Heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session replays can feel like eye candy, but they’re actually gold mines for improving your website performance, if you know where to look.
In this insight, we will break down what the difference is between these features, why they matter, how to use this data, common patterns you’ll spot and mistakes to avoid!
Heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session replays: What’s the difference?
Heatmaps
Heatmaps show where users move, click, and scroll, so you can remove friction and convert with confidence. The warmer colours indicate more clicks; cooler colours mean less attention. This is really handy for seeing what grabs attention and what doesn’t.
Scrollmaps
Scrollmaps highlight how far down people scroll before they give up. Red at the top, blue at the bottom. This is a visual representation of where most visitors drop off.
Session replays
Think of session replays like watching CCTV of a user’s entire visit. Every scroll, every hover, every click. You get to experience your site like they do.
Why do these tools matter?
These tools help you stop guessing and start making data-driven decisions. When it comes to UX and web design, relying on gut feeling or copying a competitor will only take you so far.
With heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session replays, every change you make is backed by real user behaviour. Instead of saying, “I feel like this section is fine”, you can see that nobody’s clicking your CTA, or that most people never even scroll far enough to reach your testimonials.
A website is never truly “done”. It should evolve as your business grows and as your visitors’ habits shift. Added new services and want them to stand out? Bring them higher up the page. Sometimes that was working six months ago, and might need a tweak today. These tools show you what’s actually happening, so you can stay proactive and keep improving.
How to actually use this data?
Here’s where most people trip up: They look at the rainbow blobs, say “that’s interesting”, and promptly close the tab. What you need to do is look for actionable insights.
Are your CTAs being seen or ignored?
If your primary CTA is cold blue on the heatmap or falls below the average fold on the scrollmap, it’s not working as intended. Bring it up the page, or make it more prominent and clear.
Are users rage-clicking or getting stuck?
Rage-clicks are rapid clicking on an unclickable element. This indicates your users expect something to happen that doesn’t. That is a UX issue screaming for a fix— make it a link, or remove the visual cue that looks clickable.
Are people navigating the site as you expected?
With session replays, watch 5-10 real visits. Do they take the paths you designed, or are they circling back? Dead ends, confusion and extra steps mean you need clearer routes or a simplified menu.
Is your layout helping or hindering?
Scrollmaps can reveal that most visitors never see that “important” section halfway down your homepage. Time to move it up or trim the fat so your must-see content is, well, seen.
Mistakes to avoid
Overanalysing one visit
It is super tempting to jump on the most dramatic session replay you see. The one where someone’s cursor looks possessed, they scroll up and down like mad, and eventually rage quit. But that is just one person. Every website has a handful of chaotic sessions. Instead, watch at least 10-20 sessions before drawing conclusions. Look for the repeat behaviours that crop up across visits. A particular section everyone ignores, or a common path people take before dropping off.
Ignoring device differences
Your desktop heatmap might look gorgeous. Big bold CTAs getting all the clicks, but what happens on mobile? On a small screen, your hero image might be taller, pushing that vital button below the fold, so most visitors will never see it. Instead, always segment heatmaps and scrollmaps by device type. Check desktop, tablet, and mobile separately. Mobile visitors will often scroll less and click less precisely, so design with their behaviour in mind.
Making knee-jerk changes
If you move the CTA, change the headline, and all new images all at once, and conversion jumps- that’s great, but which change actually helped? Treat your site like a science experiment. Make one small, deliberate change at a time, then give it a few days to see what impact it has.
Conclusion
Setting up heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session replays is only half the battle— the real value lies in how you use them.
The easiest way to stay on top of it? Create a dashboard. Bring all your key metrics together— scroll depth, click hotspots and session replays- and review them regularly as a team. That way, you can spot trends before they become problems, catch underperforming pages, and surface the kinds of friction points that might otherwise fly under the radar.
