#StickyTools Episode 1: Hotjar

by Syrup | Feb 22, 2017

I’m kinda a tool junky. I like improving processes and creating efficiency — and I love finding tools that help me do those things! So, welcome a new “category” of Syrup blogs: #StickyTools — tools I either use myself or tools we’ve collectively tested here at Syrup that have become “sticky” enough to stay around.

I promise you this: Every tool mentioned here we actually use.

That doesn’t mean every tool is perfect. Test them yourself — even with the quirks of some of the tools coming your way, we find they add enough value to be worth it.

Here we go in no particular order!

One tool was used to increase conversion rate by 82% for a great B2C client.

Meet our friend, Hotjar.

Hotjar is a great friend to me, Syrup, and our clients. Why? Well, it helps us help our clients grow, and that’s what we’re all about.

I could do 10 posts on all the features of Hotjar, but then I’d have to rename the series to #StickyTool v. #StickyTool(S) — lame, not happening.

So, here is why it’s worth your time and how it helped us increase conversion rate by 82%.

Hotjar allows you to see how users are engaging with your website versus just reading numbers from Google Analytics. Here’s a screenshot:

You may have seen “heat maps” before (this technology has been around for quite a few years now). While Hotjar does a great job with heat maps, showing you very important aspects of how your visitors engage with your site like Scroll Depth, Click Maps, & Mouse Movements, the feature that led to that MASSIVE conversion rate increase was a little feature they have called “Funnels.”

The Funnels feature allows you to see where users drop off in your conversion path. Most website “conversion paths” consists of a few different pages or a few different actions that lead to the end conversion. A simple conversion path could be:

Visit Homepage > Visit Products Page > Visit Contact Page > Submit Form > Visit Thank You Page

With Funnels, you can quickly and easily see where people are dropping out of that path! Once you know where they are dropping out, you can identify why & remove the hurdle.

That’s what happened with our client.

They had a pretty simple 4-page conversion path, but we noticed that ~80% never moved past page 2 of that 3-page process.

With a little strategy and development work, we combined page 2 and 3 to take the 4-page process down to 3, and BOOM! That one change resulted in less friction in the conversion path and an 82% increase in conversion rate.

A game changer.

We leverage Hotjar on every single client. It’s certainly a #StickyTool here at Syrup.

Have a question about how Hotjar could help you? Let us know! @syrupmarketing or @kraigguffey