Are those beautiful website billboards going away?
Using well-designed graphic sliders are a great way to engage your audience, present them with featured content, and put your best foot forward.
For several years graphic sliders have been a staple of both B2b and B2C websites. They’re a great way to put your most important content front and center, and “above the fold.” Above the fold is a term borrowed from newspapers, so the most important content is front page, top half.
If graphic sliders are so wonderful, why are some companies choosing not to use them? Here are 3 reasons:
1. Mobile responsive sites
While large percentages of website visits are from desktop computers, you can no longer ignore that visits from mobile devices are only increasing. That’s true in nearly every industry. Check your Google Analytics. That will reveal how many people visit your site from mobile devices. Look at those numbers over the past 12 months. You’ll see that more people are using phones and tablets to visit your site.
The nature of graphic sliders is that visitors wait to watch those engaging billboard images rotate. On a mobile device, people tend to scroll down right away and not wait for the image to change.
Something else to consider is the amount of time mobile visitors stay on your site. Mobile visits do tend to be shorter than desktop visits, but leaving after a few seconds could suggest a less-than-positive website experience. Make sure your site is mobile-responsive. It’s no longer a cool function to include, it’s just courteous if you expect guests to stay.
2. Limited time
Whether on a mobile device or desktop, website visitors have less and less time to sit and wait. There’s no question website graphic sliders can help create a beautiful, impacting website experience. The truth is that a positive website experience isn’t limited to scrolling images. Finding information fast is also a powerful experience. If you can eliminate frustration from a visitor’s experience, they are likely to return.
It’s true that website graphic sliders can help a visitor quickly and easily find content. However, visitors should be able to find relevant information without them.
3. Simplicity
Nothing like stating the obvious. If you haven’t noticed, websites have become more simplified. Want to frustrate a website visitor? Clutter your web page with multiple menus, links and graphic after graphic. That only overwhelms your visitor. Having an intuitive website doesn’t mean including countless links on every page, “just in case” the visitor is interested.
As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
We can incorporate these principles into website design. Graphic sliders can be wonderful, but they are not a requirement to a strong website design. Graphic sliders can still be relevant and effective if used appropriately. Factor in your type of business, your customer, the devices they use to visit, and the type and amount of content you’re offering.
Trust web and marketing professionals to consider these factors and guide you in your decision.
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