CUX (cux.io) is the world’s first UX Automation tool. It helps companies not only save the time that so far had to spend on independent and manual data analysis, but also shows how to maintain sales growth by predicting which customer behavior may inhibit conversion.

The tool identifies areas of user frustration that may cause conversion drops, filters heatmaps and recordings, and identifies behavior patterns. CUX eliminates the problem of independent search for problems on websites – it does it automatically, additionally selecting only those visits that are relevant to the business goal. UX Automation enables the analysis of user behavior on any type of device – from phoness to smart TVs. In addition, CUX independently tracks all events on the website, thus not involving the customer’s IT department.

CUX free version
As part of the cux.io free trial period, you will have access to 1000 recordings of visits, which you can collect at any time convenient for you. Trial includes all the functionalities of the tool available in a paid subscription.

Paid version CUX
The CUX price starts at 49 euros per month. The final cost is influenced by: the amount of traffic on the website that we want to analyze and the data storage time (retention). When purchasing an annual subscription, 2 months are free.

CUX – how to analyze user behavior?

To start using the tool, it is enough to attach the CUX tracking code to the page you want to follow. This can be done using the integration with Google Tag Manager or Google Analytics. After starting the analytics, CUX automatically catches all the events on the pages, thus not involving you in setting technical parameters.

The most important of the CUX functionalities:

– Experience Metrics – proprietary metrics showing the frustration of users on the website. They are divided into: rage clicks, rage key presses, chaotic mouse movements, zooming and constant content refreshing.
– Recordings of visits – CUX analyzes entire visits, instead of individual sessions. This means that it tracks the user’s visit even when he opens many tabs or is inactive for a long time.
– Heatmaps – CUX generates heat maps for single pages and SPA (single page apps). The tool is also compatible with various types of devices – from phoness and computers, to tablets and consoles, to smartTV and the so-called wearables.
– Conversion Waterfalls – CUX helps to track visitor behavior in various scenarioses. In other words, Waterfall is a graphical representation of any sequence of steps visitors take on your site.
– Analysis in the context of a business goal – regardless of what your business goal is (sales, training registration, filling out the contact form, downloading an e-book, etc.), CUX will select for you only the data about user behavior that they have on it real impact. The number of goals for a project is unlimited.
– Automatic event catching – CUX is able to automatically capture events on the website, allowing code-free tracking of each stage of the user’s journey without the need to involve the IT department.
– Retroactive analysis – CUX allows you to create and modify conversion funnels even using historical data and without having to wait for new recordings to be collected.

Three levels of optimization

Working with qualitative data boils down to optimizing the real user path – not the one we dreamed of when creating the product! To make it as effective as possible, we divide it into 3 levels: marketing, product and conversion optimization.

In order to properly optimize marketing activities (directing traffic from external sources), we need to know exactly what is happening to our users along their entire path. Where they land, what they see, how they react. So we optimize based on observation.

How do we go about optimizing the customer journey in the context of the product? We shorten it! Why? Customers – those online in particular – do not always have a strong purchasing incentive. It is not uncommon for them to be driven to the side of your product or service by their impulse. The longer the path to conversion – the more time for the user to change their mind!

Conversion optimization does not only consist of the last steps of the sales funnel (cart, checkout). For our improvements to make sense, we need to take a few steps back and look at the entire customer journey – from marketing communication to product interactions.

Analysis in the context of the goal

The advantage of CUX for us with other behavioral analysis tools is that it filters all results in the context of your business goal. Regardless of what will be your main goal (Sales? Filling the form? Registration for training?), The data read through the prism of its implementation are much more valuable.

Imagine your business goal is for customers to fill out a contact form – this is the main place where you sell. Setting the goal “Send contact form” will allow you to automatically filter out those visits that show the achieved goal. Thanks to them, you will be able to improve the contact process, spot problems that your users are struggling with or change the page layout so that they convert more and faster.

Event analysis

To make the data you analyze meaningful, accurate and relevant to your business goals, create extensive conversion funnels based on events. What? Completely any! These can be clicks on specific elements on your website, filling out forms, entries to specific websites or coming from specific links, e.g. campaign links.

How do you go about an event-based analysis?

– Start with the whole – check the “global” paths of your users, compare, see which are doing better.
– When you notice a big drop, take a look at this place in detail. Watch the visits, create a funnel for this particular fragment on the page.
– Remember that the sequence of steps you set in Waterfall is important, and when counting conversions, we take into account the execution of individual steps in the order set by you.

Heatmap analysis

As you probably know, the heatmap graphically shows the most important activities on your pages. Every action – like clicking or mouse movement, scrolling, chaotic movement – adds color to the area. To draw reliable conclusions from the heatmap analysis, try to take into account those for which min. 250 events. On pages that contain various dynamic elements (such as pop-ups, drop-down menus, hoover), remember that they may not be captured on the heatmap. However, do not forget to consider them from an analytical point of view – perhaps the rage clicks that “fly” on the heatmap relate to these elements.

Analysis of recordings of visits

A truth that entrepreneurs often forget: analytics is not just watching random recordings! When you start working on recordings, keep a business goal in mind and filter only those visits that meet it. There is no point in wasting precious time on meaningless recreations.

Always start your analysis from general to specific and look for patterns of behavior. Watch the visits until the picture of your users’ habits begins to form a complete picture in your head. So how long? Usually, a dozen / several dozen visits are enough for the pattern to start clearing up. You can also use Experience Metrics in CUX to start with the behavioral patterns we have identified (rage clicks, zooming, refreshing the page, etc.).

FAQ

How is CUX different from Hotjar?
CUX not only combines all the functionalities of analytical tools (such as Hotjar), but also automates the data analysis process, which makes it an innovation in the user behavior analytics market. Unlike Hotjar, CUX is able to present a complete picture of data – both quantitative and qualitative – and interpret it in the context of a business goal.

Will CUX be useful for industries other than e-commerce?
Of course! The analysis of customer behavior will benefit not only e-commerce, but also businesses in the SaaS and B2B model, companies providing marketing services, software houses – all industries in which the customer comes into contact with a digital product. In addition, CUX is able to facilitate the work of various departments and teams within the company – from marketing, through sales, IT, content creation, to product development and management.

When is it worth analyzing user behavior?
We often come across the erroneous assumption that behavior analysis comes in handy when we see that the website is not working properly. Yes, this is a good time. But not the only one. Studying the behavior and introducing minor implementations on their basis at every stage of the digital product’s life helps to almost immediately increase the level of conversion or prevent its decline.

What’s the CUX price?
The cost of a paid subscription starts at 49 EUR / month and depends on the amount of traffic on the site and the customer’s required data retention time. In addition, CUX provides additionally paid technical and analytical onboarding, personalized workshops, webinars and bootcamps as well as ready-made website audits.

Did you know that as many as 73% of Internet users in the world shop online? This result is 11 percentage points higher than in 2019. This is largely due to the pandemic, which in a way forced consumers to use online channels. Many of them, once tried, stayed longer. There is no wonder – online shopping is becoming more convenient and safer than visiting crowded shopping malls.

That’s why now is the best time to start your online store, especially since the e-commerce market is not saturated yet. However, in order for everything to function as expected, you need to know how to handle it in practice. Calmly. Although it may seem like a challenge at first – especially if you haven’t had much contact with the digital world – all you need is a bit of determination and an open mind to learn the basics and … learn how to run an online store.

How to set up an e-shop?

Before you start running an e-shop, you have to … set it up. What do you need to start? These are the elements that must be taken care of.

A. Business plan
The concept is absolutely fundamental. You need to know what you want to sell, to whom and in what model. For example, the e-shop, which is an extension of the stationary activity, will look different, and the dropshipping model will function differently (when the e-shop does not deal with the physical distribution of goods, and after completing the transaction, it transfers the order to the warehouse that is responsible for sending it to the customer).

At this stage, it is also worth developing:
– brand name – and check if it is already taken in the domain registry. Remember: short domains are the catchy ones. So it’s worth taking this into account when planning your store name. It must be easy for customers to remember;
– visual identification system – and therefore the logotype, fonts and colors to be associated with the brand. This information will come in handy when creating the landing page layout.

Of course, you should also define the budget that can be allocated to start an e-shop. It is worth being aware that the greater the number of products distributed and the more customers you plan to serve, the more advanced (and more expensive) technological solutions will become justified and needed.

B. Logistics
Before an online store starts to appear, it is necessary to specify exactly what the purchasing process will look like. Take care of:

– adequate stocks of products to be distributed,
– a place for their storage (you may need to rent a warehouse),
– completing business formalities (if necessary, setting up a business and a bank account to which payments from customers will flow),
– agreeing on the rules of cooperation with contractors,
– selecting payment methods made available to customers,
– selecting delivery methods.

At the beginning, you may be able to handle the e-shop on your own – especially since the first months will be a time of investment, and the time for profits is yet to come.

C. Technical facilities
These are all issues related to setting up an e-shop from the “digital” side. In this area, tasks such as:

– buying a domain, and therefore the address of an online store – it is also worth investing in related addresses to redirect from them to your e-store,
– selection of an e-commerce platform – you can choose from open-source WooCommerce platforms and a convenient (especially at the beginning) SaaS model, in which you buy a service package that suits your needs,
– choosing a hosting server (when the store is based on an open source platform, not on the SaaS model),
– ordering the design and implementation of an e-shop – so that its appearance is unique for the brand and legible for the customer, and the mechanics are intuitive and helpful to the buyer and you as the seller. It is best to entrust the task of preparing the layout and implementation to specialists who will make sure that everything works as expected.

D. Preparation of products
When your e-shop is ready, it’s time to fill it with products. So you will need:

– content – both on the website’s home page and category pages, as well as product descriptions,
– good product photos.

Do you sell goods from external producers? If so, you probably received promotional material from them. And while the use of product photos will be a good idea, when it comes to content … it is worth thinking about introducing unique ones as soon as possible. Why? Because copies from the manufacturer’s website can potentially reduce the SEO value of your website. And this will translate into poorer visibility and poorer positioning results.

Finally, you should also take care of legal issues – it will be necessary to draw up the store regulations. The e-shop will process customer data, therefore a safe management procedure must be developed. At this stage, it is worth consulting a lawyer or using the help of an e-shop operator. If you choose an e-commerce platform in the SaaS model, you can usually count on support and a rich package of tips in this regard.

Ready? Then you can start your shop.

How to run an e-shop?

Running an online store after fulfilling the basic obligations described above requires constant work to provide customers with the most comfortable shopping conditions. Remember that along with the demand for e-commerce services, their supply also grows. Therefore, to beat the competition, you simply have to be better than it.

What will influence the quality of customer service and the popularity of the website? There are also many elements to take care of.

A. Efficient current customer service
It is important that orders are sent to him at the agreed time, and the flow of information about the status of each of them – transparent. And in this regard, it is worth supporting yourself with appropriate software. It will largely automate the process of handling each order and, as a result, avoid mistakes and delays.

Efficient customer service also means quick response to incoming inquiries. This process can also be partially automated, e.g. with a chabot that will answer frequently asked questions.

B. Treating Customers Fairly
Reliability and honesty are features that are extremely appreciated by modern consumers. What to do to be seen in a positive light? First of all, it is very important to inform customers about the features of the offered products and their properties – promising stars from heaven will result in disappointing the buyer and a negative review.

Secondly, the way you deal with customer objections, complaints and returns is important. If there is any mistake on your part in the handling process, do not hesitate to apologize personally and offer the buyer, for example, a discount on subsequent purchases or a shopping voucher. This will erase any negative impression and build the image of the e-store.

C. Joining the Opinion Network
When looking for information about a given e-shop, customers very often refer to portals with opinions. Positive reviews in such a place strengthen the credibility of a given website and serve as “social proof” – the more there are, the greater the trust of new customers.

That is why it is worth encouraging customers to leave reviews on review portals – this can be done through mailing. For issuing a short review, it is worth offering the client an additional bonus, e.g. a discount code to be used during the next visit.

D. Brand
Remember that customers are more and more often prompted to buy not so much by the product itself as by what it communicates or what values are behind a given brand. You can shape it freely.

Marketing is important, that is, get noticed!

Good customer service that leads to more and more positive reviews is just one side of the coin. The second is the promotion of the website on the Web. Remember: your online store is not the only one on the web, but one of many. Therefore, you need to increase its visibility. Necessarily as part of a coherent marketing strategy, but implemented through several channels. What can you do to strengthen its position in search results on the one hand and increase conversion on the other?

Website optimization for SEO

Optimization and positioning of the website is the first important issue that should be taken care of. If you think about your business in long-term terms, then this issue is definitely worth looking at. In this aspect, elements such as:

– optimization of the website code and mechanisms of its operation – so that the website opens quickly, works without delays and barriers,
– content optimization and meta-content – again, let’s remind you about the unique content of products, but above all about the content on the category and subcategory pages, written in accordance with the SEO principles (including headings, keywords, bullets, and above all substantively!),
– website responsiveness – and therefore the possibility of using it also on mobiles devices,
– good User Experience, i.e. a convenient store service mechanism that guides the customer through the entire purchasing process and … will make the user stay longer on the website,
– URL optimization – so that they contain keywords adequate to each of the categories and subcategories.

You have a very wide range of advertising tools to choose from. What to use? The most popular solutions are:

– Google Ads- including sponsored links that will appear in shopping suggestions after the user enters specific queries or product ads – that is, those mini photos with products and prices that you sometimes see next to or above the search results,
– remarketing advertising – banners displayed to recipients on various websites (both on the Google advertising network and, for example, on Facebook), referring to the products they saw during the previous visit to your store,
– advertising in social media – you can use, for example, various forms of promotion available on Facebook.

Also, do not forget about acquiring leads for the newsletter – it can become a good tool that will allow you to be in constant contact with customers and make them come back to your store from time to time. To subscribe to the newsletter, it is worth giving a benefit in the form of a discount code or free shipping at the entrance.

Image-building activities

It is good for your online store to have a fan page on Facebook and profiles on other social media relevant to your target group. For example, a shop with beauty or fashion products may appear on Instagram, and a shop operating on the B2B market, e.g. with spare parts for professional gastronomic devices – on LinkedIn.

Articles published on valuable external websites with linking to the e-shop can also be a good idea about the image and SEO potential. Larger online stores also increasingly cooperate with influencers. It’s also a good way to increase interest.

A lot of everything? On the one hand, yes, but on the other … in many cases you can use the help of experts. Professional support will allow you to automate many processes, including marketing ones, and thus – leave a lot of time for the development of your business.

What is a 301 redirect?

A 301 redirect (Moved permanently) is a mechanism that indicates that a given page has been moved to another address. It works automatically – that is, it does not display information about the “move”, but immediately directs to the correct page under the new URL path. Thanks to this, e.g. search engine robots and Internet users do not have to wander in search of specific content.

There are several types of redirects, but 301 is the most popular of them. It means a permanent move, i.e. a permanent change of the website address. This solution is very convenient from the user’s point of view, and at the same time extremely important for SEO. Thanks to the redirection, the website does not lose its position or power and can continue to work on it.

When is a 301 redirect used? The most popular types

A 301 redirect might be necessary for a variety of reasons. It is (usually) done in a .htacces file – just use the appropriate code. There are several most popular types of such an activity. Examples and the codes needed to make them can be found below.

301 redirects from the address from “www” to “without www”
Page addresses can be with or without “www” at the beginning. If this issue is not sorted out, it can create chaos and the traffic will be broken down into two separate addresses, which is extremely bad for SEO.

Therefore, in such cases, the 301 redirect is most often used, which allows you to choose the preferred form of saving the website address. This makes the user go to the target page, regardless of whether he types in the browser bar, for example, “www.yoursite.com” or “yoursite.com”. This solution has a positive effect on optimization and determines the user’s comfort.

Sample code:
RewriteCond% {HTTP_HOST} ^ www.yoursite.com $
RewriteRule (. *) $ Http://yoursite.com/$1 [R = 301, L]

Domain change
Changing the domain name is a relatively common procedure. In this case, you should take care of redirection so that users can easily find the new address, and Google robots do not consider the transferred content duplicate content, which is highly inadvisable in terms of SEO.

It is extremely important to ensure that the 301 redirect concerns not only the home page, but also other tabs. The best solution is to use them to set direct paths to new addresses for each subpage. It is worth trying, for example, so as not to discourage users by meeting the wall, i.e. entering a website that no longer exists. It is also the only way to move your site without losing traffic.

It’s best to implement a 301 redirect before migrating data to a new address. This allows crawlers to correctly read your actions: as moving your site rather than creating a completely new one with duplicate content.

Sample code:
RewriteCond% {HTTP_HOST} ^ yoursite.com $
RewriteRule (. *) $ Http://yoursite.com/$1 [R = 301, L]

Change from HTTP to HTTPS
Using the SSL protocol involves changing the address from HTTP to HTTPS. Then you should also redirect.

Sample code:
RewriteCond% {HTTPS}! = On
RewriteRule (. *) Https: //% {HTTP_HOST} / $ 1 [R = 301, L]

A slash (“/”) at the end of the address
The same address that differs only by the slash at the end (for example, “www.yoursite.com” and “www.yoursite.com/”) are two separate pages for Google. Failure to redirect in this respect is a very common mistake, which causes the algorithm to read your content as duplicate content, and thus getting a high position in the search results is basically impossible.

Sample code:
RewriteCond% {REQUEST_FILENAME}! -D
RewriteRule ^ (. *) / $ / $ 1 [L, R = 301]

Wildcard redirection
The wildcard feature helps you easily create new subdomains. However, in practice it also means that entering any string of characters before the address of your website will display its content, creating a copy of it. Sometimes Google robots index such pages, creating incredible chaos. Then, the search results may show several (or even several dozen!) Versions of the same address, e.g. for example www.yoursite.com also www.tyoursite.com, ww.yoursite.com or e.g. yoursite.yoursite.com . It is very dangerous and may result in penalties from Google. Solution? A 301 redirect that will take users and Google bots from each subdomain to the home page.

RewriteCond% {HTTP_HOST} ^ (. +). Yoursite.com $
RewriteRule (. *) $ Http://tyoursite.com/$1 [R = 301, L]

Other types of redirects

Let us remind you that the 301 redirect is used only in the case of a permanent change of the website address. However, there are also many other possibilities of transferring Internet users to another address and sending an appropriate message to the search engine robots. Other types of redirects available are:

– 302 (Found) – temporary, allowing the content to be moved to another address and then returned to the original source;
– 303 (See Other) – used with forms sending data using the HTTP POST method, enabling redirection to a specific address in response to this form;
– 304 (Not Modified) – informs the browser that the data in its memory is up-to-date, has not changed, so it does not have to be downloaded from the source;
– 305 (Use Proxy) – allows you to use a given resource only when using a specific Proxy server, displays a message with the server address;
– 307 (Temporary Redirect) – temporary redirection, does not allow to change the request method from POST to GET.

What to remember when using 301 and other redirects?

It is worth remembering that redirects are not only beneficial for users, but also facilitate the work of Google robots and help ensure proper indexing of the page. So they have a positive effect on both UX and SEO. Using them skillfully, you can “painlessly” move pages to new addresses, and also allows you to carry out many other activities without compromising the position of the site.

However, be careful when using redirects of different types. Using too many commands may result in the formation of a loop, and the resulting error 310 – Too many redirects, which prevents you from hitting a specific page.