Heatmap
A heatmap is a visual summary of what visitors did on a page, shading the areas that got the most clicks, the most attention or the furthest scrolling. It shows aggregate behaviour on a single image rather than as a table of numbers.
In practice
There are three common types and they answer different questions. A click map shows where people tapped or clicked, including on things that are not links, which is often the most useful finding. A scroll map shows how far down the page people got, and therefore what share of visitors never saw the thing you consider most important. An attention or movement map approximates where people looked.
The click map's real value in B2B is diagnosing false affordances. When a heatmap shows repeated clicks on a heading, a product image or a static badge, visitors are telling you they expected those to do something. That is a specific, cheap fix, and it is invisible in analytics because a click on a non-link generates no event.
Scroll maps tend to be the uncomfortable one. Most B2B homepages carry their proof, their certifications and their client names well below the point where the majority of visitors stop, which is one reason our audit found 71% of homepages show no proof a first-time buyer can verify above the fold. The content exists; nobody scrolls to it.
Heatmaps are aggregates, which is both the strength and the limitation. They summarise many sessions into one picture, so they tell you what happens but never why. Pairing a heatmap with a handful of session recordings is what turns an observation into a decision.
Sample size matters less here than people expect, which is one reason heatmaps suit B2B. A scroll map stabilises after a few hundred sessions, and a click map showing repeated taps on something that is not a link is telling you something real long before it becomes statistically interesting. That is the opposite of A/B testing, which needs conversions rather than visits, and it is why low-traffic sites get further with heatmaps than with experiments.
One caution worth knowing before you draw conclusions: a heatmap over a page whose layout changes with screen size is averaging behaviour across layouts that were never the same page. Segment desktop and mobile separately, or you will be reading a picture of two different experiences blended together.
Common questions
What is the difference between a heatmap and session recording?
A heatmap aggregates many visits into one picture of where people clicked or how far they scrolled. A session recording replays one visitor's individual journey. Heatmaps tell you what happens at scale, recordings tell you why, and using them together is what makes either one actionable.
Are heatmaps accurate?
They accurately reflect the sessions they recorded, but they are only as representative as the sample and the segmentation. Blending mobile and desktop, or averaging a page whose content is personalised, produces a picture of no single real experience. Segment before interpreting.
Do you need a paid tool for heatmaps?
Not to start. Microsoft Clarity provides heatmaps and session recordings at no cost and with no traffic limit, which for most established B2B sites is enough to find the first several problems. Paid tools become worth it when you need form-field analytics or deeper filtering.