Carousels are automatic image sliders that run on WebPages. Everybody thinks they are cool but they are bad for business. This topic opens up the point where designers and developers disagree. Developers and CRO specialists agree with designers on the visual appeal of carousels but disagree on the effectiveness of its use to drive conversions. They discovered the following problems associated with the use of carousels
- They do not work smoothly on mobile devices
- They slide too quickly for users
- They distract users from reading the content
- They offer too many items at once which can be confusing for users
- They slow websites and affect conversion
- Users generally dislike clicking through the slider.
Designers think users like the idea of these fast sliding images but in reality most users do not. Due to the rise of mobile traffic in the internet, most website owners do not like the use of carousels as it excludes mobile users. A good Web Development Company should understand the negative effect of this tool on conversion rate and suggest it to their clients.
From research the following 5 expanded reasons expose why you should not use the famous Carousel on your website.
1. Distraction
Because they are constantly moving (sliding) it becomes very difficult for users to focus on anything else on the website. If the aim is for the user to read content below the carousel, they make it impossible for that to happen. What is most provoking is the fact that they are considered moving too quickly for users to read the information on the banner. This can be frustrating; users may decide to close the browser tab entirely in order to give their eyes a rest. While this is perfect in capturing attention of users, it fails at keeping it or convincing them to click on the banner.
2.Not Mobile Friendly
In this age of the rise of mobile traffic, carousels do not display properly on mobile. Although the function excellently on desktop screens, they do not seem optimized for mobile. Mobile users generally do not like carousels for this purpose and that can cause your website to lose visitors. Good user experience should be the reason behind every design, yet mobile users do not enjoy the benefit. Due to large sizes of banner images used in the carousel, the site load speed gets affected. It makes the website generally slower than normal and this can be frustrating to users.
3.Lack Of Control
Users feel not in control of what they chose to see. They may consider the slide show too fast for them to read what is on the banners. When they miss a detail on a specific banner and want to read; they are forced to wait until the banners all rotate back to the banner they are looking for. This feeling of lack of control can be frustrating, causing users to leave the website for an alternative. Users easily get frustrated, sad, annoyed or provoked by the use of carousels. Remember that users seldom return to websites they have had a bad experience with in the past. This is not worth the risk of losing potential customers to this tool’s numerous faults. It is important that you associate your user experience on your website with a well of positive feelings because a happy customer is a paying customer. An angry customer on the other hand is a lost one.
4.Confusion
Marketers may think that carousels provide a means of displaying multiple items at once a very effective strategy but it is not. Instead, having so many items on a fast sliding banner can be very confusing for them, this happens because they do not get sufficient time to gather information on each of the products on display to make a decision. This strategy has so far proven counterproductive for marketing.
5.Low Conversion
About 99% of users do not engage the carousels. This is a huge impact on conversion. The aim of using the carousel is to drive conversion but it manages to do the opposite. Users generally dislike this tool and do not engage any website with it. Some of the reasons low conversions are recorded may be; the slow site speed, annoyance, confusion and distraction all arising from the use of this tool. This tool is beautiful in concept, but not very practical as it impacts negatively on user experience.
Conclusion
Carousels are a definite “no” when it came to website design. As a website designer, user experience should guide you in selecting the tools required on the website for success. However, when carousels are insisted upon by a client, a good website development company should be able to advise them on the negative impact of this tool on their websites
Where the use of carousels cannot be avoided, the following measures can be taken to reduce (it can only reduce) the negative impacts of this tool on a website. If you have a choice, carousels should be avoided like the plague they can be.
- Ensure not more than 3 images are used on the slider
- Give controls to the user, let them decide when to click to view the next banner
- Compile the banners to be used into a video and use it instead of a carousel (videos have higher conversion rates).
