Types of website heat maps
- Click maps: where people click or tap.
- Scroll maps: how far down the page people scroll, and where most of them stop.
- Move maps: where people move the mouse on desktop, a rough guide to where they look.
- Attention maps: which parts of the page people spend the most time on.
What heat maps help you find
- Important content or calls to action below the point where most visitors stop scrolling
- Elements people try to click that aren’t links
- Menu items and links that nobody uses
- Differences between desktop and mobile behavior
Tools
Microsoft Clarity (free), Hotjar, Crazy Egg and Mouseflow all create heat maps, usually alongside session recordings. Heat maps need enough visits to show reliable patterns, and in the EU and UK the tracking script needs the visitor’s consent.
Heat map example
An online course page has a long description and a “Join” button at the bottom. A scroll map shows that only 25% of visitors reach the button. The team adds a button near the top and a summary of the benefits above the long text. A new scroll map and the conversion numbers show more people clicking the button.
How to use heat maps well
- Choose one page and one question, for example “Do visitors see the price?”
- Collect enough visits, and look at mobile and desktop separately.
- Look at the click, scroll and move maps together.
- Write down the change you will test and why.
- Check that conversions improve after the change, not just clicks.
Heat map mistakes
- Basing a decision on a handful of sessions.
- Assuming mouse movement shows exactly where people look.
- Forgetting to record sensitive fields. Mask them, and ask for consent where the law requires it.
- Making many changes at once, so you cannot tell what worked.
Heat map FAQs
Which type should I start with?
A scroll map and a click map. See click maps and session recordings.
How are heat maps used in CRO?
To find problems to test. See conversion rate optimization and eye tracking.