In web analytics, they are often used quite a bit. heat maps to measure certain areas of websites. But what do we call a heat map? what does it consist of? Today we explain it to you.
heat maps or heatmaps
A heat map is a type of graph that shows the results of measurements (usually interactions on a website) through areas of different colors
For example, if we measure the number of clicks on a website or the areas where the mouse pointer passes the most, we will obtain a heat map with certain areas highlighted in warm colors in those areas that attract the most attention from the user.
Its representation is usually the following:
- red, orange and yellow colors in the areas of greatest interest.
- cool colors such as green, blue or turquoise for areas with worse results
Heatmaps generally require a large sample of data, and Its main objective is to obtain useful data on the behavior of the users of our website. This means of analytics therefore allows us to evaluate the visibility of certain spaces on our site, and thus be able to improve it and give it a more personalized approach designed for the user.
The truth is that this type of graphics is not something typical of the digital age. The origin of heat maps comes from the so-called technique, used in psychology and marketing to detect where an individual’s gaze lands when viewing an image or text.
Types of heat maps
We can identify three large classes of heat maps or heatmaps according to their use in digital marketing:
- Click maps. They represent the areas where users click the most times. These are usually the most reliable types of maps, since they are based on specific actions, not on the simple movement of the mouse on the screen.
- Mouse movement maps. They are the maps that record the movement of the mouse on the screen, and thus measure the areas of the web with the most activity.
- Scroll maps. Used on single scrolling pages, they detect which points of the website are the ones that receive the most attention from the audience.
Objectives of the heatmaps
As we mentioned before, heat maps or heatmaps are used in web analytics. But let’s see in a more precise way the main objectives of the use of this type of graphs.
Know the most visible spaces or elements of our website
Heat maps give us all the information about the different elements of our web space. If we want, for example, to highlight a certain section of our site, the heatmaps can give us data on the hot spots of it, in order to locate that section in the site with the greatest visibility.
Measure the most suitable sites on our website to place advertising
Related to the previous one, the heat map can guide us on the most favorable places on our website to place ads. In general, the hot spots or places of greatest attention are not the most recommended to be used for advertising, since they would mislead about the content of the web
Detect bugs on our website
As far as design is concerned, a heat map can also guide us on the layout of graphic elements. For example, if the combination of image-text that we use is correct (if the points of greater attention focus on images, perhaps we should change them for others in favor of attention to written content).
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