Website sliders (sometimes also known as carousels or a rotating banner) have been a popular design element for years. While they might seem like a great way to showcase multiple messages or products, the data tells a different story. If you’re using a website slider on your homepage, you might be unknowingly working against your business goals.
What is a website slider?
A website slider is a rotating carousel of images or sections that automatically transitions through different slides, typically placed at the top of a homepage. Each slide usually contains different marketing messages, product features, or promotional content. While they may look flashy and seem like an efficient use of space, the reality is quite different.
Performance price of website sliders
Website sliders come with a significant performance cost that many business owners don’t realise:
- Slower loading times: Sliders require multiple high-resolution images and lots of code to function, which dramatically increases your page load time. Even if you’re using optimised images, the scripts needed to run the slider add unnecessary weight to your site.
- Mobile performance issues: On mobile devices, sliders are particularly problematic. Loading lots of large image files and animation scripts over mobile networks slows down your site, and users on mobile are usually scrolling before they even see the second slide. Given that over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, this is important.
- Impact on Core Web Vitals: Website sliders directly affect your Core Web Vitals scores – Google’s metrics for measuring user experience. Sliders affect pretty much all the important Core Web Vital metrics… They hurt your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) by increasing the time it takes to load your main content. They can trigger Layout Shifts (CLS) as the slider loads and rotates, and the animations can worsen First Input Delay (FID). Poor Core Web Vitals scores not only affect your search rankings but also indicate a poor user experience that could be driving away potential customers.
These performance issues directly impact your bottom line. Research highlighted by Google shows that for every second delay in page load time, mobile conversions can fall by up to 20%.
Why sliders are a poor user experience
The user experience issues with website sliders are well-documented:
- Banner blindness: Users tend to ignore content in slider areas, treating them like advertisements. Notre Dame University found that only 1% of visitors clicked on their slider content – and most of those clicks were on the first slide.
- Content overload: When you present multiple messages simultaneously, you’re asking users to process too much information at once. This often leads to decision paralysis rather than action.
- Accessibility issues: Sliders can be problematic for users with screen readers or those sensitive to motion. This not only excludes potential customers but could also pose legal risks.
- Control issues: Auto-rotating content can frustrate users who are trying to read or interact with a specific slide. It’s like trying to read a book while someone keeps turning the pages for you.
SEO and marketing impact of sliders
From an SEO and marketing perspective, website sliders create several challenges:
- Diluted message: Your homepage has mere seconds to capture attention and communicate value. When you rotate between multiple messages, you waste this crucial moment and confuse visitors about what’s most important. A single, focused message is more likely to drive action than several competing ones.
- Bad for Google & search engines: Sliders aren’t great for SEO. Lots of poorly designed sliders either have multiple H1 heading tags, or opt to use H2 headings instead. Either way isn’t great when it comes to search engines, as it makes it harder for them to digest and understand the content.
- Reduced conversion rates: Marketing studies consistently show that sliders lead to lower conversion rates. One study by Nielsen Norman Group found that carousels can create “banner blindness,” causing users to ignore important content.
What to do instead
Here are more effective alternatives to website sliders:
Strong hero section: Use a single, compelling hero section with:
- Clear value proposition
- Single, focused call-to-action
- High-quality relevant image
Image you could only have one key message or thing you can tell a potential customer. That is where you should start for a strong hero section.
Strategic content hierarchy: Instead of rotating content where everything has equal weight and can get lost, prioritise your messages and present them in a logical order down the page. This allows users to naturally scroll and engage with content at their own pace.
Grid layouts: If you need to showcase multiple products or services, consider using a grid layout that allows users to scan content quickly and choose what interests them.
It can still be interactive and eye catching! Consider using subtle animations or interactive elements that respond to user actions rather than auto-playing content.
Ready to ditch your slider?
If you currently have a website slider, it’s worth reconsidering its place on your site. Here’s what you can do:
- Review your analytics to see how users interact with your slider
- Test a static alternative against your current slider
- Focus on your most important message and make it prominent
- Consider the mobile experience first when redesigning
Remember, your website’s primary job is to convert visitors into customers. While website sliders might look fancy and seem attractive, they often stand in the way of this goal rather than support it.
Want to learn more about how to optimise your website for better performance and conversions? Book a website review call with us, and we’ll help you identify opportunities to improve your site’s effectiveness.
