Introduction
Improving website conversions and overall user experience requires a comprehensive understanding of how users engage with a website. For this reason alone, hotjar provides businesses with a way to track and measure actual user behaviour (rather than relying solely on raw data), as well as providing insight into where users are clicking, scrolling or hovering over content (or any point of entry).
This makes it easier for website administrators to pinpoint issues on their sites and help them enhance their overall site performance.
What is Hotjar?
Hotjar is a user behavior analytics solution that analyzes qualitative data collected from visitors of your website, which can contain various features such as heat maps, recordings of sessions, funnel maps, and feedback tools to assist teams in developing a better understanding of how users traverse through their site. The focus of Hotjar is to increase engagement, enhance user experience and decrease user drop-offs.
Key Features of Hotjar
- Heatmaps: Hotjar tracks clicks, scrolls, and mouse movements on webpages to provide insight into where users focus their attention and what they ignore.
- Session Recordings: View actual user sessions to observe how visitors navigate the site and what obstacles they encounter.
- Funnels: Hotjar collects data on user journeys to determine at what point users abandon the conversion funnel.
- Feedback & Surveys: Users can provide direct feedback using Hotjar polls and surveys to express opinions.
- Incoming Feedback: Users can offer immediate feedback via the reaction button or via comments.
- Integrations: Hotjar can be integrated with Google Analytics, HubSpot and Slack, among other applications.
Pros & Cons of Hotjar
Pros:
- Simple to configure and implement
- Visual representation of data through heatmaps
- Assists in gaining insight into user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization (CRO)
- Has a free plan for small websites
Cons:
- Very little data sampling offered on the lower tiered plans
- Not intended for in-depth quantitative analysis
- May delay response time for very large websites.
How to Use Hotjar?
- Create a Hotjar account
- Add the tracking code to your website
- Set up heatmaps or recordings
- Review user behavior data
- Use insights to improve design and content
Who Can Use Hotjar?
- Website owners
- Digital marketers
- UX and UI designers
- Product managers
- CRO specialists
- SaaS companies
- E-commerce businesses
What Makes Hotjar Unique?
Instead of just numbers, Hotjar is primarily concerned with the qualitative insight gained from a user’s actions via their behavior and feedback. Through its combination of visual behavior data and direct feedback from users, Hotjar enables teams to discover the reasons for the user’s actions and thereby use that information to make informed decisions regarding user experience improvements based upon actual user behavior.
Pricing & Plans
Hotjar has different plans based on number of users and traffic volume:
- A Free plan provides limited heatmaps and recordings
- Plus plan supplies more tracking data
- Business plan provides additional tracking / Insight Options and higher limits
- Scale plan is ideal for larger organisations or websites with high-traffic volume.
Your pricing & plans will vary according to the volume of traffic and features required.
Conclusion
Businesses looking to better understand how actual end users behave when visiting their website should consider using Hotjar. Hotjar provides a more complete picture of user interaction than just providing numerical data by utilizing heatmaps, video recordings, and user feedback.
By using this information, companies can identify areas where users have difficulty or experience “friction,” and make the necessary changes to improve the user experience, reduce friction, and ultimately improve conversions based on actual evidence.
