Heatmaps Can Make Your Website Hot

Posted November 9, 2022 in
IMPACT+ HQ IMPACT+ HQ

Sarah Bodman

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Your website can be optimized better. How do I know this? Because the only thing constant is change. User trends change so your website should change with them. Heatmaps can help track user behavior and give you insights on how to better optimize the site's layout and content. 


There are a variety of websites that provide heatmaps tools. Two of the most well-known are Hotjar and Lucky Orange. Both provide similar insights and features. However, I am a big fan of Lucky Orange because it is easier to read specific elements when exported to a CSV. What heatmap tools do you use and why? 


The top three items I focus on when I use Lucky Orange are:
  1. Clicked Elements - These are specific buttons, content, images, etc. which are clicked. Hot tip: Too few clicks can show user disinterest but too many clicks could be “Rage Clicks” which can show user frustration.
  2. Scrolls -  This shows how far users typically scroll down on a page via warm to cool colors. Hot tip: You don’t necessarily need users to scroll to the bottom of a page. While it may be nice to have all your content read, it is important to note a perceived “drop off” at a section could actually be a good thing. Users could be clicking a button that leads them off the page and further down the funnel. In that instance, they stop scrolling to move to the next step/page.
  3. Recordings - These are where you can view recordings of actual users who interacted on your website. Hot tip: While it may seem like “Big Brother” is watching, these are typically anonymous and can be very insightful. Watch recordings when you have a hypothesis and want to see how users interact with a specific element.


What interesting findings have you discovered from heatmaps?



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Mary Brown
Sarah Bodman  I can't tell you how many times I looked at top elements in a heatmap and made a particular assumption, and then completely changed my view of the behavior after checking that assumption in the recordings. Such a powerful tool!
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Fabrizio Colombi
I agree! there are plenty of tools out there but the best ones are Lucky Orange and HotJar. I used to like HotJar more due to the general UI/UX but Lucky Orange I've come to find is truly the easiest one to work with. They have also revamped their UI/UX from the Classic version to the current version and its a game changer.
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