Jul 18, 2016

5 Digital Tools That Tell What Your Website Visitors Really Think

Successful brands effectively collect consumer feedback and use it to make incremental improvements to their product. While customer feedback is important, often users aren’t sure about what they want; or, users claim to want one thing, but really want another. The best brands not only collect customer feedback, but also gather user data in order to in order to make their site, product, and business better.

Google Analytics – This tried and true measure of visitor behavior has been around since people started caring about user data at all, and it’s still a must. Google Analytics is a great supplement to other data products to learn how people navigate on your site, how they use it, how long they stay on particular pages, and what they click on. This allows you to make changes to your site based on what’s already popular and which areas could use more interaction. Google Analytics also provides information about user location, and preferred hardware.
CrazyEgg – The problem with Google Analytics is that it will not tell you where your visitors are losing interest. The CrazyEgg software provides a scroll report and heat map tool that tells you exactly where people are clicking, and where they’re not clicking. CrazyEgg can also tell you where visitors are hovering their mouse. These reports provide insight into which pages are most valuable to your visitors, and how far down visitors are scrolling on each page. This will allow you to focus your efforts when improving your website.
Optimizely - Use a tool like Crazyegg to collect exactly how visitors are interacting with your website, then use that data to create different website hypothesis based on your goals. When it comes time to test those goals - for example, improving conversion rate – use a tool like Optimizely. Optimizely allows users to create A/B tests quickly and easily without needing a ton of technical skill. As data rolls in, you can shift your traffic allocation accordingly for maximum results.
Inspectlet – Use this software to capture videos of site users on your site and how they’re engaging. It’s incredibly simple to use, and unlocks major insights when you filter to users on mobile, desktop and certain browsers, and how they navigate. Sometimes a user doesn’t need to say anything if you simply watch their behavior. When you launch a new page or features, get Inspectlect running to understand how people are using them, and where they’re getting stuck.
SnapEngage – SnapEngage provides insight into your website’s live chat opportunities. It’s especially helpful to understand usability issues, e.g. “I’m on your product page but can’t find X.” Because it keeps a log of all the live chat, Product Managers can go back and read all the transcripts to understand what pages people are having issues, and what issues they’re having.