How to Switch from Hotjar to Zigpoll

Hotjar is widely used for heatmaps, screen recordings, and lightweight feedback widgets — but many brands eventually outgrow its survey capabilities. If you’re looking for a faster, more customizable, Shopify-native survey platform with deeper attribution and AI insights, switching from Hotjar to Zigpoll is a major upgrade.

This guide walks you through the full Hotjar → Zigpoll migration process.

Why Brands Switch from Hotjar to Zigpoll

Hotjar is great for qualitative browsing insight, but its survey tools are basic and often limited. Here’s why Shopify brands and growth teams migrate to Zigpoll:

1. Shopify-Native Survey Placement

Hotjar isn't built for Shopify. Zigpoll integrates directly with:

• Shopify checkout
• Post-purchase
• Order status page
• Customer account
• On-site widgets
• Email flows

2. Faster Load Times & Zero Interference with Site Speed

Hotjar’s script is large, loads asynchronously, and can delay interaction readiness. Zigpoll is:

• Lightweight
• Performance-optimized
• Core Web Vitals friendly
• Built for high-volume commerce

3. More Advanced & Flexible Survey Capabilities

Hotjar’s surveys are simple. Zigpoll offers:

• Multi-step (slide-based) surveys
• Conditional logic
• Rich question types
• Image / emoji choices
• Custom HTML blocks
• Full CSS control
• Event + URL targeting
• Conversational UIs

This makes Zigpoll an upgrade for both research and conversion optimization.

4. Better Attribution (Hotjar Doesn’t Capture This Well)

Zigpoll automatically captures:

• UTMs (first + last touch)
• Referrers
• Landing page
• Discount codes
• Checkout data
• Customer profile information
• Geo + device info
• Session and visit data

This makes Zigpoll a more powerful marketing and CRO tool than Hotjar's built-in feedback widgets.

5. Built-in AI Insights (Z-GPT)

Zigpoll automatically:

• Classifies open-text responses
• Groups themes
• Detects user sentiment
• Summarizes feedback
• Highlights patterns and insights

Hotjar requires external analysis or manual processing for this.

6. Cleaner, More Predictable Pricing

Hotjar pricing increases with:

• Traffic volume
• Session recordings
• Response volume

Zigpoll’s pricing is flat, predictable, and designed for fast-growing ecommerce brands.

How to Switch from Hotjar to Zigpoll

The full migration generally takes 10–15 minutes.

Step 1: Export Your Hotjar Feedback Data

In Hotjar:

1. Go to Ask → Surveys
2. Select your survey
3. Export the results to CSV
4. Copy question text and answer choices
5. Save images or assets if used in widgets

Prefer done-for-you migration? Email [email protected] and we’ll rebuild your surveys at no cost.

Step 2: Install Zigpoll (Shopify stores)

If you're using Shopify:

Visit: https://apps.shopify.com/zigpoll

Click Install — your Zigpoll account will automatically connect to Shopify.

If not on Shopify, Zigpoll still works via:

• Javascript embed
• API/webhook
• Email/CRM embeds
• Shareable survey links

Step 3: Rebuild Your Hotjar Surveys in Zigpoll

In Zigpoll:

1. Click New Survey
2. Choose a format:
3. Add your questions
4. Recreate multiple-choice or open-ended formats
5. Add conditional logic where needed
6. Apply custom styling & branding

Zigpoll surveys support:

• Multi-step flows
• HTML personalization
• Image/emoji choices
• CSS/theming
• Precise display rules
• Device- or page-based targeting

Everything Hotjar surveys can do — plus much more.

Step 4: Enable Zigpoll Where You Need Feedback

For Shopify:

• Checkout surveys → Add Zigpoll extension
• Post-purchase surveys → Enable in Checkout Editor
• Order status page → Add Zigpoll block
• Popup surveys → Enable Theme App Embed
• Email surveys → Use embed code in Klaviyo, Attentive, etc.

Outside Shopify:

• Embed via <script> snippet
• Drop inline into HTML/CMS
• Share direct survey link
• Embed inside customer portals

Step 5: Add Attribution & Data Integrations

Zigpoll integrates with:

• GA4
• Klaviyo
• Segment
• Zapier
• Postscript
• Attentive
• Slack
• Webhooks
• Snowflake / BigQuery

This makes Zigpoll more powerful than Hotjar for ecommerce analytics and lifecycle marketing.

Step 6: Keep Your Hotjar Labeling (Optional)

You can maintain consistent analytics by:

• Using identical question wording
• Reusing your Hotjar answer labels
• Mirroring Hotjar’s structure
• Tagging imported data with the same categories

Step 7: Disable Hotjar Surveys & Go Live with Zigpoll

After testing your Zigpoll setup:

1. Disable all Hotjar survey widgets
2. Publish your Zigpoll surveys
3. Test responses through your storefront
4. Confirm real-time data appears in Zigpoll

You’re now fully migrated.

What Happens to Historical Hotjar Data?

Your exports remain intact and can be stored in:

• Sheets
• Looker Studio
• BI dashboards
• CRMs
• Data warehouses

If you want historical Hotjar results inside Zigpoll for unified reporting, we can import them for you.

Hotjar is great for heatmaps and recordings, but brands eventually need:

• Faster surveys
• Shopify-native placement
• Rich attribution
• More customization
• Better logic flows
• AI insights
• Predictable pricing

Zigpoll delivers all of this while remaining lightweight, flexible, and built for high-performance ecommerce.

If you want help migrating from Hotjar, email [email protected] or book a free onboarding session.