Top Scrolling Techniques for Business Websites

Trends and techniques have always kept on evolving in the domain of website designs. Large and small businesses who keep on tweaking their style accordingly benefit a lot. Witnessed many innovative ideas and one among the most noted was that of various long scrolling techniques tried by many web designing companies.

Quick Overview

• What is long scrolling website?
• Popular long scrolling techniques
  • Parallax scrolling
  • A typical direction
  • Screen as pages
  • Fixed Long Scrolling
  • Infinite Scrolling
  • Tasteful Parallax Scrolling

What is long scrolling website?

This normally has a large home page and it gets linked to other lesser sized pages. Sometimes, the whole site may be restricted to a single page. With this, creative storytelling can be facilitated, simple navigation can be implemented and more interactions can be initiated. Moreover, visitors tend to stay longer. It is ideal for responsive web designs as touch controls work wonderfully.

When a website has huge volumes of eclectic content, users may find it difficult to navigate through a multi-page format. It is expected that a site would narrate a story in a smooth manner. This situation can be appropriately addressed by creating long-scrolling, single-page website that would keep all the content in one place. This is a great option for social media platforms as well as for websites that have user-generated content that gets updated on a frequent basis and that feels fun to be browsed through at once. The rise of mobile browsing promotes the development of long-scrolling websites because of the fact that small monitor sizes demand more scrolling. Long scrolling generates an immersive experience and promotes better and more engaging explorability.

Here’s how you can make long scrolling work to an optimal capacity:

• Long scrolling is associated with typical drawbacks such as disorientation and inability to move back and this can be addressed using sticky navigation that would allow users to scroll freely.
• It is a good idea to avoid enabling the autoplay of videos or other heavy media since they can cause a negative effect on website load-time.
• There is no need to stick to a single-page format. For example, you can design a website that features a main long-scrolling home page that you can connect to secondary pages.

Here is a list of the most popular long scrolling techniques that are commonly used:

• Parallax scrolling

  This type of long scrolling trend is popular in the video game industry. In the context of small website design, parallax scrolling represents different background layers moving with varying speeds. This pave way for a 3D effect, thus making the visuals more attractive.

• A typical direction

  Here in this type, sites stick on with the option of scrolling down. In other words, such sites can concurrently set themselves apart even while enjoying the benefits of scrolling up, right or left. The only thing is that you have to assure its compatibility with the content’s nature.

• Screen as pages

  For improving orientation, this helps in setting separately different screens as in case with the pages. You can section off every new screen with distinct style, background or typography etc. for clearly dividing a long single page into multiple sections.

• Fixed Long Scrolling

  Long-scrolling may benefit users, but web developers may find it quite difficult to convert a multi-page structure into a fixed long scrolling website. As a matter of fact, fixed long scrolling websites showcase information that would actually need to displayed under multiple sections.

  Here’s how you can make fixed long scrolling work:

  • Select content that is appropriate for a collective theme or category so as to display it in an appropriate manner in a fixed scroll section. For example, each part of the fixed scroll section of Squarespace explains how a beautiful website can be created for diverse types of businesses.
  • Keep the CTAs at the end of the fixed-scroll frame.
  • Add a “scroll progress bar” to the top navigation.

• Infinite Scrolling

  There are cases where the content is organized properly on a single page, but the load-time is alarming. Infinite scrolling pattern can successfully address this typical scenario. This scrolling pattern generates a paced experience as the content gets loaded when required. Infinite scrolling works well with single-page websites that feature several content screens or multimedia galleries. This type of scrolling adds an element of fun for users of social media sites by allowing them to view new content continually without having to click again and again. However, infinite scrolling comes with a major drawback. A real problem starts when users lose their location amidst an infinite ocean of content. This problem can be addressed by using sticky navigation.

  • Apart from sticky navigation, you can use other methods to rectify disorientation. A jump-to-section option, as with Tumblr, lets users return to the start if they become lost.
  • You may choose to pair up infinite scrolling with pagination to facilitate accurate searches. Facebook sets an example by promoting easy search options through the use of year-based timelines.
  • Use appropriate icons to strengthen your site’s identity.

• Tasteful Parallax Scrolling

  At times, long scrolling formats may reduce user engagements. You may add a parallax effect to instill a positive experience in a long scrolling website. This is a popular pattern used in the video game domain. Websites developed with Parallax scrolling pattern involves layers of a 2D image, which move at varied pace during scrolling. In other words, the foreground and the background move at different speeds, creating a stunning 3D effect. This effect adds a creative touch to the scrolling technique particularly when it is clubbed with scroll-induced animations. This pattern works well with storytelling sites and creates a visually-appealing and engaging experience. However, you need to ensure that the website load time does not get affected in a negative way. A simple, fast-loading website is much better than an extravagant, slow-loading website.

  Are you looking for web designing services or for professionals who can incorporate animations and infographics in your website? Go for a service provider that has a strong customer service portfolio. We share important information about the latest trends in responsive website design services. Stay Tuned.