Knowing what customers want is essential to be able to increase the conversion rate of a website and thus increase sales. In this sense, there are many useful tools to identify the type of content that most attracts the user’s attention, how they interact with it, what they overlook… One of the most interesting ones are the heat mapping and eye tracking: a technique that seeks to obtain useful data on user behaviour.

The objective?

Evaluate the web architecture and certain areas of it, give it a more personalized approach for the client and, in short, improve the user experience.

But what exactly are they? ?

What are heat maps and what are they for?

Colour maps are part of eye tracking, a technique that began to be used in the mid-19th century in psychology and marketing studies in order to determine the trajectory of the subject’s gaze when looking at an image or reading a text.

With the advent of the technological era, these studies began to be applied to web pages, and eye tracking now allows us to know the most striking points for the user.

It does this through criteria such as the number of clicks, scrolling or mouse-over areas, and are represented in colour maps or heatmaps: graphs where specific areas of a website are highlighted based on these criteria through a colour code.

Normally, in this way:

Warm colours such as red, orange or yellow: areas of greatest interest
Cool colours such as green, blue or turquoise: worst performing areas

Knowing the user’s behaviour brings a number of very interesting advantages:

Detect web bugs. They can be very useful to manage the graphic elements, the combination between text and image… Everything, to optimise the web and improve the user experience with greater usability.
Identify the most visible points. This allows the most important elements to be placed in key locations to enhance different actions. For example, enter a certain section, fill in a form, click on call to action…
Place advertising elements strategically. Banners and other advertising elements should not necessarily be in the most visible areas, as this can mislead the user and detract from the actual content of the website. However, they can be placed in intermediate zones.
Adapt reading and consultation patterns. It allows you to create a more natural design and, in this way, guide the user’s path according to the website’s objectives.

In short, integrating a heat map/eye tracking strategy can help you to hit the bull’s eye with your online project ? and, in this way, increase the conversion rate.

And now… Where to start?

Best eye tracking tools

Different devices are available for gaze tracking studies. For example, webcams, fixed display devices with sensors or eye-tracking glasses, which allow investigating the subject’s behaviour in different environments.

But it is also possible to carry out an eye tracking strategy using the tools available on the Internet, such as those shown below:

Google Analytics

It offers a number of free tools that provide a comprehensive view of the web and also allow you to evaluate the performance of your marketing actions.

In addition, Google allows you to analyse and manage all data to get the most out of it through easy-to-use reports.

Crazy Egg

Visual reporting of the recordings with detailed information on user behaviour: which website they came from, how they accessed it, where they stayed the longest on the website, etc.

In this way, it is possible to adapt the design to your preferences and reduce the abandonment rate on websites where this is necessary.

Click Heart

This eye tracking tool is a free OpenSource software that produces colour maps to visually identify which areas are most observed by the user, and which go unnoticed.

It is compatible with Windows and Linux servers.

XLabs

This tool is conceived as a Google Chrome extension, which means that it can be easily installed in the browser itself.

It stands out for its intuitive use and its ability to offer stimulus testing based on the user’s eye-tracking through its webcam.

In short, the heatmaps/eye tracking technique is increasingly used thanks to its advantages to understand the behaviour of the target audience and thus optimise conversion. If well managed, this can translate into increased sales. ? Do you need a little help? At Doowebs we have the best specialists to give your website the boost it needs. If you would like to get a no obligation quote, please contact us. We will be happy to help you!