What to Consider When Using Parallax Scrolling in Web Design

Jonesen TeamIndustry Insights

You’ve been surfing the internet long enough to recognize an old website that hasn’t been redesigned in…forever. The site owner updates the content, but doesn’t bother to make it attractive, or got locked into a 15-year-old design trend and called it good.

You don’t want to be that site owner.

Keeping your website looking current shows that your company stays up to date. It also shows that you care about your visitors’ first impressions.

Employing a knowledgable web designer with a modern eye can boost your traffic and improve your online image. They will keep up with what’s popular and eye-catching while employing proper user experience techniques.

One classic design technique that developers use to engage visitors and hold their interest is parallax web design.

A Moving Experience

Parallax design is a method that creates the illusion of 3D within a 2D workspace. You may have played Angry Birds or any scrolling videogame whose background landscape moved slower than the foreground objects. It looked the background was further away than it was.

Your mobile device may move the app icons at a different speed than your background wallpaper as you move from screen to screen. This is a parallax effect.

Why Use Parallax Web Design?

There’s no denying that it’s fun to look at. Websites that employ this technique can be creative and fun to scroll through. Visitors engage quickly and stay because they are entertained.

A site redesign using parallax can have financial advantages as well as being beautiful. Once your viewer engages with the site, they can find your calls to action quickly, they will stay on the page longer, and they will remain curious.

These experiences can increase your visitor-to-customer conversion and positively affect your sales.

Parallax and SEO

You may have heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. It’s how search engines rank your site’s place on a search return page when someone searches for what you have, what you’re selling, or what you’re doing.

Google employs hundreds of criteria to figure site rankings, and an essential factor is site structure. Parallax scrolling design is beautiful but must be balanced with content so that search engines can figure out what your site is.

Another reason to be cautious with parallax is that it doesn’t allow for many internal hyperlinks. Some sites are simple one long scrolling page, so your site contains a sparse number of links for searchers to find.

Use Parallax Wisely

A good web designer will develop your site with an awareness of SEO factors and modern design. They understand how to balance parallax web design with a good site structure. Now that you understand your options for a great-looking and up-to-date website, you can move forward with a redesign with confidence.

Ask us for a consultation so we can evaluate your current design and help your website get noticed. Partnering with us can make a big difference to your online presence.