Non-static website design has become ever more popular in recent years, and with good reason. The use of moving imagery, videos, and animation within web design in the UK has led to a vast improvement in conversions for business websites. When animation is included in a website in the right way, with that luscious collaboration between great website design and the best UX in mind, it makes a huge difference to the overall success of the project and the realisation of the long-term targets of the company in question.
Animation and videos on a business website
The popularity of online video and animation within website design has ensured that there is a whole world full of possibilities for us as a digital agency. It has expanded the horizon and given us many different options for our clients. Animating certain aspects of a website is a sure-fire way to get your customers talking about you, it draws in the eye of the user, captures the imagination, and helps to improve conversions and sales, which is what a business website is all about in most cases.
The beauty about including animation and moving images as part of your website design is that the choice of style is immense. We’ve seen great digital agencies even use traditional watercolour-style illustrations within modern brand guidelines, and it works!
There are a couple of different ways that animation can be used effectively within website design, with explainer videos that provide animation and moving images becoming ever more popular too.
What is an explainer video?
One way in which animation and moving images are used to great effect within website design is in the form of the explainer video. You can see an example of our own work with a client in terms of animation and an explainer video.
An explainer video is short in length and usually animated (although it can sometimes be a straightforward video involving a real person speaking to camera). Great animation and video are used to promote brand stories, to explain products and services in a short and engaging manner, to highlight new items and acts as another way of building brand identity and exposure.
What are the benefits of animation and explainer videos?
We’ve put together a list of benefits to utilising animation and moving images within a website. We’ve seen it work for us, our clients, and in the wider digital marketing landscape, fitting the ideals and targets for many different types of companies in a wide range of industries.
- Capture the imagination and hold attention
The key to any successful website is to figure out exactly how to engage with the user immediately, to hold the attention and draw them into further clicks and activity. The modern world is fast paced, we all want something yesterday, and that makes it difficult for brands to stand out from the crowd and to make a genuine impact. That wow factor is a necessity, and you only have a second at most to make an impact. With eye-catching animation and moving images you’ve got a much better chance of making it stick. A bright coloured, moving element, will grab the attention and give you a much better chance of a user staying on your site to explore it further.
- Increase engagement
Animation on a website is the perfect tool to engage with users. This increase in user engagement within web design is useful, as it can be used to add call to action buttons, the navigation menu, encouraging users to click and continue their journey to where they are wanted. Increased user engagement leads to a better bounce rate and helps to guide customers along the perfect sales journey, significantly increasing conversions.
- Stir up emotions
Your brand is everything. Carefully crafted content and stunning design can quickly become part of what you offer. Animation can help to build your brand effectively, an instantly recognisable brand using a power driver of emotion in the videos and animation on offer. Whether you choose informative animation, humour, storytelling, music, or all the above, animation is a great way to get the emotions flowing within the user. If the user feels emotions when on your site, they will associate that with your brand, making you memorable.
- Hide slow loading times
Not every site can load instantly, and this can be a real turn off for the modern customer. As we said above, you’ve got about a second to make an instant, positive impact on a user in the hope of keeping them on the site and converting them into a customer. Animation can be used as an effective tool to help with any issues of loading time, as it provides a clever, imaginative, and informative few seconds that provides the user with extra information that they need, captures their imagination and attention, and allows the rest of the site to load fully behind the animated video.
- Customised brand content that can be shared
The best sites are instantly recognisable, and the animation can easily become a staple part of what your brand looks and feels like. There are different ways to achieve this, with bold animation and typography an option, making the user think and imploring them to delve deeper into the website to find out more about this brand and its story. With unique content comes the chance to share it readily. Animated videos can be placed directly on the brand website, or just as easily shared on different branded social media platforms. This adds the level of engagement with users and customers, helping to create a unique brand story that flows throughout the different areas of the business, from the website through to YouTube and other social platforms.
Using animation to wow your audience
As you can see, the moving image and animation is a big selling point to the modern customer. If you can instantly engage with users visiting your website, and quickly furnish them with information that guides them to where you want them to be, you’ll soon see an increase in conversions.
At Candy, our team understands how to straddle the line between functionality and design, looking to push the boundaries with exciting animation and video that captures the imagination and captures what your brand is all about. We practice what we preach, and you can see a good example of web design in the UK on our home page, with animation and moving images throughout.
To find out more and to see how we could transform your brand with a range of digital marketing services, including the best UK website design, contact us today on 0161 826 0123 or email us hello@candymarketing.co.uk.
