Businesses compete for customers’ attention wherever they go. It all comes down to being seen and recognized, from bus stop advertisements to stickers on computers. It’s as crucial, but more difficult, to keep viewers’ attention. These two things may both be accomplished via movement, and they are equally important for websites and advertisements. This is where the power of motion or animation in design comes in.
Pros and Cons of Using Animations in Your Web Design
When Flash animation was created in 1996, businesses used it to draw attention to their websites for the first time. It was originally vector-based and unresponsive on mobile platforms. Still, it was new and exciting, and then all of a sudden, it was used too much and everywhere. The public quickly became bored with it. The animations on websites have certainly progressed since then. Today’s web designers can create content that is responsive thanks to specific animation tools and skill sets.
Motion graphics, web page transitions, unique alerts, and reactive capacities like the hover effect are all examples of modern animation. Animations vary in difficulty, duration, and objective, but all the best ones have a clear narrative function.
Pros of Animation in Web Design
Depending on the style of animation you use and your objectives, the reasons for including it on your website will be different. There are various benefits of employing website animations when done properly:
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Showcases Unique Features
Website animations allow you to showcase your goods in new and interesting ways. Using animation to explain your product’s value and highlights is a great way to spread the word about your business. Animation is used in the web design of many great websites, and often in very innovative ways.
When it comes to doing wonders for your brand perception, an animated website can help a lot. It helps to create a unique brand presence other than your product itself. When done right, it shows the user that you’re not a scam and that you’re a trustworthy expert in your field. It helps you stand out from the rest of the crowd and builds trust.
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Enhances Design
The appropriate animation effects give life to the design of your website, supporting it in a manner that creates an impression that sticks with people. It might seem obvious, but a website that looks good is one that people want to look at and, as a result, stay on longer and come back to.
The important thing to remember in this case is that the animation improves your site’s usability and design, not defines it. There are several moving pieces in animation, and you don’t want the usability of your website to suffer if even one of them malfunctions, because of an issue with the animation.
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Improves Engagement and Conversion
Humans are built to recognize movement. The ability to notice movement or prospective dangers has been essential to human survival throughout history. The same reasoning also explains why engaging animation has the ability to engage consumers more effectively than a static screen. By using interactive design, you can encourage visitors to stay on your site longer.
Using animation’s motion to direct users’ attention to certain areas of a web page is one of the finest methods to use in web design. Making a successful website requires a grasp of the psychology underlying how a user interacts with web design.
Cons of Animation in Web Design
Hold your horses there, please. We understand that you’re eager to adopt this fantastic new design element, but using animation on your website requires careful consideration. For when done incorrectly, which is simple to do, the cons are devastating.
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Too Much Can Distract Users
Animation can both direct people down a website and divert attention from your content. Keep in mind that it’s what grabs a user’s attention, so you need to be careful not to detract from your message and CTAs.
At its worst, inefficient or cluttered animation may even irritate visitors, causing them to go to another website. This is a common problem with poorly designed, self-made websites.
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Slow Loading Speeds
Web pages that take a long time to load are another sign of bad animation. Slower loading times are annoying and will cause more people to leave your site. Long loading times will also affect Google crawlers and make your site rank lower in Google SERPs.
If you want to please both your visitors and the search engines, aim for a page load time of 2 seconds or less.
Should You Use Website Animations?
So, should your website have animation? The answer depends on what you can and want to do for your users. We at AppleTech think that well-executed website animations may have a significant impact on your company’s success.
Consider these questions before adding animation to your site:
- What is its purpose?
- Does it guide users in the right direction?
- Does it benefit users or our message?
- Will it distract or hurt usability?
- Can we use it without hurting load speeds?
- Can we do it well?
Map out the route of your ideal user and see if you can influence it before the allure of an animated site lures you.
Build a Website That Converts
The use of well-executed animation in strategic locations may greatly improve the user experience (UX) of your website. For optimal results for your company, you should consider the scope and implementation of your design decisions, and regularly test their influence on the user. Always check that your animations work on different devices and make sure you’re using a reputable hosting provider.
If you considering using animations in your web designs then let AppleTech help with your idea. With a team of experienced web designers, we can help you create that perfect website with a well-executed animation layout. Contact our team to see how we can help you elevate your next website and grow your business.
