A website carousel is the top section of your website that allows multiple pieces of content to occupy a single, coveted space. Also known as a slider, or rotating banner.

Website carousels save space, allow more important information to be included and visible at the top of the homepage, and may even look professional. But the truth is, they’re getting in the way of your site’s conversions. Research has shown that what once may have been considered an effective part of a website’s design, is now dysfunctional, irritating to viewers, and distracting attention from the important stuff. 

In a nutshell, if you want a site that sells, you’ll need to kill the carousel. 

But why?

1. It’s evident from multiple information sources that content displayed on a website carousel is almost 100% likely to be ignored. This is because it often looks like a slideshow of adverts and thus annoys the viewer. Annoying your website visitors is not really a positive thing, and if you imagine being on a site and getting p***ed of with their content, it’s not going to leave a good brand association in your mind. Certainly no business owners will want this effect on their potential customers either.
2. Secondly, most carousels move way too fast for viewers to absorb any of the information displayed. Putting advertising or promotional material on a fast moving carousel would be like placing a billboard advertisement for a sunscreen brand in Antarctica. Pointless. Not only is this a waste of ad placements, but it also increases your websites bounce rate. People will find that there’s too much information on the site to be processed, and move onto one of your competitors simpler sites instead. This is also known as banner blindness, and can happen either consciously or unconsciously and is usually done to avoid interacting with ads that may disrupt the user experience.
3. Finally, humans naturally react to movements too much, including the constantly moving carousels and banners that are on your website. Must be good right? Nope. Even though you can argue that a moving carousel is attracting attention from the human eye, still, none of the information is being taken in. It’s distracting, but not appealing,  The slider actually ends up just taking attention away from everything else—the stuff that actually matters, so the important stuff such as your site’s value propositions, get ignored. Then once again, this carousel all becomes a bit of a waste of time eh?

So, do you need help positioning your content on your homepage and creating a site that actually sells? First off, kill the carousel. Second, schedule a call today with the website experts (that’s us). If you just can’t wait to speak with us, get your ideas started with your homepage today, and read our advice on how to create a homepage that sells.