Website visitor tracking software for better engagement

What is website visitor tracking?

Website visitor tracking is the mechanism of tracking visitors' interactions with your website, like the pages they view, the duration of their visit, the actions they take, and their journey throughout the site.

Why is website visitor tracking important?

Website visitor tracking helps businesses understand who their website visitors are, the source of this traffic, and how they're interacting with the website in real time. These insights can be used to identify top-performing pages and modify the website’s flow and content to reduce barriers and nudge visitors to conversion. Visitor tracking with lead scoring also helps you pick out leads with the highest chances of conversion so you can focus your efforts and resources on them.

What is the difference between website visitor tracking and web analytics?

Website visitor tracking is the process of knowing who your website visitors are, their location and source, as well as their behavior on your site in order to personalize prospect and customer engagement. All the data you get pertains to individual visitors.

Web analytics is the collection and analysis of website performance metrics like visits, average time spent by visitors on the site, bounce rates, countries giving you the most traffic, traffic flow between pages, and more. The data you get here is the average of the visits you get, and pertains to each of your webpages.

How do you track website visitors?

To track website visitors, you need to select website visitor tracking software first. There are many website visitor tracking tools available. After choosing a visitor tracker, you need to add the visitor tracking code/script provided in the tool on your website. The software will then track your website visitors and give you a real-time view of your website visitors and their behavior on your website.

It's important to respect user privacy and adhere to applicable privacy laws and regulations when you track website visitors. Provide clear information about data collection and usage in your privacy policy, and offer visitors the ability to opt out of tracking.

What is the difference between B2B and B2C website visitor tracking?

B2B visitor tracking often focuses on monitoring and analyzing the behavior and interactions of businesses or key decision-makers within those businesses that visit a website. This is often done by capturing IP addresses and using IP lookup services to match them with known companies.

B2C website visitor tracking, on the other hand, tracks individual website visitor's behavior and preferences. This includes monitoring their navigation patterns, page views, time spent on the site, and interactions with specific elements. It helps businesses deliver targeted recommendations, offers, and advertisements to enhance customer engagement and drive conversions.

What is website visitor tracker software?

Website visitor tracking software is a piece of code added to a business's website that gives the business a real-time view of visitors on their website along with details like location, actions on the site, visit duration, traffic source, and more that can be used for effective prospect engagement, conversion, and support.

What are the different types of visitor tracking software?

There are three types of website visitor tracking software.

• Website analytics software: These tools track and analyze various metrics related to website visitors, such as page views, unique visitors, bounce rates, conversion rates, and traffic sources.
• Heatmap and session recording tools: These give you visual representations of areas that receive the most attention (hotspots) on your website and what's usually ignored. Interactions with buttons, links, and other elements can be tracked with a heatmap. Session recording tools record the screen activity and interactions of website visitors. This enables businesses to analyze individual sessions to gain insights into user behavior, navigation patterns, and usability issues.
• IP tracking tools: These identify the IP addresses of website visitors and provide information about the corresponding companies or organizations. This helps B2B companies identify potential leads and gain insights into their interests.
• Real-time behavior tracking tools: These give you a live view of your website visitors, the time spent on your site, the pages they visit, and more. This helps you understand what your visitors are interested in, their engagement level, and bottlenecks or issues on your website.

What performance metrics can be tracked using website visitor tracking tools?

Website visitor tracking tools provide various performance metrics to analyze and understand the behavior of visitors on a website. Some common performance metrics that can be tracked using these tools include:

• Number of visitors: This metric indicates the total count of unique visitors to a website within a specific time period. It helps understand the overall traffic volume.
• Page views: Page views refer to the total number of times a page is viewed by visitors. It helps gauge the popularity and engagement level of specific pages.
• Pages viewed: This tells you the number and URL of pages viewed by an individual visitor. It gives you insights into their engagement level and what they're interested in.
• Bounce rate: The bounce rate represents the percentage of visitors who leave the website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that visitors aren't finding the content or experience they expected.
• Time on page: This metric measures the average time visitors spend on a specific page. It provides insights into the level of engagement and interest in the content.
• Inactivity time: This gives you the time since the last recorded action performed by the visitor in the website. It's an indicator of the lead going cold.
• Referral sources: Referral sources indicate where website traffic is coming from. It helps identify which channels (such as search engines, social media, or other websites) are driving the most visitors.
• Click rate: This gives the percentage of visitors who click on a specific link or call-to-action. It's commonly used for analyzing the effectiveness of advertisements or email campaigns.
• Visitor demographics: Some visitor tracking tools can provide insights into the demographics of website visitors, such as their geographic location, language, device type, or browser. This information can be valuable for understanding the target audience.

What are the benefits of visitor tracking software?

• Highlights what content works best using details like page visits, time spent, and user actions so you can tweak content accordingly.
• Tells you which social media posts, email campaigns, or ads are driving the most quality leads.
• Aids you in determining which geographical location most of your prospects are from so you can provide more localized content and deals.
• Gives you insights on the visitor journey on your website or app so you can reduce bottlenecks.
• Identifies returning visitors and their details so you can provide more personalized assistance.
• Tells you which products and sales deals are garnering the most attention.
• Notifies you when high-quality leads visit your site.
• Helps you with user profiling and targeted marketing.
• Gives you first-hand insights into what your prospects and customers expect from your product.
• Helps customer support teams address user queries without asking too many questions about their browser or device configuration.

What are the key features of visitor tracking software?

• Provides real-time visitor tracking data categorized the way you want.
• Rates your visitors to help you prioritize hot leads according to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
• Indicates if your visitors are landing on your page for the first time or if they're returning visitors.
• Shows you who was referred through which channels.
• Tells you the geographical location of your visitors.
• Gives you a detailed view of the visitor’s path and actions on your website.
• Shows you which browser or OS (in the case of mobile devices) they’re using.
• Alerts you when high-prospect leads visit your website or mobile app.
• Integrates with the CRM tool of your choice so you can push data to your CRM, add further details, and set follow-up actions.

Is website visitor tracking software GDPR-compliant?

Website visitor tracking software can be made GDPR-compliant, but it depends on the software and how it's implemented and used.

• Lawful basis for processing: The website owner must have a lawful basis for processing personal data collected through website visitor tracking tools. This could include user consent, contractual necessity, legal obligation, or legitimate interest.
• Transparency and notice: Visitors should be provided with clear and concise information about the tracking activities taking place on the website. This includes disclosing the types of data collected, purposes of processing, retention periods, and any third parties involved.
• Consent management: If the visitor tracking software relies on user consent as the lawful basis for processing, the website should obtain explicit and freely given consent from visitors before tracking their activities. Consent should be specific, informed, and easily withdrawable.
• Data retention and security: Personal data collected through visitor tracking tools should only be retained for as long as necessary and should be securely stored. Implementing appropriate security measures, such as encryption and access controls, is important to protect the data from unauthorized access or disclosure.
• Data subject rights: Visitors should be provided with mechanisms to exercise their rights under the GDPR, such as the right to access their data, rectify inaccuracies, erase data, restrict processing, and object to processing.

It's essential for website owners to review the security and privacy practices of the website visitor tracking software they use and ensure that they align with GDPR requirements. Check out all you need to know about Zoho SalesIQ's data security and privacy.

How do I choose the right website visitor tracking tools for my business?

Choosing the right website visitor tracking tool for your business depends on various factors and considerations. Here are some steps to help you make an informed decision:

• Identify your goals and requirements: Determine the specific goals and objectives you want to achieve with website visitor tracking. Are you primarily interested in understanding visitor behavior, improving conversion rates, or optimizing user experience? Clearly defining your goals will help you prioritize the features and functionalities you need in a visitor tracking tool.
• Assess your budget: Consider your budgetary constraints for investing in website visitor tracking tools. Different tools have varying pricing models, such as monthly subscriptions, usage-based fees, or one-time purchases. Evaluate the value and return on investment you expect from the tools you're considering.
• Research available tools: Conduct thorough research to identify the available website visitor tracking tools on the market. Explore their features, functionalities, and integrations with other software you use. Read user reviews and case studies to understand the experiences and successes of other businesses with these tools.
• Consider ease of use and implementation: Evaluate the user interface and ease of use of the tracking tools. Consider the technical expertise and resources available within your organization to implement and utilize the tools effectively.
• Ensure compliance with required data protection regulations: If you operate in the European Union or handle EU citizens' data, ensure that the tracking tools you consider are GDPR-compliant. Similarly, check for other relevant data protection and security compliances.
• Scalability and future growth: Consider the scalability of the visitor tracking tools and whether they can accommodate your business's growth. Assess whether the they can handle increasing traffic volume and provide insights as your website and business expand.