Page Targeting for Heatmaps

Our page targeting options allow you to activate specific Hotjar features on specific pages of your site. To do this, you can either use one of our 6 URL targeting options or use a JavaScript trigger, only available on PLUS and BUSINESS plans.

URL Targeting

Page targeting options can be found for Heatmaps by selecting either Visit a specific page, Visit one of multiple similar pages or Trigger a JavaScript snippet.

To better understand how URL targeting works, it is good to also understand what components form a URL:

Components of a URL

Each URL match you enter can be one of five types:

• Simple Match: This is the default match type and is used to target a page on your site, ignoring any query strings and fragments as well as protocol, http vs https, and the presence or not of 'www'.
• Exact Match: Targets a specific URL, including the protocol, which can include a query string and fragment.
• Starts With: Target all pages that have a URL, including the protocol, which starts with the entered text.
• Ends With: Target all pages that have a URL which ends in the entered text.
• Contains: Target all pages which contain the entered text.
• Regular Expression: A regular expression, regex or regexp for short, is a special text string for describing a search pattern.

Let's explore in more detail the different options and how they would work.

Simple Match:

This is the default match type and is intended to be used to target a page on your site. The match will be correct if the URL path your visitor is on, matches the URL path you specify.

Example:
Simple Match - http://www.x.com/pages/

Result	Example URL
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/subpage
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1&y=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/PAGES
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
MATCH	https://www.x.com/pages/
MATCH	http://x.com/pages
MATCH	https://x.com/pages/

Exact Match:

The match will be correct if the URL path, query string and fragment your visitor is on match EXACTLY the ones you specify.

Example:
Exact Match - http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1

Result	Example URL
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/subpage
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1&y=1
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1#2
NO MATCH	https://www.x.com/pages/?x=1

Starts With:

The match will be correct if the URL your visitor is on, starts exactly as you specify it, including the protocol.

Example:
Starts with - http://www.x.com/pages/

Result	Example URL
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/subpage
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1&y=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1#2
NO MATCH	https://www.x.com/pages/

Ends With:

The match will be correct if the URL your visitor is on, ends exactly as you specify it.

Example:
Ends with - pages/

Result	Example URL
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/subpage
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1&y=1
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1#2

Contains:

The match will be correct if the URL your visitor is on, contains the text you specified.

Example:
Contains - ?x=1

Result	Example URL
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/
NO MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/subpage
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1&y=1
MATCH	http://www.x.com/pages/?x=1#2

Regular Expressions:

For a detailed explanation of Regular Expressions and usage examples, read our knowledge base article: Using Regular Expressions.

JavaScript Triggers

JavaScript triggers are a feature available for users on PLUS and BUSINESS plans. Triggers allow you to activate specific Hotjar features using a very simple snippet of code. For more details and examples, please read our knowledge base article: Using JavaScript Triggers.