A heatmap is a data visualisation tool that shows, through colour intensity, where visitors interact with a webpage — where they click, how far they scroll, and where their cursor hovers. Red and orange areas indicate high interaction; blue and green areas indicate low interaction. Heatmaps provide visual, qualitative insight into user behaviour that quantitative analytics data (session counts, bounce rates) cannot reveal — they show what visitors are actually paying attention to, what they miss, and where they get confused or frustrated.
Heatmaps are most valuable when used alongside analytics data. Google Analytics 4 tells you that your pricing page has a 75% bounce rate; a heatmap tells you why — for example, visitors are clicking on a graphic they think is a button but is not, or they are scrolling straight past your CTA to content further down the page. That specific, actionable insight enables targeted fixes rather than guesswork.
Types of heatmaps and what they reveal
- Click heatmaps — show where visitors click or tap; reveals which elements attract attention, which links are clicked, and whether visitors click on non-clickable elements (a frustrating UX signal)
- Scroll heatmaps — show how far down the page visitors scroll; reveals what percentage of visitors see content below the fold, and where most people stop reading
- Move heatmaps — show where cursors hover on desktop; generally correlates with where users are reading or considering clicking, though less precise than click data
- Session recordings — not technically a heatmap, but often included in heatmap tools; video replays of individual user sessions showing exact navigation paths, clicks, and hesitations
How to use heatmap insights to improve conversions
After reviewing heatmap data, look for specific actionable patterns: are visitors clicking on an image, header, or graphic that is not a link (suggesting they expect it to be interactive)? If so, make it a link or CTA. Are most visitors not scrolling to your main CTA? Move it higher. Are visitors clicking a navigation item that takes them away from a landing page? Remove the navigation from the page. Is your CTA button in a 'cold' (low-click) area? Move it to where cursor activity is concentrated. Each of these is a testable, specific improvement grounded in observed behaviour.
Microsoft Clarity is the best free heatmap and session recording tool for UK businesses — it offers unlimited sessions, click heatmaps, scroll maps, and session recordings with no usage caps. Hotjar's free tier provides limited heatmaps and session recordings (up to 35 sessions per day). For most UK SMEs, Microsoft Clarity is sufficient for diagnostic CRO work; Hotjar's paid tiers add survey tools and user interview capabilities that are valuable for more advanced research programmes.
For meaningful click heatmap patterns, aim for at least 1,000–2,000 sessions per page variant being analysed. With fewer sessions, individual outlier behaviour can distort the pattern. Scroll maps are more reliable at lower session counts — you can often see meaningful patterns at 300–500 sessions. Session recordings are useful at any volume — even watching 20–30 recordings of a specific page can surface consistent user confusion patterns that are not visible in aggregate heatmap data.