As a marketer, one of your primary goals is to drive conversions through your campaigns. To do this effectively, you need to create optimized landing pages for conversion. 

But how do you know which elements on your landing page effectively convince and convert your audience?

Identifying effective page elements with heatmaps

Heatmaps offer an in-depth look at consumer behavior on your pages based on their clicks, taps, and cursor movements. This data illuminates what elements on your page get the most attention and where users drop off. For example, Instapage offers three types of heatmaps:

• Click maps, which show where users are clicking on your page
• Tap maps, which show where mobile users are tapping on your page
• Scroll maps, which show how far down users are scrolling on your page

You can use this information to improve your page layout in several ways. It helps you test what specific conversion influences drive action and identify what information draws customer attention and what goes unnoticed. This knowledge enables you to maximize visual real estate to show visitors the information they need to sign up, check out, or subscribe.

Testing with heatmaps is more accessible than ever, thanks to Instapage’s A/B testing tool. Deploy two versions of a page and see which one performs better based on the heatmap data—then optimize your content based on concrete results instead up subjective design decisions.

Layout impacts landing page performance

Now that you know how to use heatmaps to optimize your landing page, let’s take a look at the two most popular and effective layouts: F-Pattern and Z-Pattern, named after the movement of a visitor’s eye when they read through a page. 

The F-Pattern scans the tops of the page left to right, then down the side, before scanning horizontally left to right again. 

The Z-Pattern starts when a visitor scans the top of the page left to right, before moving diagonally to the bottom left corner, and then horizontally to the right.

In both of these patterns, put the most relevant page content where people will see it first. That means you should place your value proposition in the top left corner, which is where your visitors will begin. Your call to action should be the other main element visitors see, either in a headline, button, or both. From there, you can use heatmap data to test which pattern works better for your content.

Learn what factors impact performance

Let’s look at some specific examples of how you can use heatmap data to improve your pages.

1. Use click maps to see what elements are getting the most attention

Using click maps can help you understand what parts of your page users are clicking on, which can help you improve your campaign results. For example, if you learn that the “subscribe now” button isn’t getting enough clicks, you can move this button to a more prominent place on the page or change the color to make it more eye-catching.

2. Use tap maps to analyze mobile pages

Just like click maps, you can use tap maps to see what parts of your website or app users tap on when they browse on their mobile devices and create a better mobile experience based on this data. For example, if visitors are not converting at a high enough rate, you may find that they aren’t tapping on the main CTA or that they’re trying to tap on an image or text that isn’t linked to anything. From there, you can make adjustments to deliver a mobile-friendly experience. You can also A/B test different CTAs at the top of the page or throughout the content to see what is most effective. 

3. Use scroll maps to see how far down users are scrolling

Scroll maps assess how useful visitors find your page content. If users do not scroll down, this could indicate that the information is not relevant or is too long. You may find that you’re trying to fit too much information on one page and instead need to have multiple shorter landing pages with content geared toward a specific audience. You can also test rearranging sections to address customers’ different pain points sooner so they convert earlier on the page.

Getting the most out of heatmap data with Instapage

Using heatmaps is an excellent way to build optimized landing pages and improve your campaign results. By understanding where users are clicking, tapping, and scrolling, you can fine-tune your pages to emphasize the most critical elements. With Instapage’s A/B testing tool, you can test different page layouts to see which performs better for specific audiences or campaigns. So what are you waiting for? Schedule your free demo today to see how heatmaps can help you improve your pages and boost conversions!