Infinite scrolling is not a new phenomenon, but in recent months web designers have gone crazy over it. The increase in touch screens, lowered attention span of Internet users and growth of social media have all combined to create an environment where designers are turning to infinite scrolling to improve conversions for their clients. This design trend offers several key benefits to website owners that are worth considering.
Because social media is so popular, drawing a full 67 percent of online adults as of December 2012 according to the Pew Internet Project, web designers are taking design elements from social media and incorporating them into their own site designs. Infinite scrolling is one of these designs.
Pinterest, one of the fastest growing sites that is rivaling Twitter in popularity in spite of its young age, uses infinite scrolling. Twitter also uses it. Facebook, by far the most popular social media site, and one used by the full 67 percent of online adults, has embraced it as well. Those who are in web design careers are taking notice of these trends, and infinite scrolling is popping up on sites across the web.
When a user on an ecommerce site spends time browsing page after page, only to forget which page an item he was interested in was on, that user is going to get frustrated very quickly. After clicking back a page or two, the likelihood that the user will click off the page is quite high, which leads to a lost sale for your site.
Browsing page after page, even with a high-speed connection, increases the time it takes to do something online. The paginated experience draws out the browsing of your site's content, which may lead to lost sales. Infinite scrolling in many instances creates a more user-friendly site and a better overall online experience.
As an added benefit, when users are not asked to scroll through page after page of content, more of your content or products are placed in front of the user. This, in turn, leads to more opportunities to make a contact or sale from each site visitor you have.
Talk to a member of a creative talent agency or web design firm, and you will hear that mobile is not the next "big thing," but the current driving force in online marketing. Forbes reports that there will be 7.4 billion mobile devices in the world by 2015. Even now, smartphones and tablets are beginning to rival computers as the main Internet connection for most consumers.
Infinite scrolling works much more efficiently than paginated designs for those accessing the web with touch screens. The growth in the number of mobile devices on the market is adding to the renewed focus on infinite scrolling.
Infinite scrolling makes a better user experience, works well for touch screens and gets more of your content in front of the reader. It's no wonder that those in web design careers are starting to rely on this design trend in their ecommerce sites. If you are starting a new ecommerce site, consider infinite scrolling as a way to make it more effective.
Nicole H is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
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