Whether you want to reduce cart abandonment on your e-commerce website or get readers to respond to your Call to Action or  CTA, heat mapping can be your best solution. Heat maps are powerful tools that help you measure user interaction and find valuable ways to improve it and get more visitors and conversions. In this article, we will help you understand what heat maps are, types and benefits.

What is a Heat Map?

A website heat map is a data visualization tool that displays user behavior in a graphical representation similar to thermal imaging. The hottest areas, marked in red color on your website, receive the highest engagement, while the coldest, marked in blue color, receive the lowest engagement. By aggregating users, heat maps help you pinpoint elements or areas on your website that need more work.

Types of Heat Maps

There are several types of heat maps, but the most widely used are scroll maps, click maps, and mouse-tracking heat maps. Each heat map shares a common function of measuring user behavior on websites, but they all use different approaches. Knowing the difference is crucial as each type helps you investigate different aspects of your website’s performance.

Scroll Maps

Scroll maps record user behaviors that indicate problems with the format and length of your webpage. For instance, if a user stopped scrolling halfway through the page, you can easily assume that they lost interest or had trouble finding something within the page. That means that either your page is too long or too difficult to navigate. Scroll maps show the exact percentage of the people who stopped scrolling. The redder the area, the more visitors saw it.

Click Maps

Click maps simply show where users click the most or tap the most on your website. The map is color-coded to illustrate elements that have been clicked and tapped the most. This provides you with a clear picture of what CTAs users find more compelling and the problem areas in your website. Click maps also indicate the presence of a bug, broken link or other malfunction.

Mouse Tracking Heat Maps

Also known as hover maps, mouse-tracking heat maps combine scroll maps and click maps. This combination provides a bigger picture of how people interact with your websites. Mouse tracking heat maps track how far people scroll, where they click, and the entire mouse movement. This is a valuable tool if you’re looking to improve SEO ranking through links and keywords.

Eye-Tracking Heat Maps

Eye-tracking heat maps help you know the areas in your site that attract the most attention. This tool requires a special device or access to a user’s webcam. For instance, eye-tracking heat maps can tell you whether people are checking a beautiful photo on your website or the messages written below them. An eye-tracking heat map can be a valuable tool for measuring engagement.

Desktop & Mobile Heat Maps

Desktop and mobile heat maps help you to compare the performance of your website on multiple devices. For instance, content that is more prominent on a desktop page can sit much further below the fold on the phone. The heat maps help you check if interaction differs.

Benefits of Heat Maps

Heat maps provide businesses with a great customer experience and address serious issues with your web design that could hinder your business performance online. Here are a few significant benefits of heat maps.

Collect User Information

If you run a business online, having customer data helps you know which products are seen or checked more. This allows you to make critical decisions regarding sales pushes, marketing, and inventory. For instance, if you know that specific products drive more sales during a particular season, you can use that information to create timely email marketing.

Improve Customer Experience

While analytics help you know how long someone was on your websites, heat maps help explain this data better by showing the exact activities that made them stay on the page or why they left. For instance, if you notice an increase in activity from the information on top of the page, you will know that people are impressed or found what they were looking for on your site. This allows you to focus on areas that require more work.

Identify Navigation Issues

Navigation can break or make your website. Heat maps help you know whether your users are clicking on the right items that lead to the sales funnel. They allow you to see how readers interact with the information you provide and make a decision to either leave, request more information, or make a purchase.