How to Avoid Counting Myself as a Visitor on Hotjar
In today’s digital age, understanding user behavior on websites is crucial for businesses and individuals alike. Hotjar, a popular heatmaps and session recording tool, offers valuable insights into how visitors interact with your website. However, counting yourself as a visitor on Hotjar can skew the data and provide inaccurate results. In this article, we will discuss how to avoid counting yourself as a visitor on Hotjar and ensure that your data remains accurate and reliable.
1. Disable Hotjar on Your Browser
The simplest way to avoid counting yourself as a visitor on Hotjar is to disable the Hotjar script on your browser. This can be done by adding the following code to your browser’s user scripts or extensions:
“`javascript
// ==UserScript==
// @name Disable Hotjar
// @namespace
// @version 0.1
// @description Disable Hotjar on the current page
// @author Your Name
// @match :///
// @grant none
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
‘use strict’;
// Disable Hotjar script
var hotjarScript = document.createElement(‘script’);
hotjarScript.src = ‘https://js.hotjar.com/12345.js’;
hotjarScript.type = ‘text/javascript’;
hotjarScript.async = true;
hotjarScript.onload = function() {
console.log(‘Hotjar script disabled’);
};
document.head.appendChild(hotjarScript);
})();
“`
Replace ‘12345.js’ with the actual Hotjar script URL for your website. This script will prevent the Hotjar script from loading on your browser, effectively disabling it.
2. Use a Privacy-Focused Browser Extension
Another option is to use a privacy-focused browser extension that blocks tracking scripts, including Hotjar. Some popular extensions include:
– Privacy Badger by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
– uBlock Origin
– Ghostery
These extensions can help you block tracking scripts and prevent Hotjar from counting you as a visitor.
3. Clear Your Browser Cache and Cookies
If you have already been counted as a visitor on Hotjar, you can try clearing your browser cache and cookies. This will remove any stored data that Hotjar might be using to identify you. To clear your cache and cookies, follow these steps:
– Open your browser settings
– Navigate to the privacy or security section
– Look for options to clear browsing data or manage cookies
– Select the appropriate options and clear your cache and cookies
4. Customize Hotjar Settings
If you have access to the Hotjar account for your website, you can customize the settings to exclude certain users from being counted as visitors. To do this:
– Log in to your Hotjar account
– Go to the ‘Settings’ tab
– Select ‘Heatmaps’
– Scroll down to the ‘Heatmaps Settings’ section
– Look for the ‘Exclude Users’ option and enable it
– Enter the criteria for excluding users, such as IP addresses or user agents
By following these steps, you can avoid counting yourself as a visitor on Hotjar and ensure that your website’s data remains accurate and reliable. Remember to consider the implications of excluding yourself from the data, as this may prevent you from gaining valuable insights into your website’s performance.
