Using session recording tools to increase conversion rates

Session recording is a feature in tools like PostHog, HotJar and Microsoft Clarity, that lets us watch ‘replays’ of the actions people take when they visit and engage with our site.

We’ll see them scroll past our call to action buttons, and flick their mouse pointer around in frustration when they can’t find the information they were looking for. And we can use these insights to pinpoint and fix issues, improve the user experience, and ultimately, increase conversion rates.

Action replay

After setting up your tool of choice and recording user sessions, it’s time to watch the replays.

Keep an eye out for any unintended or unexpected behaviour, and take note if you see similar actions from multiple visitors.

Here are some things to look out for:

• Are visitors ignoring call-to-action buttons?
• Are they pausing to read your content, or scrolling straight past?
• Are they clicking on text or images, mistaking them for links or buttons?
• Are they getting frustrating filling out forms, and leaving before they hit send?
• Are they hovering around nav or footer links for options that don’t exist?

If you find issues, take some time to think about how you can fix them.

For example, if visitors are ignoring your call-to-action buttons, you could try changing the colour or size of the buttons to make them stand out from surrounding content.

If visitors aren’t filling out your contact form, see if you can remove any fields that aren’t truly necessary. Don’t make people leave their phone number unless you’re actually going to call them, otherwise you’re simply adding friction to the process.

Start with the fixes that have the greatest potential impact. If you can see people are having trouble signing up then fix that before tackling the more “cosmetic” issues.

Make note of the changes you make, so you can reverse them if needed later on. When your improvements are live, use the session recording tool to confirm they are having their intended effect.

Each improvement may be small, but as they stack up they can eventually have a big impact. So make sure to regularly check your session recordings, and remember: there’s always room for improvement.