Heatmaps aggregate visitor behavior into a visual overlay: red/orange = high activity, blue/green = low activity. Three types: click maps (where people click), move maps (where they hover — loosely correlated with where they look), and scroll maps (how far they scroll down the page).
Tools like Microsoft Clarity (free) and Hotjar (freemium) make heatmaps easy to generate. The challenge isn't getting the data — it's interpreting it correctly.
What to actually look for
Click patterns: Are people clicking your CTA or something else? If visitors click elements that aren't links (images, headings), they expect those to be interactive. If they're clicking a competitor's logo in your comparison table more than your CTA, that's a design problem.
Scroll depth: Where do visitors stop scrolling? If 70% drop off before your testimonials section, either the content above it isn't compelling enough, or the page is too long for the content's value. If they scroll past your CTA, it's not prominent enough.
Dead zones: Areas with zero interaction. If your CTA is in a dead zone, it needs to move. If a content section gets no attention, it's either in the wrong position or not interesting enough to engage with.