In America it’s called the carousel. In England, we refer to it as the merry-go-round. Children love them. Their excited hands clasped to the reigns of the wooden horse as it gallops to the joyful music of the fairground. To the watching parent the ride seems endless. To the child, the ride is over in seconds.
This isn’t child’s play…
Online, the design teams wow their clients with bold images and messages as they demonstrate the cure that allows them to include multiple messages within the fresh new homepage. The designers are happy. They’ve brought the previous dull images and content of the homepage to life. The client is happy. Now, they can push as many messages as they want to their website visitors. Everyone is happy.
Everyone…. with one minor exception.
I had a great conversation with a designer on a current project I’m working on. He explained to me that the carousel is like the front cover of the newspaper or the front page of a magazine. It’s what introduces the reader to the contents. I begged to differ. If I’m scanning the cover of a newspaper I’m in control. I choose what is of interest. I choose what I want to read about. I’m not interrupted by a sudden mass change in headlines. I’m not left scouring the page to try and find the 2nd sentence to the article I’d just started to read. Myself and your readers? We don’t like carousels. So much so, we simply ignore them.
Carousels actually make your readers ill.
Imagine the scene if the children’s merry-go-round was cranked up a few notches in speed. Round and round they go. There’s going to be some serious redecorating needed as the children feel the effect of centripetal force.
Now, spend a few moments watching the carousel at Pacers.com. Dozens upon dozens of messages rotating every 5-7 seconds. Are you simply meant to sit there and wait until an interesting message appears? Maybe one with less than 10 words so we can actually read it? Forget about the UX scenario, these pages will send your readers heading for a paper bag.
Why are carousels so prevalent?
Simple answer. Because we believe that we have so much to tell our visitors and have so little space to do it. Every department within every organisation is screaming out for the equivalent of the red hotel on Mayfair (or Boardwalk for my American readers). This is serious property.
The other possible answer? Maybe because we’ve seen them on a competitors site and thought ‘hey, we should do that too!’. But, that didn’t happen. Right?
We’re thinking about what we want to be telling our reader, not what our reader is wanting to hear. Look at how the guys at Ghost.org introduce themselves. They get right to the point. They ask one simple question. If you took your website to the high street. Would you bombard your visitors with offers and product features? Or, would you let them settle in and find their feet first?
The role of the homepage
“Arrrgh. I’ve got so much to tell you. But, I don’t know you, so I just want to tell you everything and hope that at least one thing I say sticks!!!”
The successful marketer knows what their audience is looking for. They know how to frame their messages within content and imagery that really works. Your homepage is your welcome, it’s not your pitch. Show your audience that you’re on their side – that you get them. Make them pull up there chair rather than fall out of their chair. You’re not Amazon. You don’t have millions of products to sell. You have a few that you can sell really well. You just need to put your arm around your visitor and assist them rather than shout at them.
Be good to your audience
If you are using a homepage carousel. Spend a few moments and review the messages you’re pushing. Are they about you, or your audience? Seeing your homepage like your audience sees it will tell you a lot about how to present your business better.
1.) Drop Crazyegg tracking onto your website. It takes a few minute and costs very little. View what’s really happening. You may just see there’s a gulf of click happening around your carousel with very little action within it.
2.) Use Google Analytics event tracking to track the amount of clicks that actually take place within your carousels. It’s simple to setup and gives you valid information to work from.
Please, just don’t let those carousels sit there taking up prime space because you think they look pretty or because you need to please numerous departments within your business.
This is a request on behalf of a potential client of yours.
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