"Web-EYE": Analyzing what sells on the web and how to sell it better

The Internet has been now been around for an entire generation and we have all become fully aware of the immense value and potential of e-commerce and the impact that a webpage can make on a company's business. But to what extent do we understand or can we predict exactly what Internet surfers are actually looking at? How they decide which webpage to browse? And furthermore, what they actually read on each page? All these are key determinants of online decision-making!

Fortunately, marketing research analyzing online browsing behavior has recently become a viable option with the advent of advanced eye-tracking systems such as the Web-EYE.

Compared with traditional eye-tracking equipment that demands elaborate set-ups and offers limited user interface with web pages, Web-EYE offers several advantages. The system incorporates the necessary infra-red LEDs and optic cameras into a conventional, and highly portable, computer monitor. This provides a realistic test that mirrors the real experience of browsing the Internet.

Scan path

Web-EYE then provides a variety of outputs including sophisticated analysis of viewing patterns. It does this by logging both the contents and user-interface behavior of web pages. Multiple quantitative measures of how pages are viewed can then be provided.

What does this all mean?

The combination of Web-Eye's technical capabilities with customized post-test interviews can be used either as a stand-alone tool or as a component of a larger study. The benefits of both types of usage are immediate and clear.

Using Web-EYE in a stand-alone evaluation of the usability of a re-designed webpage, even with a limited number of respondents, can quickly shed light on which sections are working effectively and which are not; which parts are conveying the website's intended message and which parts may require fine-tuning.

Web-EYE provides this information via heat-maps (see pictures below). These show which elements of the webpage generate the longest amount of viewing time (the longer respondents view a particular element, the more red it turns...).

Percent of Noting

Fixation Count (Total)

Fixation Length (Relative)

Fixation Length (Absolute)

When combined with the scan-path (which tracks the sequence of what respondents were looking at), this analysis allows researchers to understand which parts of a website are most viewed. This vital information can then help designers to arrange key elements in a more readily accessible and viewable format.

Sample findings from Web-EYE studies

The following are a few generalized learnings from Web-EYE studies:

• People tend to view websites in an F-shaped pattern. That is, the eye starts in the upper left hand corner and moves directly below, then returns to the upper left hands corner and reads across. The upper left hand corner of any website is often the most often viewed and thus most important part of the webpage.
• The human eye is naturally drawn to the human figure. You should only consider adding one if it really ties in with the message you are trying to deliver to the reader or integrates into the directional flow that you are trying to create to deliver messages effectively. If not, it may well detract from the power of your message!
• While people might not necessarily read all of the text on a website, they will read the captions placed directly beneath pictures. This spot should be reserved for a concise summary of your main message.

While such general learnings are useful to bear in mind, each individual website should be analyzed on its own specific aspects and equally optimized against its own specific set of marketing objectives. This is where Web-EYE can help: Ultimately it acts as an invaluable tool in creating more user-friendly websites and in the process can help to boost both site traffic and sales.

For further inquires regarding Web-EYE, please contact: Contact Us