Conversion Rate Optimization: Using Hotjar to get started

As many marketers know, data and analysis will determine the success of any marketing campaign, when implementing CRO (conversion rate optimization) it’s no different. In marketing, the only way to get results is to analyze your current strategy and understand what is currently working for you and what isn’t, so you can determine where changes need to be made. When it comes to CRO, you need to start by looking at Google Analytics to find out what pages are generating the most conversions, what pages are getting the most traffic and where the biggest drop offs happen – if you haven’t done this yet, check out our previous blog, you can read it here. The next step is to understand what actions need to be taken on these pages…

You need to have a strong understanding of your website visitors behaviors and preferences, and use that information to make your CRO decisions. There are plenty of tools right at your fingertips that can show you how your visitors are interacting with your most visited pages.

Luckily for you, I’ve got just the tips you need to take your CRO strategy to the next level.

Every website is full of valuable data, you just need to know where to go to find it. Google Analytics has given you the quantitative data, so you know which pages need the most attention, now it’s time to dig deep into the qualitative data. Let’s start off with your website visitors current behaviors. You need to be able to understand their behaviors, so you know how to react with personalization. There are plenty of tools out there that can you help with this, my personal favorite, Hotjar!

Understanding the Qualitative data from your website

Hotjar is a powerful tool that allows marketers to gain insights into how visitors are interacting with the website. With its features like heat maps and user surveys, it provides valuable data that can be used for website optimization.

Hotjars heat maps allow you to see which areas of your website are getting the most attention from visitors, the most popular pages, most clicked-on links, and what areas are not reaching anyone. The heatmap shows eye visitor movement for the first 5 seconds of their visit. Allowing you to see if the most important elements on your site are getting the attention they need, and what percentage of your CTAs are being seen by your visitors. Allowing you to see if the important messaging to make someone convert on your website is or isn’t being seen due to a sharp abandonment.

Hotjar’s Heat Mapping example

Using this information from Hotjar, you can then start to map out the changes you want to make to increase conversions. Your first experience may be to move the CTA higher up the site and into an area that all your visitors are reaching. But, don’t forget, you always want to AB test any changes you make. Make sure test A is your original site and test B has a few simple changes guided by your Hotjar data. Sometimes, what we think may be the answer, isn’t always, so always test to get the facts.

Using Hotjar to engage returning visitors

Hotjar can also be used to look at returning visitors. As you probably know visitors needs change from the first time they visit your site to the next. If you don’t act quickly and adjust to these new expectations they may leave your site without finding what they need, making them less likely to return. By analyzing your data on Hotjar you’ll see what your returning visitors are doing, whether that’s jumping straight to your pricing page, or a specific product page. Use this data to map out more changes to improve your visitor experience. Create an experience for returning visitors, where the homepage now has the pricing information on it, or a specific product use case. But remember – make these personalization decisions based upon your findings in Hotjar, and always AB test!

If you really want to understand what your visitors think of your site there is no better way than using on-site surveys. This can be a scary thought for B2B marketers, but we see it every day in B2C, and really every buyer in B2B is a consumer, so they’ve seen it before. In fact, you’ll find that most people will like that you’re asking for their opinions to make their experience better. Some current Hotjar customers are seeing a 49% conversion rate increase for their landing pages after implementing surveys.

Hotjar’s User Surveys example

Using surveys you can ask visitors about their experience on your site, so you can identify areas where your website may be falling short, so you can make improvements to better your visitors journey. It takes all of the guessing work away from you, the answers will be there in black and white.

By using the insights provided by Hotjars heat maps, user surveys and Webeos AB testing functionality, you can create a more personalized and engaging experience for your visitors. With personalized messaging strengthening the value proposition, and a better user experience, you can improve your websites conversion rates and grow your business.