A heat map is a tool that uses a thermography-like visualization function to understand the click positions and exit positions of users who viewed content, and to investigate user behavior within a site. This is especially useful when rewriting content or performing Landing Page Optimization (LPO).
In this article, we will explain what heat maps can tell you and how to use them effectively, as well as explain how to improve using the information obtained from heat maps, so please use this as a reference.
What is a heat map (tool)?
First, let me explain about
heatmaps
. As mentioned above, heatmap is a tool that allows you to analyze the behavior of users who view your content.
Even if you want to make your content higher quality, you won’t be able to improve it if you can’t analyze user behavior. That’s where heatmaps come in handy. By visualizing user behavior like a thermography, you can check exit points and click points.
What you can learn from heatmaps
By using heatmaps, you can understand the following three user behaviors.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Peruse area
First is the perusal area. The close reading area is an area that literally shows which part of the content is being read, and red indicates the most read part. Next, green, blue, and cooler colors indicate less read areas.
In other words, you can analyze why red is being read, and why it is not being read when it comes to cool color areas.
Breakaway area
A drop-off area is an area where you can see which parts of your content have been read and where they are being read. You can also analyze what percentage of users who view your content leave.
click area
The click area is literally the area that is being clicked. Areas with a high number of clicks are displayed in red, and areas with a low number of clicks are displayed in green.
How to effectively use heatmaps
So far, we have provided an overview of heat maps. From here, we will explain points to check and improvements to be made regarding the three areas: perusal area, exit area, and click area.
Points to check in the perusal area
First, it is important to check the following two points in the thorough reading area.
Based on this, there are two points that need to be improved:
I will explain each in turn.
Improvement 1: Improve readability
First of all, you need to improve the readability of your content. If readability is low, the content will be difficult to read and the abandonment rate will increase.
To improve readability, it is necessary to insert figures and tables, decorate text, etc. Make sure to improve readability, especially around parts that you want people to read but don’t.
Improvement ②: Delete parts that have not been thoroughly read.
Next, there is generally no problem in deleting parts that have not been thoroughly read. This is because leaving sections that have not been thoroughly read can be a major factor in increasing the abandonment rate.
There is a way to move sentences that have not been read carefully to another location, but since it is highly likely that unread information means that the user does not want the information, you should consider deleting it as a general rule.
Points to check in the withdrawal area
Next, check the following two points in the breakaway area.
Based on these considerations, the following two points need to be improved.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Improvement 1: Display speed
First is the display speed. In rare cases, there are pieces of content that drop off significantly near the lead sentence, but this is because the display speed is slow and the user may not be scrolling in the first place.
Landing pages (LPs) rarely display slow speeds, but it is especially important to improve the display speed of
SEO
content.
Improvement ②: Conversion (CV) button area
The next area to improve is
button. If people abandon the site around the button, this will result in fewer conversions and no sales or inquiries.
For example, review the wording and images around buttons, and consider how to appeal to inquiries.
Improvement 3: Review conversion points
Finally, we will review the conversion points. If you place a button in a location where a high number of exits occur, your click-through rate will drop and you will lose an opportunity.
Therefore, it is important to identify areas where users are not leaving the market and take measures such as moving the conversion button there.
Points to check in the click area
Next, in the click area, it is necessary to check “where the button is clicked even though there is no button”. Therefore, the improvement will be to move the button to the place where it is clicked even though there is no button.
When users click, they have two choices: they want to enlarge the screen, or they want to click a button. If there are too many blank clicks, the conversion rate and number of conversions will decrease, so take measures such as moving the button to the position where there are blank clicks.
How to use heatmaps more effectively
So far, we have explained how to use heatmaps effectively. From here, we will explain three ways to use it more effectively.
Let’s look at each in turn.
Differential use of new users and repeat users
Heatmaps allow you to analyze data for new and repeat users. It may be easier to understand if you imagine offline sales, but the response to new customers and repeat customers is naturally different.
Therefore, it’s important to apply that to your web content as well. Analyze new users and repeat users and improve your content to optimize it for each user.
Filter by converting users
Similar to how to use different users as described above, you can also narrow down your search to converting users. Check out the heatmap of converting users and analyze which buttons they convert from and why they convert from those areas.
action button check
Also check the action buttons right before the inquiry form. A common mistake is to add too many buttons, which confuses users. Therefore, it is important to keep the number of buttons to a minimum.
On the other hand, if the click rate of the button does not increase, try making the button larger or placing text around the button that will increase the click rate, such as “Completely Free”.
Contents that should use heatmaps
Finally, I will explain two types of content for which heatmaps should be used.
Let’s look at each in turn.
landing page
First up is the landing page.
Landing Page Optimization (LPO)
naturally requires accurate analysis of user behavior. This is where heat maps come in handy, allowing you to check drop-off areas and revise your writing, and check click areas to improve click-through rates.
A 1% increase in CVR can double your sales, so be sure to use heatmaps to improve your landing pages in order to get more inquiries.
SEO content
Next is SEO content. Google Analytics and Search Console are often used to rewrite SEO content, but they can only be checked on a page-by-page basis.
However, heatmaps allow you to visualize detailed parts of a page, so by using them, you can create more attractive SEO content.
Summary: Make full use of heatmaps to increase CVR
We have explained the overview of heat maps and how to use them effectively. By making full use of heatmaps, you will be able to accurately analyze user behavior, which will ultimately increase your CVR.
First of all, why not master how to use heatmaps explained in this article and improve your content effectively?