Unlocking Actionable Insights from User Session Recordings

Session recordings are a powerful tool for improving user experiences on websites, but analyzing each session individually can be a daunting task. Fortunately, with the right techniques and tools, you can efficiently analyze session recordings and gain valuable insights quickly.

In this article, we will explore some of the best practices for analyzing session recordings to find insights fast.

1) Filter Recordings to Find Relevant Sessions Fast

Filtering is an essential technique that allows you to quickly find relevant session recordings based on specific criteria. For example, Howuku provides a scoring system that categorizes visitor recordings as high, medium, or low scoring based on the number of pages visited and the length of the session.

High-score recordings, where users visit more than five pages and spend at least five minutes on the website, are more likely to provide valuable insights into potential user interest or confusion.

2) Use Event-Based Filters to Get the Full Context Behind Users' Actions

Event-based filters allow you to find useful insights by filtering session recordings based on user actions that took place in them. Howuku enables you to track important interactions by using event API or by clicking on elements on your site's UI to define an event.

This capability shows you the full context behind users' actions, i.e., what they did before and after triggering the event. You can watch recordings of users who added an item to their cart or reached the "Thank you" page by using event filter on session recordings or clicking the "Play" button under each event. This takes you directly to the sessions where the event was triggered.

3) Watch Session Recordings with Errors, Bugs, and Rage Clicks to Find Problem Areas

While session recordings are primarily used for marketing and UX purposes, they can also be a powerful tool for detecting and resolving technical problems as Howuku automatically detects JavaScript errors and rage clicks.

For instance, by clicking on the "Dev Console" button on the session recording player, you can quickly identify the root cause of a JavaScript error and expedite the bug fixing process.

Besides JavaScript errors and rage clicks, session recordings also let you find bugs that are only visible from a visitor’s point of view. For example, you can quickly identify issues with UI rendering by watching a few session recordings instead of waiting for a few days for enough data to accumulate before confirming something was wrong.

4) Filter Session Recordings Based on User Identification

If your website collects user identification details, such as emails or user names, you can use that information to find individual recordings. With Howuku's Identify API, you can filter session recordings based on an identifier like a user's email. When an identified user reports a bug, you can find their session recordings instantly and analyze the problem without having to rely on their explanations.

5) Combine Session Recordings with Funnel Analysis to Find Out Why Users Don't Convert

Funnel analysis is a method of analyzing how users navigate a sequence of steps to complete a goal, such as buying a product or signing up for a newsletter. Howuku enables you to create a funnel by placing two or more events in the order you believe your users follow.

You can then combine funnel analysis with session recordings to find out why users don't convert. For example, if you have a three-step checkout funnel, you can watch the session recordings of users who dropped off between Step 2 (clicking on "Pay Now") and Step 3 (landing on the "Thank you" page). By clicking the "drop-off stage" button between Steps 2 and 3, you can watch the session recordings of the users who dropped off and see exactly what happened before they dropped off.

6) Analyze Different Visitor Segments

Segmentation is the process of separating visitors into separate groups based on shared characteristics, such as their location, device, referrer, or events they performed. You can save any combination of events and properties as a segment and instantly find the session recordings for that segment.

For example, you can create a segment of US visitors who successfully completed a purchase on a mobile device by selecting the event that defines a successful purchase (such as users reaching the “Thank you” page on your site) and applying filters for location and mobile device.

Once you've defined this segment, you can easily retrieve the corresponding session recordings to gain a deeper understanding of their behavior and preferences.

If you can't watch all the recordings in a segment in one go, you can resume your analysis later using the playing status filter, which shows whether you've already watched a recording. This helps you stay organized and focused while reviewing multiple recordings.

In case you find interesting recordings that you want to revisit, you can save them in a collection for easy retrieval and sharing. This feature makes it simple to collaborate with others, highlight notable examples, or track progress over time.

Overall, Howuku provides a variety of tools to help you analyze session recordings efficiently and gain insights quickly. By utilizing the features to its fullest potential, you can gain insights into how your users interact with your website and make informed decisions to improve their experience. Whether you're a marketer, UX designer, or product manager, Howuku can help you optimize your website's performance and ultimately drive conversions.