They solve different problems
Heatmap tools like Hotjar, Crazy Egg, and FullStory show you where people click, how far they scroll, and which parts of your page they ignore. That's useful information. But it doesn't answer the question most founders are actually asking: why aren't people signing up?
A heatmap can show you that nobody clicks your CTA. It can't tell you whether the problem is your headline, your pricing, your trust signals, or the fact that your page doesn't give anyone a reason to act today.
Conversion Probe reads your page and scores it on the things that actually cause people to sign up or leave: clarity, trust, urgency, and emotional connection. Different tool, different job.
What heatmap tools tell you
Heatmaps are behavior recorders. They track what visitors do on your page: where they click, how far they scroll, which elements they hover over, which form fields they abandon. Session recordings let you watch individual visits play out in real time.
This data is good at answering questions like:
- Are people scrolling past the pricing section?
- Which navigation links get the most clicks?
- Where do visitors drop off in a multi-step form?
- Is the mobile layout causing confusion?
If you have enough traffic (500+ visits a month on the page you're testing), heatmaps give you a reliable picture of how people move through your page.
What heatmap tools can't tell you
A heatmap shows the symptom. It can't diagnose the cause.
You might see that 80% of visitors leave before scrolling past the first screen. The heatmap tells you this is happening. It doesn't tell you whether the problem is a confusing headline, missing trust signals, a weak CTA, or all three at once.
You might see that nobody clicks the "Start free trial" button. Is the button hard to find? Is the copy not convincing? Is the page failing to build enough trust before asking for a commitment? The heatmap can't answer that.
Diagnosing why people leave requires looking at what your page says and how it says it.
What Conversion Probe tells you
Conversion Probe reads your page the way a conversion expert would. It scores your page on four dimensions: clarity (can visitors understand your offer in a few seconds?), trust (do they believe you?), urgency (why should they act now?), and emotion (does the page connect with the problem they're feeling?).
The free audit shows your score, your biggest problem, and a few things to fix. The Pro report goes deeper with 7 psychology frameworks, specific copy rewrites, and a prioritized action plan.
The difference: heatmaps tell you what's happening. Conversion Probe tells you what to change.
Side-by-side comparison
| Heatmap Tools | Conversion Probe | |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Clicks, scrolls, mouse movement, session recordings | Clarity, trust, urgency, emotion |
| What it tells you | Where visitors interact (or don't) | Why visitors leave (or stay) |
| Traffic required | 500+ visits/month for reliable data | None. Works on any live page |
| Time to first insight | Days to weeks (needs data to accumulate) | About a minute |
| Cost | $30-$80/month (ongoing) | Free tier: $0. Pro: $29 one-time |
| Best for | Tracking behavior patterns over time | Diagnosing conversion problems before you have traffic |
When to use each one
Start with Conversion Probe when...
- You just launched and don't have enough traffic for heatmap data yet
- You know your page isn't converting but you don't know why
- You want specific feedback on your copy, trust signals, and page structure
- You want to fix the big problems before spending money on a monthly tool
Most landing pages have obvious problems that a self-audit or a Conversion Probe score will catch in minutes: unclear headlines, missing social proof, no reason to act today. Fix those first. Then track how visitors respond.
Add a heatmap tool when...
- You're getting steady traffic and want to see how real visitors behave
- You've already fixed the obvious conversion issues and want to fine-tune
- You're running A/B tests and need click/scroll data to interpret results
- You have a multi-page funnel and need to find where people drop off
Heatmaps get more useful as your traffic grows. At 50 visits a month, the data is too noisy to act on. At 2,000 visits a month, you can spot real patterns.
They work well together
The smartest way to use both: run Conversion Probe first to find and fix your page's psychology problems. Then install a heatmap tool to see whether the changes are actually working.
Conversion Probe tells you what to fix. Heatmaps show you whether the fix is landing. One without the other gives you half the picture.