within your company, then discover the Web Marketing Course or the Business Innovation Program, and the web will no longer hold secrets for you.

Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or for additional details about Heat Maps. We’re here to provide you with support

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May Marcelino

Hello there! I’m passionate about a variety of interests, including playing badminton, diving into video games, indulging in movies and series, and exploring new destinations while listening to my favorite tunes. I thrive on learning, constantly seeking out new knowledge and experiences. My professional journey started in a call center, but I’ve transitioned into freelancing, dedicating myself to continuous improvement and striving to be the best at what I do.