Things to Consider When Designing a Parallax Website

Similar to fashion trends, web design also goes through its own cycles of trend changes. A trend or technique that is running hot today might fall down tomorrow, whereas something that was considered ridiculous over the years might just appear back into the trend once again. For instance, animated GIFs: they were a great thing back in the 1990s, but they went out of favor in the past years, and are once again popular these days.

One design trend, however, which is currently on the rise is parallax scrolling. More and more designers these days are now using parallax for their interactive designs and themes.

What is Parallax Scrolling?

While it is an absolute truth that Parallax has gained immense love among web designers in the recent years, the concept and logic working behind it is not new. Basically, parallax means that different elements of the website are allowed to move independently, thus giving a 3D feel to an otherwise 2D objects.

• When it comes to animation and designing, parallax can be implemented in several ways:
• Raster Parallax, offers an optical illusion that the graphics are moving in collaboration.
• Repeat Pattern, uses scrolling screen displays over a repeated background.
• Layered Parallax, design allows the foreground and background objects to move at a different speed.
• The final one is Sprite Method.

Due to the popularity of parallax scrolling, it is being used in a wide array of websites, along with corporate sites, portfolios, landing pages, and so on.

The Loading Time

People on the internet generally have a short time span and they just bounce from one page to the other without paying enough attention to the layout or message that the page delivers. If your website takes a long time to load, it will lose many visitors, no matter how well you have designed it. Generally speaking, most designers that use parallax design use it for its attractive and eye catching appeal. In other words, parallax is not very good when it comes to its speed, and this means that no matter how you use it, you are sacrificing a little bit due to lengthy load times.

The Usability Factor

This has been an often debated and still a doubtful question: are parallax websites usable? While there are several folks who argue a lot on this question, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. There is, of course, a little category of websites wherein parallax can improve the usability. You can have parallax scrolling on your website if the website showcase your identity and your contact information.

The Problem with SEO

Search Engine Optimization is another aspect to consider along with Parallax scrolling. At times, it has been predicted that parallax is not very good for your website’s SEO. While this claim may not be true, you still need to follow the SEO road with caution, particularly if you are using parallax scrolling for your website design.

Conclusion

Yet, parallax scrolling, similar to any other design trend, is not bad at all. However, the fact is that it is being overused and misused, which makes it more harmful than useful. Pay attention to what you are using and use it wisely.

So what do you consider when using parallax scrolling in web design? Use the comments below to share your thoughts and suggestions with us.