5ThirtyOne

Crazyegg recently gifted me with access to the current beta service and I must say, I am impressed. While analytical tracking utilities like Mint [currently running on 5ThirtyOne] provide great data results regarding hits and unique traffic, it is often difficult to create a general impression of actual reading habits. Analyzing that reader #2345 was referred by site A and landed on page B, continued to page F and H, and finally left the site to visit site W doesn’t do much other than:

• I should probably find out in what context reader #2345 was referred to my page. What impression are other sites getting of my own?
• Was the content on page B enticing enough to provoke the reader to continue to page F or H? Or were those posts random flatus which left the reader with nothing else to do?
• What may have prevented said reader from exploring the rest of the site? Was content on page H that repulsive?
• Damn. My writing style must stink.

You get the idea. Raw numbers equate to raw impressions of actual interactivity on any given page. Time to toss the figures back on the barbecue ergh [Crazyegg] Heatmap right?

As stated earlier, raw figures are often difficult to convert into useful data as far as content organization and layout are concerned. Are readers able to navigate easily? Is that menu item situated in a way which allows readers to recognize that it is indeed a menu? These are a two hypothetical examples that I feel Crazyegg can successfully assist in answering. For example, is it obvious that the ‘pull’ image in the right corner of Foliage activates a menu? According to Crazyegg, yes, readers focus most of their click-throughs on that area of the page compared to any other links on the page. Additional noteworty items below:

• Have you ever seen the movie Predator? If so, imagine yourself hunting in the jungle. While Predator’s target heat signatures signified potential trophies, Crazyegg’s Heatmap displays clickthrough activity on any given page.
• In addition to Heatmaps, users can view activity in the form of Overlays [number of clicks & conversion precentags] or a simple List view.
• At the moment, tracking ‘Sessions’ are limited to single pages for a maximum of 14 days or 99,999 clicks (whichever comes sooner). However, Crazyegg keeps an archive of past sessions allowing users to compare Overlay or Heatmap results.
• Possible performance hit on browsers while loading multiple scripts [scriptacular]. If you’re going to run this on Wordpress, I recommend that you paste the Crazyegg string on the page that will be tracked [not in the footer.php which is called on all page loads].
• No current option to prevent your own clicks from being tracked.
• I’m no stats whore, but Crazyegg and Mint combined are turning me into something else. I just had an idea: Crazyegg stats integrated into a Mint Pepper. API?

Inquisitive minds can submit their email address on Crazyegg for notification as to when the service will go public or for premature access.