7 Best Session Recording Tools To Understand User Behavior On Your Site

Have you ever felt unaware of how visitors experience your website? You might have a beautiful design and compelling content, but are users finding what they need and converting into paying customers? According to the survey, behavior analytics can improve sales growth by as much as 85% and enjoy gross margins of up to 25%. Moreover, behavior analytics helps companies achieve a range of objectives, the following image shows the same;

(Image Source)

This is where session recording tools come into the picture. These powerful applications offer a window into the user journey, letting you see exactly how visitors navigate your site, from clicks and scrolls to form submissions and page exits.

What Is Website Session Recording Software And Why Is It Important?

Imagine being able to watch a recording of how visitors navigate your website. Every click, scroll, and hover point – like a behind-the-scenes look at their user journey. This is the magic of website session recording software.

These tools go beyond basic website analytics that tell you what users are doing (e.g., number of page views). Session recording helps you know better, capturing a visual record of how users interact with your site. You'll see things like;

But why is this so important? Here's the power of website session recording:

1. Solve UX Issues

Imagine having a user walk into your physical store and bump into a poorly placed display or struggle to find the exit. Session recordings offer a similar window into the user experience on your website. You can identify:

• Confusing Layouts: Are users getting lost on your site? Recordings can reveal areas where the layout is unclear, leading to clicks in unintended places or confusion about where to find information.
• Frustrating Navigation: Is your navigation menu overly complex or buried deep within the site? Recordings will show users struggling to find the pages they need, indicating a need for navigation improvements.
• Broken Elements: Are there buttons that don't work or forms that can't be submitted? Recordings can expose these technical glitches that hinder user experience.

2. Boost Conversions

Think of your website's conversion funnel as a series of steps that lead users toward a desired action, like making a purchase or signing up for a service. Session recordings can pinpoint exactly where users are dropping off in this funnel:

• Identify Friction Points: Are users abandoning their shopping carts mid-checkout? Recordings can reveal confusing forms, unexpected fees, or a lengthy checkout process, which can cause frustration.
• Optimize Calls to Action (CTAs): Are your CTAs clear and compelling enough? Recordings can show if users hesitate or miss CTAs altogether, indicating a need for stronger visuals or clearer messaging.
• Understand User Intent: By seeing how users navigate your site before dropping off, you can gain insights into their intent and tailor your content and CTAs accordingly.

3. Personalize the Experience

Website visitors are not a monolith. They have different needs, preferences, and reasons for visiting your site. Session recordings can help you understand these diverse user segments:

• Identify User Behavior Patterns: Recordings can reveal common click patterns and browsing behaviors for different user types.
• Tailor Content and CTAs: Based on user behavior, you can personalize the content and CTAs that users see. For example, highlighting specific products or services relevant to their interests.
• A/B Test Personalization Strategies: Use session recordings to measure the effectiveness of your personalization efforts. See which approaches resonate best with different user segments.

4. Make Data-Driven Decisions

Website design decisions often involve trade-offs and experimentation. Session recordings provide real user behavior data to support your choices:

• Validate Design Changes: Did your recent website redesign improve navigation or user flow? Recordings can provide concrete evidence of the impact on user behavior.
• Test New Features: Considering adding a new feature? Session recordings can reveal how users interact with it, helping you identify any usability issues before a full rollout.
• Prioritize Website Improvements: With user behavior data in hand, you can prioritize website improvements based on their potential impact on user experience and conversions.

By understanding how users truly interact with your site, session recording software empowers you to make informed decisions that will enhance user experience, boost conversions, and ultimately achieve your business goals.

Top 7 session recording tools for website

1. riyo.ai

riyo.ai helps you understand your users by letting you see their journey firsthand.  It records user sessions, so you can watch exactly how they interact with your site.

riyo.ai’s user-friendly interface makes tracking users across tabs and windows easy, giving you a complete picture of their experience. Plus, you can save, share, and comment on important clips for easy collaboration with your team.

Features:

Session Recording: Traditional analytics only show where users click. Recordings let you witness their entire journey, revealing how they navigate your site and interact with elements.

Heatmap: Combine recordings with heatmaps (a free riyo.ai feature) to see click patterns alongside user actions. This powerful duo unveils deeper user behavior trends, allowing you to pinpoint areas that might be confusing or require improvement.

Also Read: How Heatmaps Can Be Used to Improve Conversion Rates

Targeted Filtering: Filter recordings based on specific user actions, like clicks, scrolls, or even frustration signals (rapid clicks, back-and-forth navigation). You can also filter by user type (returning visitors, new users) to gain insights into specific audience segments.

Auto Form Capture: The auto-capture form gathers user info during their visit, so they don't have to fill out long forms. This makes things smoother for them and helps you build a customer list for targeted campaigns. By seeing how people use your forms, you can fix any problems and get more submissions.

Visitor Journey: It tracks where people go on your site, how long they stay on each page, and what they do before they buy something or leave. This info is like gold - it helps you improve your website and makes it easier for people to find what they need.

Live Chat: Talk to website visitors right away, answer their questions, and solve problems. riyo.ai even uses your website info to help with answers! This builds trust and keeps customers coming back for more.

Pricing:

Also Read: The Power of User Behavior Analytics in Website Optimization

2. Mouse Flow

Mouseflow was born in 2010 from the vision of Lasse Schou, who identified a gap in website analytics – the lack of tools to understand user behavior.

Features:

1. Comprehensive User Journey Tracking: Mouseflow excels at capturing the complete visitor experience with conversion funnels, highlighting areas where users might get stuck.
2. Actionable Insights: Gain a deeper understanding of user interactions through heatmaps, session replays, and the ability to layer recordings for comparison. Analyze form analytics, feedback surveys, and live chats to understand user intent.
3. Frictionless User Recording: With a single click, Mouseflow anonymously records 100% of user activity on your website.
   

Pricing:

There's a free plan for recording up to 500 sessions on one website, offering core features like form analytics and surveys. Paid plans start at $31/month, increasing session limits, website tracking, data storage, and forms.

3. FullStory

FullStory, born in 2014, is the brainchild of three former Google employees led by Scott Voigt. Initially created to understand user interaction with an existing product, it evolved into a comprehensive customer journey analysis tool.

Features:

1. Mobile App: Analyze user journeys within mobile apps with detail, FullStory's innovative approach captures user actions without traditional screenshots.
2. Tagless Autocapture: Track user behavior without manual tagging. FullStory automatically captures unpredictable user flows for a complete picture.
3. Multi-Tab Visibility: Unlike most session replay tools, FullStory tracks user actions across multiple browser tabs, providing a holistic view of user journeys.
4. Privacy Customization: Balance data collection with user privacy through customizable privacy settings.
5. Performance-Driven: Record sessions without compromising website speed. FullStory utilizes a unique method, scanning the app 300 times per minute and generating minimal data (under 100kb).
   

Pricing:

FullStory's pricing isn't publicly available, but they offer a freemium plan and a 14-day free trial of their full-featured business plan.

4. CrazyEgg

Founded by entrepreneur Neil Patel, CrazyEgg helps businesses understand how visitors interact with their websites.  Frustrated by confusing website experiences, Patel created Crazy Egg in 2006 to provide insights for developers, support teams, and website owners.

Features:

1. Track User Behavior: Analyze web traffic, identify errors, and gather targeted feedback through surveys.
2. Optimize Conversions: A/B tests different website elements and uses heatmaps & session replays to pinpoint areas impacting conversions.
3. Visualize User Activity: See click locations, how far users scroll, and their overall interface interaction through heatmaps and scrollmaps.
   

Pricing:

Crazy Egg offers tiered pricing starting at $29/month. Plans increase the number of snapshots, and recordings, and offer features like priority support.  All plans include a 30-day free trial. The most popular plan, Crazy Egg Plus, costs $99/month with annual billing.

5. Lucky Orange

Fed up with the mystery behind website user behavior, small business owners Danny Wajcman and Brian Gruber decided to take action. In 2012, Lucky Orange was born to bridge this gap and empower businesses with user insights.

Features:

1. See What Users See: Uncover user journeys with configurable session recordings and filters to pinpoint specific user interactions.
2. Heatmaps & Funnels: Optimize website design and user flow with dynamic heatmaps and conversion funnel tracking.
3. Targeted Pop-up Announcements: Grab user attention and drive conversions with strategically placed pop-ups featuring ads, updates, discounts, CTAs, and more. Personalize messages based on user behavior gleaned from session replays.
4. Engagement & Feedback: Improve customer support with pre-built user segments and form analytics to identify frustrated users and conversion roadblocks.
5. Live Chat: Improve customer experience and resolve issues in real-time with built-in live chat functionality.
   

Pricing:

Get started for free with 100 monthly sessions and core features like session replays and heatmaps.

6. Hotjar

Hotjar was founded in 2014 by David Darmanin, a conversion optimization expert seeking an affordable solution to understand user behavior on websites. This user-centric tool helps website owners and developers to delve into the minds of their visitors and discover their needs.

Features:

1. Visualizing Interaction: Heatmaps provide a clear picture of where users click, scroll, and engage on your web pages, pinpointing areas of high activity.
2. Targeted Feedback: Craft surveys tailored to specific user segments or web pages to gather valuable insights directly from your visitors.
3. AI-powered Insights: Generate surveys automatically based on user behavior, saving you time and effort.
4. Contextual Feedback: Highlight specific web elements to gather targeted feedback from users, pinpointing areas for improvement.
   

Pricing:

Hotjar offers tiered pricing plans to suit your needs. The free plan provides basic features for up to 35 daily sessions. Paid plans unlock additional features like surveys, feedback forms, and live user interviews.

7. SmartLook

SmartLook continuously records all user sessions (website or app) and tracks specific actions. While filtering by user type is challenging, it provides invaluable insights into user behavior.

Features:

1. Mobile User Insights: See how users interact with your site on both Android and iOS devices, giving you a holistic understanding of the mobile user experience.
2. Wireframe Mode: Zoom in on specific user interactions within your website's layout. This wireframe mode allows you to pinpoint exactly where users click, scroll, or encounter any difficulties.
3. Identify Churn and Engagement Trends: Retention tables provide valuable insights into user engagement and churn rate. This helps you identify areas where users might be dropping off and take action to improve their experience.
4. Real-Time Data: Enjoy always-on event tracking, statistics, and detailed breakdowns. Gain instant access to crucial user behavior data without any delays.
5. Heatmap Analysis: Filter heatmaps by device type (desktop, mobile) or visitor type (returning user, new visitor) to see click patterns and user behavior for specific segments.

By letting you see your website through your visitors' eyes, website session recording software fosters empathy and empowers you to make customer-centric improvements. The best tools provide granular insights into user behavior, allowing you to pinpoint not just what visitors do but also why they do it, so you can prioritize updates that will truly delight them.

FAQs

1. What are session replay tools?

Session replay tools act like a rewind button for your website or app. They record user sessions, allowing you to see exactly how visitors navigate your platform, including clicks, scrolls, mouse movements, and even form interactions. This provides a visual understanding of the user experience, complementing traditional website analytics data.

2. Are there any privacy concerns associated with using session replay tools?

Data privacy is a major concern.  Session replay tools should anonymize recordings by blurring personally identifiable information (PII) like usernames or email addresses. Additionally, it's crucial to be transparent with users about how their data is collected and used.  Following best practices and obtaining user consent can help alleviate privacy concerns.

3. How do session replay tools differ from other analytics tools?

Traditional analytics tools like Google Analytics provide quantitative data - numbers on clicks, page views, and conversions. Session replay tools offer a qualitative perspective. By visualizing user journeys, you can see the "why" behind the numbers - understanding user behavior and pain points that traditional analytics might miss.

4. Are session replay software resource-intensive and impact website performance?

Most reputable session replay tools are designed to be lightweight and have minimal impact on website performance. However, it's always a good practice to monitor your website's speed after implementing any new tool.

5. Are session replay tools compliant with data protection regulations?

Compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA is essential.  Choose a tool that offers features to ensure compliance, such as anonymization and user consent options. It's also important to consult with a professional to ensure your implementation adheres to relevant regulations.

6. What types of user interactions can session recording tools capture?

Session replay tools can capture a wide range of user interactions, including:

• Clicks and taps on buttons and links
• Form submissions (without capturing sensitive data)
• Mouse movements and scrolls
• Page visits and time spent on each page
• Video interactions (play, pause, etc.)
• In some cases, user attributes like device type and browser