Session Replay 101: How To Use Session Replay

Researching and understanding your web user's experience is crucial to ensuring a positive customer experience. You can gather information on user experiences in many ways. 

One of the best methods is to use a session replay tool, which involves replicating a user's experience to glean information that can inform business decisions. 

Benefits of session replay

Before you can begin using session replay, you should clearly understand its benefits. For example, did you know that session replay optimizes conversion rates on websites? Not only that, but a session replay provides benefits you can't get from traditional analytics. 

While traditional analytics give you detailed information, session replay gives you a visual representation. Seeing a visual representation of your user's experience can be invaluable for making site and brand improvements. 

Enable session replay

To get started with session replay, you need to enable the setting on your website or application. Typically, you can do this in your settings. Specifically, you want to ensure that real user monitoring is on to monitor all user experiences on your site. 

Also, take a look at the configuration of your firewalls. You should set them up in a way that allows you to gather data effectively. Otherwise, you won't be able to reap all the benefits of session replay. 

Sort valuable information from invaluable

When you enable session replay, you'll immediately begin gathering extensive data collections. Although you might think all data is valuable, that's not always the case. So, once you've collected information from multiple sessions, filter out the sessions that best suit your needs. 

For example, a user session that consists of a few clicks will be less valuable than one that involves multiple interactions. Understand that session replay takes time, and you'll likely end up discarding a lot of data. 

Gather information on pain points

Session replay will allow you to gather information on pain points. When analyzing your session results, take note of areas where your customers might have struggled or gotten frustrated. Then, focus on finding ways to remedy those issues. 

For example, you might find you need to simplify your menus or decrease your page length for a better user experience. Many adjustments are simple, but others might require more effort to achieve. However, addressing pain points is an effective method for improving user experiences.

Correct any errors or bad patterns 

Session replay is an excellent tool for studying your site's UX design on a large scale. When you can locate areas that users struggle with, such as navigation features, you can dedicate time and research to fixing them. 

In addition, you'll be able to study how consumers use and understand your content on mobile and desktop devices. That knowledge will further allow you to improve your site.

Wrapping up

Although session replay might seem like a complex tool, it can be advantageous to your brand once you work the kinks out. Improving your site's user experience will help you build a more robust user base. 

From there, you'll be able to take steps to broaden your brand's online footprint and find the success you didn't know you could achieve.