What’s the difference between Heatmap URL and Heatmap Session filters?
URL filtering allows you to select what URLs you want to see Heatmap data for, and then Session filters allow you to select what Sessions that data is pulled from, for example, a date range, visitor country, operating system and more.
To explore Heatmap URL filters, check out What Are Heatmaps URL Filters?
In this article, we'll look at what filters are available in Heatmaps and when you might choose to use a particular filter.
- How do Heatmap Session filters work?
- The date filter
- What filters can I use on a Heatmap?
- Use cases for filtering Heatmaps
How do Heatmap Session filters work?
Session Filters allow you to display only a specific group of sessions that match your filtering criteria so you can more effectively focus your Heatmap analysis. It's important to emphasize that applied filters will evaluate entire user sessions, even though Heatmaps only show one specific page's screenshot.
When adding more than one filter is applied to a Heatmap, these filters will be combined using 'AND' logic. This means that the data shown in the Heatmap will meet the criteria for every filter you've currently applied.
It's possible to filter Heatmaps by user actions such as events, rage clicks, and u-turns. The resulting Heatmap data for this filter will be users who took that filtered action at any point, on any page, during their entire session. The results don't necessarily mean that the users have rage clicked on the Heatmap screenshot page you're currently viewing.
Heatmap filters are not yet able to be saved for repeated viewing
As a workaround, apply your filters and use the quick-link copy button in the lower right corner of the relevant Heatmap. Copy the created short URL for the Heatmap, which will include the applied filters. When visiting that URL in the future, the Heatmap can be viewed with the pre-determined filters already applied.
The date filter
Our date ranges include relative ranges and a custom date range option.
- Relative date ranges allow you to see Heatmap data from up to 12 months in the past.
- Custom date ranges are useful if you want to compare Heatmap data before and after changes were made to your web page or product. Custom date ranges allow you to view Heatmap data from a specific time period, up to 12 months in the past and you can find more details on data retention at Hotjar in our How long does Hotjar keep my data article.
What filters can I use on a Heatmap?
Sites on the Observe Basic plan can filter Heatmaps by date only
The Observe Basic plan only allows for filtering Heatmap data by date.
In the table below, we list the available filters for Heatmaps and which plans have access to them. Regular expressions (Regex) are not supported for URL filtering.
| Path Filters | ||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
Visited page |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where a specific page was visited. You can use the "Does” or “Does not” operators for Visited page “Contains”, “Starts with”, “Ends with”, and “Exact match”. |
Observe Plus |
|
Referrer URL |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where the user was on a specific site before their Hotjar session began. Not all sessions will have a Referrer URL. You can use the "Does” or “Does not” operators for Referrer URL “Contains”, “Starts with”, “Ends with”, and “Exact match”. |
Observe Business |
|
Landing page |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where the user entered the site on a specific page. You can use the "Does” or “Does not” operators for Landing page “Contains”, “Starts with”, “Ends with”, and “Exact match”. |
Observe Plus |
|
Exit page |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where the user left the site on a specific page. You can use the "Does” or “Does not” operators for Exit page “Contains”, “Starts with”, “Ends with”, and “Exact match”. |
Observe Plus |
|
Session Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
New / Returning |
Displays Heatmap data from new or returning users. If a user does not have a Hotjar User ID when they visit your site, Hotjar considers them a new user. Otherwise, the user will be considered a returning user. A returning user may mistakenly be identified as new if they access your site from a different device or web browser, clear their web browser cookies, or if they haven't visited your site in over 365 days. |
Observe Plus |
|
Country |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions that do or do not originate from a specific country or list of countries. You can use “Any of these” or “None of these”, including for multiple countries. |
Observe Plus |
|
Duration |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where users spent a specific amount of time on your site. You can use “Exactly”, “Less Than”, or “Greater Than” for a time in seconds, minutes, or hours. It's also possible to use “Is Between” for sessions with a duration between two lengths of time in seconds, minutes, or hours. |
Observe Plus |
|
Page count |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where users loaded a specified number of pages. Keep in mind that reloading the same page during the user's session will add to this page count. You can use “Exactly”, “Less Than”, or “Greater Than” for a total page count. It's also possible to use “Is Between” for sessions with a total page count between two values. |
Observe Plus |
|
Behavior Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
Event |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where a site visitor's specific action triggered an event in Hotjar. Learn more about tracking events with our Events API guide. |
Observe Plus |
|
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where multiple clicks on the same element occurred at any point during the user journey. Defined as five clicks, within 500ms of one another. |
Observe Business |
|
|
U-turn |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where users returned directly to the previous URL, within 7 seconds of leaving that URL. |
Observe Business |
|
User attributes Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
User attributes |
Displays Heatmap data from specific users based on custom attributes you've passed to Hotjar from your own data. This filter will only be available if the User Attributes feature has been implemented and Hotjar has received user attribute data via the Identify API. |
Observe Business |
|
Technology Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
Hotjar User ID |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions collected from the same user. You can use “Is” and “Is not” for a specific Hotjar User ID. |
Observe Plus |
|
Device |
The “Device” session filter is not currently available for Heatmaps. Instead, you can filter by desktop, tablet, or mobile using the device icons on the bottom right side when viewing a Heatmap. |
Observe Basic |
|
Browser |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where site visitors have used a specific browser. Multiple browsers can be included in the filter from a checklist: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge, Opera, Safari. |
Observe Plus |
|
Operating system |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where site visitors are using a specific operating system. Multiple operating systems can be included in the filter from a checklist: Windows, macOS, Linux, Ubuntu, Android, iOS. |
Observe Plus |
|
Feedback Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
Feedback |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where a user has submitted a Feedback response. Filters include Love, Like, Neutral, Dislike, or Hate. |
Observe Business |
|
Net Promotor Score® |
Displays Heatmap data from sessions where a user filled out an NPS Survey. Filter for Promoters, Passives, or Detractors based on their NPS scores. |
Observe Business |
|
Experiment Filters |
||
|
Filter |
Description |
Plan Availability |
|
Displays Heatmap data from users who were also part of a Google Optimize Experiment. |
Observe Business |
|
Use cases for filtering Heatmaps
Filtering to compare how different groups of users interact with specific areas of your product can help you uncover new opportunities or validate existing assumptions. Below are some suggested use cases for applying filters to Heatmaps.
-
Compare new vs returning users
It's possible to compare Heatmap data for a page between new and returning users to see how first-time users interact with your product. For example, you can compare new and returning visitors to your homepage to help build a specific experience for each audience. You might consider if returning users are finding your log-in button easily enough.
Filter by:
- New / Returning users
-
Use location and technology to analyze visitor trends and troubleshoot issues
Get a clearer picture of user behavior based on their country, device, browser, and operating system.
Filter by:
- Country
- Device
- Browser
- Operating system
-
Focus on users who enter and exit your product on a specific page
Get a better understanding of users who enter your product on a specific page, and then exit without visiting any other pages. Filter by users who both landed on and exited your product on the same page to learn more about why they are leaving.
Filter by:
- Landing page: https://example.com/
- Exit page: https://example.com/
-
Compare A/B test variants
Compare Heatmap data for pages you’re running an A/B test on and find out which one performs better. Using our Events API, you can send an event to Hotjar each time a user loads a specific page variant during an A/B test. You’ll then be able to filter by each variant to see how users are interacting with each page.
Setup event for variants for:
- Variant: AB_checkout_Dec21_variant
- Control: AB_checkout_Dec21_control
Filter by:
- Event: AB_checkout_Dec21_variant and AB_checkout_Dec21_control
-
Compare users who made a purchase against those who didn’t make a purchase
Comparing the behavior of these user groups can uncover insights that can help drive conversion improvements. To do this, you’ll need to set up User Attributes in Hotjar so you can filter by users who both did and didn’t make a purchase.
Setup User Attributes for:
- Users who made a purchase: made_a_purchase = true
- Users who didn’t make a purchase: made_a_purchase = false
Filter by:
- Landing page: https://example.com/checkout
- Exit page: https://example.com/checkout
- User attribute: made_a_purchase = true. Compare this against made_a_purchase = false
-
Perform an A/B test by comparing two versions of the checkout page
By comparing behavior between users who made a purchase against those who didn’t, you may have spotted some areas for optimization. It’s good practice to run an A/B test so you can validate whether the changes you made to the checkout will drive more conversions. Add a feedback filter to better understand the sentiment around the page. Here we’ll combine the Events and User Attributes we set up in the examples above:
Filter by:
- Event: AB_checkout_Dec21_variant and AB_checkout_Dec21_control
- User attribute: made_a_purchase = true. Compare this against made_a_purchase = false
- Feedback: Users who gave positive vs negative feedback
Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.