Heat Map for increasing subscribers

[julesbrad]

Taking into consideration general web site heat maps, would it not be best to place subscription forms just below the header to the left ?

Most forms seem to be placed in the right hand colum which is a pretty cold area on web site heat maps. Is there a reason for this ?

[julesbrad]

Just found this page which has an image of a heat map showing the area most looked at on google site.

Heat Maps / Website Design / Conversion Analysis

For other sites, the heatmap will be different but I suspect many sites will have a 'hot' section in the top left.

Why not capitalise on this is you are wanting to increase signups to your opt-in list form

[Paul Hancox]

Don't forget, you need to GRAB and HOLD people's attention first - which might explain why a headline would perhaps be better placed there. However, it's always a good idea to split test it to see which performs better.

[bobsstuff]

I have seen other heat maps for general pages and they show top left as the hot area.

[Mary Green]

I, too, have read that the top left area of the page is the most looked at. When you make a blog or a website with a sidebar, you could put the optin there. But I wonder (would have to test this) if Paul is right, because it makes sense you would want to get them interested first. Have you tried testing this?

[julesbrad]

I thought the headline at the top as I totally agree that you have to interest the visitor first but I was just questioning why most forms are placed below the headline and to the right rather than below headline to the left.

I am new to all this and wondered if there was some wisdom in the right hand placement before I started testing something which may actually be detremental.

[lakshaybehl]

The hottest area is generally reserved for the bullets/nbenefits. that's where you create a desire... Attention and interesta re done thorugh the headline though.

Action is based on a specific call to action... Call them to action with a strong enough benefit and they will sign up anywhere you call them.

[JohnMcCabe]

Did anyone ever consider that the spot with the highest 'heat' is the spot most sites put their headlines or photos? On older styled pages, the top left is also where the navigation menu goes.

I'm guessing that this might be a 'chicken and egg' process...

People get used to seeing something interesting in a certain spot.

Someone figures out that that's where they are looking, so...

They put something interesting there to grab peoples' attention...

Visitors see something interesting in that spot, so they look at it...

And the wheels on the bus go round and round...

On a related topic, email days, I believe we see the same thing. Someone has success mailing on a certain day, and tells people about it. They mail on that day, too. And tell people about it. Pretty soon there's a ton of email on certain days. People notice this, assume it must be working, and mail on those days, too.

In both cases, very few people will make the effort to test the assumption for themselves, in their own markets. They prefer to rely on 'common knowledge' (everyone does it that way, so it must be right), or they defer to some authority (Guru Sam does it that way, so it must be right).

[cullenpowell]

There was a study done a few years ago on a few hundred people which tracked their eye movement when browsing web pages.

They found that most people first look towards the top right corner of a web page when it's first opened, then look to the left hand column after that.

Pop Quiz: What can you conclude from this research? Based on this what can you do with on-page optimization?

P.S. If you're interested in this kind of thing take a look at www.clicktale.net which can show you visitor behavior on your sites - as if you were right there in front of their screen watching them!

*They also have a heatmap module

[JasonParker]

Originally Posted by julesbrad

Taking into consideration general web site heat maps, would it not be best to place subscription forms just below the header to the left ?

Most forms seem to be placed in the right hand colum which is a pretty cold area on web site heat maps. Is there a reason for this ?

Typically the eyes go to the right of a webpage first. Conversion specialists who work with companies like Amazon have proven this. I'll have to find some proof somewhere though because I learned this a couple years ago.