Pros and Cons of Animated Landing Pages

Understanding the Goal of Animation in Web Design

Animation brings to life non-living objects for better interaction. Web designers manipulate objects or images to make them look like they’re moving. With proper integration on a website, you can enhance its performance. Visually appealing colors, images, and fonts are critical.

Animation on the landing page makes it more visually appealing. It can also increase usability if you do it correctly.

Pros of Animation on the Landing Page

A landing page is a critical component of any website. It is the first point of interaction with the audience. It also determines whether they will stay or leave. You also need the landing page for leads generation. You give audiences critical information on specific products or services.

With the right animation, you can encourage them to take a specific action. You have a lot of flexibility with what you can do on a landing page. For designers seeking inspiration, there is a rich tapestry of great works in the field of animated landing pages. However, presentation, interaction, and usability must be at the forefront. So how can animation help with these functionalities?

• Animations Provide Style and Dynamism –A page with animations is dynamic, more attractive, and interactive. If you do it properly, you can stand above the competitors due to the visual appeal. Use animation to encourage the audience to interact with products right from the landing page. The right software will allow you to create a prototype where users can have live demonstrations.

• Creation of Narrative Storytelling- is a powerful tool of communication. When someone comes to a website, they need to leave a message. You must find a way to attract and engage their attention. The use of text provides an important way of doing it. However, you may not find too much engagement with a static page. Interactive elements, such as animation, are a better option. They are especially important for bringing attention to a particular area.

• Space Utilization- You want to keep your landing page clean and simple. Animation gives flexibility with how much you can communicate without cluttering the page. Write and delete animation, for example, gives you freedom on how much you put on the landing page. You significantly improve the chances of conversions when you communicate well.

• Animation Can Encourage a Specific Desirable Action-How you use animation can encourage specific actions from audiences. Reduce bounce rates by encouraging people to move to other pages. Animations produce a smooth transition from one part of the landing page to the next. Create a sequence between slides with animation. It generates curiosity about the interrelationship between the different slides.

• Animations Help Reduce Boredom on the Landing Pages-Online users have a lot of content to interact with. Most websites present the standard run-of-the-mill look and feel. By introducing fun elements, you attract more attention. Place static and animated side by side, and the latter will probably draw in more people. Research shows that the attention span in an average adult is less than 8 seconds. The internet has made it worse due to the amount of content available. You must, therefore, do all you can to keep site visitors on your pages. Interactive elements like animation and relevant content are some ways to do it. Even waiting for a page to load can be more pleasant with the right animation.

Cons of Using Animation on Landing Pages

Animation can be beneficial to your landing page. It is, however, a job you need to leave to the expert web designers. Here is why.

• Animation May Slow Down the Website –If you use heavy files for your animations, it will slow down the speed. Slow page speeds will also impact your ranking on the search engine. Online visitors do not have the patience to wait for slow-loading pages. They will move on to your competitors without a second thought. Web designers utilize technology like JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML canvas. You get your animation without impacting the page speed.

• Animations Can Distract From the Key Messages-Consult a professional web designer for advice on animations. You do not want to distract the visitors from the key messaging. Worse still, they can be annoying, resulting in higher bounce rates. If your landing page ends up frustrating site visitors, they are unlikely to check out other pages.

• You May Not Get Any Results-There is no guarantee that adding animation to your landing page will achieve the results you desire. It is especially true if you do not do it properly.

When visitors leave due to annoyance, you lose valuable leads. When you slow down your web pages, your rankings on the search engines suffer. If you distract from the key messaging, you will not pass on relevant information.

Monitor the impact of the animations. See whether they contribute to people staying in the pages longer. Check how your audiences interact with them. If they are not giving you positive results, do away with them.

What to Have In Mind When Thinking About Animation for a Landing Page

Have the following in mind if you want to animate your landing pages.

• Understand your target audience well. The demographics and behavior determine the type of animation.

• Pay attention to timing and the order of the animation

• Do not overpopulate the landing page with animation. It can distract from the key message and may be disruptive

• Continually monitor and test the page performance. Be ready to make changes if something is not working.

Final Thoughts

Animation on your landing page can help with engagement. It helps to understand the pros and cons, as we have highlighted above. Talk to a professional web designer for advice on how to go about it.