Picture the scene: you’re designing a brand new site and your client wants to go BIG on the homepage. Beautiful original video content. Interactive animated elements! Bespoke but totally on-brand illustrations whizzing in from the side!! If there was a digital version of the snowglobe of confetti that gets cannoned onto the pitch at the end of the Super Bowl each year, they’d probably want that too!!! It has to be EPIC.
And now said client has sent you the obligatory link to the latest Apple product page – Apple! the all-star, the face, the franchise quarterback of homepage animation – and they want to know: can you make their site look like this?
You’re a brilliant designer, no doubt, so the answer is probably yes. But the real question is: should you?
This week on the blog we don our pads and shiny helmets to tackle three important factors when considering homepage scroll animations and offer our advice on turning them into touchdowns for you and your clients.
It looks awesome, but is your message really cutting through?
Beautifully designed and well executed scroll animations can be a great way to inject some personality into a new site. We have built sites, like this one for FSP and this one for BidCraft that do just that. However, the danger with excessive scroll animation is that users can get lost on the journey and never make it to their destination. If site visitors can’t easily get to the information, product or service they’re looking for, then the site isn’t really doing it’s job.
Tip: Don’t let scroll animation get in the way of the site’s purpose
Is your intended audience really as engaged as Apple’s?
And, therefore, will they really sit through two minutes worth of scrolling to get to your product or service? Apple have spent years building a fiercely loyal following and, while fans no longer need to queue overnight outside of Apple stores to get their hands on the latest iPhone, today they will scroll through a vast amount of homepage content to stay up to speed with a new release. With all due respect, unless your audience is also this enthused, you don’t need an all-singing-all-dancing homepage.
Tip: Be realistic! Consider your audience’s appetite for this kind of content
Is your limited budget better spent elsewhere?
We’re talking time and money. Souping-up a homepage requires a lot of both – and those precious resources might be better allocated elsewhere in your project or business. It could be that investing in SEO might get you more visitors or improving your PSI score (read all about how to do this right here) might improve their experience – more so than dazzling users with your finest scroll animation skills.
Tip: Prioritise spend on elements that will actually benefit the user
If you’re planning a pimped up homepage, why not talk to Rob, our very own MVP, about how to make them work for you.
