Are you looking for ways to increase engagement on your website and direct more visitors to your call to action (CTAs)? It’s about time for you to use a parallax website design for your brand.
This article will help you better understand the different options for website design and explore in-depth what parallax website design is and its potential benefits.
What is parallax scrolling?
The parallax effect is a method that generates a 3D scrolling effect as a website user scrolls down the web page. With this effect, your site visitors are visually stimulated. But how?
Keep in mind that parallax is an optical illusion that draws attention to momentum. It’s an excellent scrolling pattern whenever the background moves at a much gentler speed than the foreground.
Using the difference between the pace of objects and the distance creates an illusion of depth. Interesting, isn’t it?
Still, parallax design has become an increasingly popular online trend. It all began in the game industry nearly twenty years ago.
Do you still recall several layers in the background of a video game being in motion at different speeds? Of course, that was nothing but a parallax effect.
Eventually, in 2011, it was first applied in a web design niche.
How do I make a parallax website design?
After understanding what parallax scrolling is, you are probably thinking about how you can use that style in your next website design.
Lucky for you, applying this style is not that challenging. In fact, there are simple-to-understand strategies you can use to make a parallax website design. These includes:
- The Raster Method – Lines of pixels in an illustration are refreshed and composited in top-to-bottom order. It has a slight lag between drawing one line and drawing the following line.
- The Repeating Pattern Method – This design method is composed of scrolling displays built up of individual tiles. These can be made to float over a repeating background layer.
- The Sprite Method – This method uses one large image consisting of numerous images that display parts of that said image when at various positions. A typically used effect is navigation menus.
- The Layered Method – It uses different backgrounds that can move vertically and horizontally based on your preference. They can also be composited on each other.
Why should I use parallax graphics?
Parallax makes an illusion of depth when scrolling, an everlasting effect that still has a big significance in the web design world. It may have some issues, but it’s a fascinating way to make a site stand out when done properly.
Here are some of the reasons you should use parallax scrolling this time:
- It tells a story
One of the most efficient methods to use parallax scrolling is to tell a story. Modern consumers wish to connect emotionally with the brands they purchase from.
Five years ago, eighty per cent of customers wished brands to tell stories. That trend remains consistent to this day.
In the age of digital consumerism, where people cannot get to know a business in person through personal interactions, brands need ways to connect with their audience. Telling brand-driven stories is an excellent way to showcase your brand is more than a faceless entity.
With parallax scrolling, the animation is not there to create a visual difference in the page. Instead, it shows you something more about the people behind the website and what they could do.
- It builds credibility
With its great storytelling capacities, Parallax scrolling is excellent for showing your credibility as a digital specialist. It is a version of showing and not telling consumers about your skills.
You can tell somebody that you know how to correctly utilize tricky methods such as parallax animation. However, they are less likely to believe you that way. If you can demonstrate you can make something cool, that is more engaging.
- It imitates another medium
Parallax scrolling is all about making your site feel like a slideshow or video presentation without the extra components of implementing video players into the back end.
It also has another benefit over an average video-based website. The video plays automatically on a website that utilizes a video for a background. That indicates your visitors cannot control how fast the video plays.
Meanwhile, parallax design driven by scrolling action enables your audience to collect data at a pace that suits them.
- It makes information a lot more fun
People are considered visual learners. We want to consume information in a way that is attractive and eye-catching. Visual content earns more attention and social shares than written content.
Parallax scrolling enables brands who want to provide educational content and valuable information to their audience.
Instead of simply scrolling through a page and seeing a huge amount of text, a customer can see graphs or images come to life with the blocks of text they are reading.
You see, it is like adding a video presentation next to a textbook to help them better understand what they are reading about. How cool is that?
- It helps increase site visit times
If a site tells a story with a parallax website design, you can also bet it can keep readers or customers on a page for longer. Lowering bounce rates by improving engagement is a major goal of any web designer.
Some people think that parallax scrolling can hurt your SEO rankings when they slow down your website. However, there’s also the argument that the lack of visually appealing pages can ruin SEO.
Bounce rates drag down your current ranking and make it difficult to attract audience attention.
A thoroughly well-delivered parallax scrolling animation that tells a story and engages your audience thoroughly is an excellent way to keep your audience around—even for a little longer than normal.
- It’s a lot more memorable
Any web designer aims to make a website stand out. After all, web design is about communicating the unique essence of a brand, entity, or business in a way that will make that client unforgettable.
Parallax is not as novel as it once was, but it can still be a good way to make your website stand out, especially if used properly.
The key to a memorable parallax scrolling design is making it smart. The layout should feel intuitive and simple. Everything must work well together, from the different parallax effects to the lightly shifting front to draw the viewers’ eyes.
How can I integrate scrolling parallax navigation into my website?
Are you planning to use parallax scrolling? It may be challenging to get the effect right the first time. But there’s no need to worry.
If you wish to improve your website with parallax design and get the best possible result, here are some tips for you to keep in mind:
- Simple is always better – Minimize the number of visual elements and content on your page as much as possible. The less information there is to capture your audience’s attention, the less likely you will end up with an issue.
- Check the responsiveness – Ensure the parallax animation work well on your tablet or smartphone device as it would on a desktop. You cannot afford to ignore responsiveness as more people move their browsing experience into their hands.
- Compress file sizes – Ensure you are now reducing your website’s speed by making a single big page with many quality images. You will need to utilize the smallest possible file sizes.
- Always find the “wow” factor – Some of the best examples of parallax websites stand out because it does something unique with the scrolling effect. You need to ensure it’s worth the effort. Don’t simply follow the same guidelines as everybody else. Look for the idea that will make people take notice.
- Consider older browsers – Parallax scrolling will likely use HTML5, which isn’t supported by older browsers. If your design should support older browsers, it will help if you forego using parallax or make another design that is targeted at browsers that don’t support HTML5.
To sum up, parallax is like any other web design strategy. There are different ways you can do it amazingly, which delight and engage your audience. Nonetheless, there are also different areas where you can go wrong. When using a design element, always remember that the focus must be your user’s experiences.
Parallax should not be the only way to highlight your design expertise. It is only another feature you can utilize to make a wonderful website.
Note that visual appeal and user experience should work flawlessly together for parallax design. What’s more, if scrolling through the web page is nearly impossible for users on a mobile device, you won’t get the results you desire.
If it is too challenging to take in the message you are trying to convey because the content is moving too fast, your users will only suffer.
So, are you ready to start your brand’s unique website design? Whether you are searching for a parallax website design or traditional WordPress websites, our team of web designers in Auckland is always ready to bring their creative flair to your brand’s website.
