Benefits and Disadvantages of Using Animation on a Website

It seems like these days, customers cannot go anywhere, be it a land-based store or an eCommerce website, without experiencing a sensory overload inflicted by countless brands fighting for their attention. Next, there comes the matter of staying in the spotlight and retaining that attention. After all, every business wants to get noticed, which is only natural, as being seen equals profit.

And that’s exactly where website animation comes into play. It’s not a new concept, as it’s been over 25 years since Flash animation was invented. However, it was flashy, and people quickly grew tired of it. Luckily, a lot has changed since then, and web designers focus on responsiveness rather than just creating something that keeps jumping all over your screen.

Now, animation is a huge trend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go too far with it. If you get too invested in expressing your creative ideas through animation, you may quickly overdo it and end up with something that will push the customers away instead of helping you retain them.

So, is website animation still a good idea? Let’s find out by exploring a list of its various pros and cons.

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Benefits of Animation in Web Design

If done the right way, animation can give you a significant advantage over your competitors and prove to be a helpful solution, especially when it comes to drawing attention to your business. That being said, here are some of the most significant benefits of implementing animation on a website:

Better Design

These days, virtually everyone can invest in Rea 2D motion graphic designer ctjs development services and use them to offer their customers a rich user experience enhanced by a dynamic and responsive user interface that’s not only incredibly fast but also highly performant.

However, there’s an easier way to breathe more life into the design of your website. It’s a no-brainer: people enjoy visiting aesthetically pleasing websites that are easy to navigate and tend to stay on them for longer.

Using the right amount of animation can help improve the overall look of your website, but you need to be careful and make sure you don’t overdo it. The animation should add an interesting and attention-grabbing element to your site, but it shouldn’t define it. People will certainly appreciate interesting design choices that make their experience more fun and boost the site’s usability.

Increased Legitimacy

It’s no secret that there are countless scam sites on the Internet. Because of that, users are increasingly careful when deciding which business they should interact with and often base their judgment on the look of its website.

Therefore, making sure that your website has eye-catching elements, such as animations that are consistent with your visual branding, is one of the best ways to look more reliable and trustworthy.

That’s because scam sites are much less likely to invest any money and pay for more advanced designs. As a result, their websites often look overly simplistic, and there’s nothing interesting to look at if you visit them.

This way, when customers see animations on your website, they will likely notice that you invested money and effort into designing something that’s pleasant to look at and will trust your brand more. Even something as simple as animating your logo, a character featured on your site, or a drop-down menu can help your business be perceived as intended.

Improved Engagement and Conversion

The human brain is hardwired for motion. What does it mean? In a nutshell, when something moves, be it on the screen of your laptop or in real life, right in front of your eyes, you will notice it and likely perceive it as a potential threat. So, naturally, your attention will focus on that moving element, even if it’s only for a while.

That’s not to say that people feel threatened by animations - it’s simply the “detection of movement” which helps humans react and stay alert. Hence, eye-catching animation can help engage people who visit your website in a much more effective way than if the whole screen was static and all they would be able to do is scroll up and down a page and click on links.

This means that adding some interactive design to your website is a brilliant strategy. Not only will it help boost the curiosity among your visitors and make them stay for longer as well as interact with your brand in a more meaningful way.

Greater Customer Loyalty

Using animated videos or other animated design elements to offer discount codes or coupons is an excellent way to win the hearts and minds of your customers.

You can ask them to share the video or interact with the animation in other ways, and if they do, they will receive a promo code. You can also add animation with a message saying that those customers who spend $100 on their shopping will receive a 10% discount on their whole order or just certain items. The possibilities are endless, and it’s all up to you.

Disadvantages of Animation in Web Design

If you’re excited to unleash your creativity and start adding new flashing and moving elements to the website that represents your company, you may want to take a step back and slow down for a while.

That’s because every stick has two ends, and where there are pros, there are also some cons involved. Shining some light on them is especially important when adding animation to your website. Here’s what you should look out for:

Slower Loading

Even though today’s technologies allow us to integrate animation into websites in an easy and convenient way, everything comes at a certain price and has its limits. If you get too excited by all the possibilities and colorful, moving images or features you can add to your website, and there’s no one to give you good advice, you may end up with a website that takes ages to load.

A slow website can affect your conversion rate in a negative way. You need to stay extremely careful when adding animations because these days, users expect pages to load in no longer than 4 seconds. If you run an eCommerce store, the desired time is cut in half, and to get the highest conversion rate, your website should load in no longer than 2 seconds.

Distractions

When adding animations to your website, it’s incredibly easy to cross the thin line between the appropriate amount of these eye-catching design choices and overusing them. After all, the primary purpose of your website is to introduce your brand to the visitors, communicate your brand’s message, and convert them into customers who will not only purchase your products or services but will also come back for more later on.

However, if you get too excited and overdo the animations, you will distract people and stop them from buying from you. On top of that, some will likely get frustrated by the visual overload that’s being thrown straight into their faces. Therefore, if you want to ensure that people can complete their purchases without abandoning their carts, set some limits on the number of animations your website will feature.

It Can Be Confusing

The animations featured on your website may not work as initially intended, especially if a good chunk of your target audience consists of people who are not computer-savvy. For instance, if the majority of your customers are Gen Z and Millenials, they probably won’t have a hard time clicking on animations that are supposed to lead them to a certain page or help them start a conversation with a chatbot.

However, things can look quite different when it comes to the baby boomers. Some of them may be doing just fine when it comes to tasks such as browsing the news, paying their bills online, or completing simple purchases, but you need to try to put yourself in their shoes.

Imagine a situation in which a 70-year-old, who’s only familiar with the basics of computers, wants to buy your products and services. They go on your website and are welcomed by flashy animations that may not only look extremely confusing to inexperienced users but also make it harder for them to focus and find what they need.

Therefore, if your target audience consists of people of a more “advanced age,” try to use only the simplest animations possible or test them with the help of a senior before launching anything.

In Conclusion

Web animation can be a powerful tool, but you need to use it carefully. If you want your customers to like what they see, then the animation should be used only when necessary and always in moderation. Otherwise, it can easily backfire on you and push people away instead of bringing them closer to your brand.

In addition, you will want to invest in good animation software and hire a professional who knows how to use it. Remember that the key to success is being consistent. That’s why you should create a few cohesive animations that would be used across all your marketing platforms.

These days, people get bored pretty easily, and the last thing you want is for them to lose interest in your brand after a few seconds. So, if you’re going to use animation on your website, make sure it’s an improvement over the rest of your website’s content and design, not a cheap and tacky way to grab people’s attention!

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