Heat Mapping

Creating an effective website design requires more than aesthetics—it requires empathy. Users spend time on your website to accomplish a task, whether it be finding news updates, buying products, or scheduling a meeting. And accomplishing that task means having to navigate the design you have prepared for them.

Every click, scroll, and hesitation is a glimpse into a user’s experience. Studying those interactions can help you to determine how your website is helping or hampering your users. 

What are Heat Maps?

Heat maps are powerful tools that can help visualize user interactions and make websites “kinder” and more effective, both for your visitors and for reaching your business goals. By using heat maps, you can identify hidden blockages or points of frustration that users encounter. 

A well-designed website will prepare the way for users to accomplish what they came to do, guiding them seamlessly to their goals without unnecessary effort. When we remove friction from their experience, your website’s metrics will improve -- but more importantly, your users’ experience will improve, and they will be all the more likely to return.

Types of Heat Maps

There are various types of heat maps that can help you understand how your users are interacting with your website.

Click Maps

Click maps show where users are clicking the most. They can reveal which elements on your website receive the most attention. This can help you assess whether your important buttons or links are positioned effectively, or if something is getting in the way.

Click maps can also alert you to “rage clicking”. You might have experienced this yourself: 

Imagine you are filling out an online form. The ‘submit’ button is clearly visible, but something is wrong with it. You click it, nothing happens. You click it again, still nothing happens, and now you’re getting mad. In your frustration, you click-click-click!-Click!-CLICK! it, and the stupid thing doesn’t do anything! You exit the website, annoyed that you wasted time on a form that wouldn’t submit.

Without click-tracking, the website owner would have no idea that this is happening. But a click map will identify these rage-inducing buttons without users having to take time to contact someone about it.

Scroll Maps

Scroll maps visualize how far down users scroll on a page. This helps you evaluate how engaged users are with your content and whether they’re reaching the information that matters most.

If users aren’t scrolling far enough to see important content, you’ll know it’s time to move that content higher up.

This is also a good opportunity to evaluate the flow of your content. Since users always start at the top and make their way down, it is crucial to put your most important information right at the top where users will have the best chance of seeing it. In short, don’t “bury the lead.” You only have a few seconds to communicate with a scrolling user. 

Scroll maps help you to see how much of your content users are actually seeing.

Movement Tracking Maps

Movement tracking maps track cursor movement and hover behavior, providing insights into what users focus on as they navigate. 

Generally speaking, a person’s eyes go where the mouse cursor goes. By analyzing mouse movement, you can determine whether users are intrigued or confused by certain parts of your web pages.

Heat maps benefit users and your business

Heat maps are not just about improving website metrics. Of course, paying attention to heat maps certainly will have a positive impact on your metrics. But don’t forget that people lay behind those statistics.

Heap maps are aimed at understanding and accommodating your users. Here are some of the benefits of caring about what happens to your users while on your website:

Understanding User Intent

Heat maps provide invaluable insight into what users are genuinely interested in and where they might be struggling. If users are missing an important button or link because it isn’t eye-catching enough, heat maps can help you identify design adjustments that will improve a button’s visibility.

Identifying Frustrations

Sometimes users repeatedly click on non-interactive elements, which is a clear sign of frustration. Maybe a heading’s styling makes it look too much like a button. Heat maps reveal these friction points, allowing you to remove or improve confusing elements. By making navigation more intuitive, you will reduce user effort and allow your users to feel in control while they accomplish the tasks you have laid out for them.

Optimizing Layout

By visualizing how users interact with a page, you can optimize your layout to ensure important elements (e.g., calls to action, forms, or offers) are positioned where users are most likely to see them. If users aren’t engaging with your calls to action, heat maps can help determine whether this is due to placement, visibility, or even competing distractions on the page.

Heat maps can improve your website's design

Heat maps take the guesswork out of website redesigns by providing real data about user behaviour. Instead of guessing what changes might improve user experience, you can make decisions based on clear evidence. This is especially helpful if you want to get sign-off from a client or a superior before making changes.

For example, if heat maps show that users aren’t clicking on a key button, it could be due to poor placement, unclear copy, or even distracting elements nearby. By testing different colors, text, or placements, you can see what resonates best with users.

By analyzing your heat maps periodically, you will be able to see if the “rage clicks” are disappearing, or if your important “Sign Up” button is receiving more clicks than in the past.

Getting Started with Heat Maps

If you are interested in making use of heat maps to make your website more user-friendly, here is how to get started:

Choose the Right Tool

There are several popular heat map tools, including Hotjar, Crazy Egg, and Microsoft Clarity. These tools are easy to use and provide helpful insights into how users engage with your site. Most of these services have a free tier, allowing you to start collecting data at no extra cost to your business.

Focus on Key Metrics

When analyzing heat maps, focus on key metrics like click-through rates for your most important pages, and areas within a page where users stop scrolling. These metrics will help you identify elements that may need adjustment or further testing.

The easiest place to start is with the most essential points of contact on your website, such as your call-to-action buttons. Get a baseline reading on those buttons, and endeavour to improve those buttons’ clarity and visibility in the months to come, and watch the statistics rise and fall with each test.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

While heat maps are certainly useful and valuable, it’s important to use them wisely:

Over-reliance on Heat Maps

Heat maps are just one piece of the puzzle. They work best when combined with other data, like user surveys or A/B testing results. This comprehensive approach ensures you don’t miss important nuances of user behavior.

Misinterpreting Data

It is easy to jump to conclusions without enough context. For instance, if users aren’t clicking a particular button, it might be due to unclear copy rather than poor placement. A button might be perfectly visible, but users are unlikely to click on it if its label is confusing.  

Always validate your insights with additional testing to ensure you’re making the right adjustments.

See the people behind the stats

Heat maps are invaluable tools for making your website kinder and more effective. By understanding what users need and removing obstacles from their path, you can create a website that feels intuitive and effortless to navigate. The ultimate goal is to help your users achieve what they came for. Your happy, de-stressed users will reward you for your efforts. The more intuitive your design, the better the results will be for your business objectives.

If you’re not sure how to get started, simply begin with the most important points of contact on your website, such as a primary “sign up now” button. You don’t have to look at everything at once. Study a single button for now, and as your familiarity grows, you can expand your analysis to other areas of your website. Over time, your cumulative efforts will lead to significant improvements. You will benefit your business by benefiting your users.