Why is it important to track visitor behaviour on the online store using heatmaps?

What is a heatmap?

A heatmap is a visual tool that shows how visitors interact with your website. Coloured shades from cool blue to deep red show where visitors click most often, how far they scroll and which elements they focus on. Therefore, heatmaps can be divided into several types:

• Click heatmaps - show the most common places where users click
• Scroll heatmaps - show how far users scroll on the page
• Move heatmaps - track the movement of the mouse cursor and its interaction with the elements of the page

What are the benefits of using heatmaps?

1. Improved user experience (UX)

The advantage of using heatmaps is that they give you a detailed view of how users and visitors perceive your website. For example, you may find that they often overlook essential links, buttons or menus. Based on this data, you can adjust the placement of elements, change different colours, or modify text to make it obvious that they are key. Better visibility and clarity ensures easier access. By making these changes, you can improve the user experience, which usually leads to an increase in conversion rates.

2. Conversion rate optimization

As we mentioned above, heatmaps can help you identify the obstacles that prevent users from completing a step. For example, if you're noticing that visitors are often abandoning the cart just before completing an order, you can investigate what's causing this. For example, Heatmap can tell you that the checkout process is too complicated or some steps are unclear. This way, you can identify these places and optimise them.

3. Understanding customer behaviour

Traditional analytics tools like Google Analytics give you data on how many people have visited your website, how long they stayed and where they came from. However, they won't reveal the exact reasons behind a visitor's behaviour on your site. Heatmaps, on the other hand, offer a deeper insight into how users behave on a site and what causes them to leave a particular section. Knowing this context is crucial for generating hypotheses that lead to improved strategies.

4. A/B testing of changes

If you decide to modify your site based on heatmap data, you can also use it to test new versions of your site. A/B testing is a great way to find out which version yields better results. In addition, heatmaps allow you to see how visitors react to design changes and easily determine whether or not new versions are worth implementing.

Conclusion

Heatmaps are one of the most effective tools for tracking visitor behaviour on your website. They allow you to better understand how users interact with your website, what interests them and what they ignore. These insights are key to improving user experience and increasing conversion rates. If heatmaps are not part of your analytics strategy, now is a good time to change that.

With them, you'll gain a competitive advantage and be able to optimise your site sooner to make it more efficient and user-friendly.