What is Hotjar?

Check out my most recent review of Hotjar as things have moved on since I wrote this post.

I recently attended a conversion conference and was discussing the use of visual behaviour tools for gaining visitor insights. These tools can be expensive and so I was shocked to hear that a start-up is offering such a product from just €89 a month.

When I next logged onto my laptop I Googled Hotjar.com and sure enough they are currently in beta with a product that offers unlimited sites and users. However, as well offering your standard heatmaps and sessions replays, they also allow users to serve feedback and exit polls, online surveys, and live chat.

What other tool offers all these options?

• Heatmaps
• Feedback polls
• Surveys
• Conversion funnels
• Form analytics
• Visitor recordings
• Recruit user testers

This seemed too good to be true but I managed to find an interesting review by Stacey from a digital marketing agency. Although only a sample of one, it’s useful to know that Stacey hasn’t uncovered any bugs or problems with the product. She is excited about the prospect of having a single tool that does so much more than heat maps and session replays. Other reviews I have read are also positive so far.

Apart from its low cost, the ability to provide survey and user testing as well as visual behaviour analytics is a potential big advantage for Hotjar. I’ve not had the opportunity to test the product so I can’t comment on how well the product performs all these different needs. However, there is certainly the danger that it could be perceived as trying to pursue too many markets at once and being masters of none. The feedback I’ve seen so far does not support this and so maybe this won’t be a major obstacle.

The level of support and responsiveness will also be key. These tools are great when they are working correctly and you know what you are doing. But if heatmaps are not displaying a page correctly or you can’t figure something out this is when you need to be able to get hold of someone to help. With potentially a much larger customer base than some of its competitors will Hotjar be able to deliver the level of support needed? I suspect this will be a key issue for customers considering switching from existing suppliers and an important area for Hotjar to prove itself in.