Parallax Scrolling, those of you who are not web design experts should not be frightened by the name, is a technology aimed at user engagement through graphic gimmicks and image overlays whose goal is quickly stated: to create a particular browsing experience so as to strike the user and entice them to browse our site.
Through Parallax Scrolling, it is possible to create moving background images, which are useful to give an impression of three-dimensionality and depth of our site by leading the user to feel 360 degrees of involvement and keep their attention threshold high. Yes because the term Parallax (of Greek derivation and whose literal meaning is overlapping) refers exactly to parallax or the phenomenon whereby, by changing one’s point of observation, an object appears to change position relative to the background. Transporting this to the graphics of a site, the images placed in the background will move more slowly than those on top of it thus going on to create movement and a relative idea of 3D depth. The result is extremely eye-catching, as per the examples below:
A widely used web design gimmick, especially lately, but one that should not be confined solely to a graphic design perspective; when creating a site using Parallax Scrolling technology, however, it is important not to lose sight of important aspects that go beyond the terrain of web design. Such asSEO optimization for example.
Parallax Scrolling and SEO
When making a Parallax Scrolling site, it is important not to lose sight of theSEO architecture of the page and always reason from a search engine perspective: a page created with this technology can, for example, make the site heavier, generating issues such as a higher bounce rate since a page will take longer to load and may entice the user to abandon browsing. In addition, again referring to potential optimization problems of a site, with Parallax Scrolling the pages containing text and information are reduced, consequently the possibility of increasing keywords and their use within the texts is also thinned.
Parallax Scrolling: aesthetics but also functionality
For all these reasons, as mentioned above if a good result is to be achieved, it is important to balance the two needs, the purely aesthetic and the functional. While Parallax Scrolling does indeed have a considerable graphic impact and can generate remarkable aesthetic results, it is still essential never to lose sight of what the goal of our site is: namely, functionality. A site that is aesthetically beautiful but not navigable and less usable by users risks remaining an end in itself. Therefore in view of functionality, it is important to keep an eye on certain parameters such as:
- the “heaviness” of the site: it should not be excessively heavy, even from a mobile loading perspective.
- However, maintain a prominent role for textual content where we insert our keywords.
- Don’t forget to include call to action: graphic impact is yes important, but so is never losing sight of the function a site should have. That is, convert.
- Do not overdo the graphic effects. The famous story of ‘dazzle with special effects’ needs to be dosed wisely here. Parallax Scrolling can have potentially endless uses but it is best not to overdo it.
Parallax Scrolling is basically a web design technology that can generate positive effects to the aesthetics of a site while risking making it lose something in functionality and optimization. Thus, balance is, as always, the right way to go.
