Heatmaps
Heatmaps are a visual analytics tool that helps you understand how users interact with your pages. Instead of looking at raw numbers, heatmaps use a color-coded system—ranging from "cold" blue to "hot" red—to show you exactly where users are looking, clicking, and scrolling.
How Heatmaps Work
Heatmaps aggregate the behavior of hundreds or thousands of visitors into a single visual overlay. This allows you to spot patterns that would be impossible to see in standard analytics:
Click Maps: Identify which buttons, links, or images get the most engagement—and catch "dead clicks" where users click on non-interactive elements.
Scroll Maps: See how far down the page users actually go. This helps you determine if your most important content (like a CTA) is being missed because it’s placed too low.
Move Maps: Track cursor movement to see which areas of the screen capture the user's attention and interest.
Ways to Create Heatmaps in Optibase
There are two primary ways to generate heatmaps, depending on whether you want to analyze a single page or compare different test versions.
1. URL-Based Heatmaps
If you want to analyze a specific page on your site (like your homepage or a pricing page), you can create a standalone heatmap.
Navigate to the Heatmaps tab in the sidebar.
Click Create New.
Enter the URL of the page you want to track.
Ensure the Optibase script is installed on that page.
Once active, Optibase will begin gathering data from every visitor who lands on that specific URL.
2. Test-Based Heatmaps
The most powerful way to use heatmaps is within an A/B test. When you are testing different designs, you need to know why one variant is outperforming another.
Automatic Generation: You can toggle Heatmaps ON within the settings of any A/B test.
Variant Comparison: Optibase will automatically create individual heatmaps for every variant and variant combination in that test.
Behavioral Insights: This allows you to compare behavior side-by-side. For example, you might see that users in "Variant B" are clicking the CTA more because they aren't getting distracted by a large hero image that was present in "Variant A."
Why Use Heatmaps?
Determine User Behavior: Stop guessing what users like. Visual data shows you exactly what captures their interest.
Identify Friction: Spot areas where users get confused or lose interest and drop off.
Optimize Layouts: Use scroll data to place your most important messages where the majority of your audience will actually see them.
Validate Test Results: Use heatmaps to provide context to your A/B test winners, making it easier to explain "the why" to your team or clients.
Last updated