5 Simple & Powerful Website Animation Examples

Posted on November 13, 2022 in Blog

Subtle website animation is an effective tool for capturing attention and directing users to the content or actions you’re hoping they will take. Animation leads the eye, improves user behavior and drives engagement metrics that can keep customers on site longer and drive them to the content they’re looking for.

The Internet is a big and competitive place. Animation is one tool to make your domain more appealing, more effective – and more fun.

Animation Means Movement (and Drives Engagement)

HootSuite and We Are Social co-published the Digital In 2020 report, which revealed that the average internet user spends more than a quarter of their life online. That’s a global average of 6 hours and 43 minutes of internet time per day.

Considering all the time people spend online, it’s our job as marketers, web developers, designers and UX professionals to create engaging and easy-to-use websites.

Even subtle web animation examples like hamburger menus or animated buttons can make a difference in a user’s journey. That’s why users experience micro-animations on websites across industries and why user-friendly site builders like Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify and Hubspot have invested in expanding the number of small animations, or micro-animations, available to customers.

An Intro to Micro-animations

Micro-animations, also called micro-interactions, are visual changes that occur when a user mouses over, scrolls past or clicks on specific elements. These minor website animation effects include text color changes, button animations and pop-ups.

We’re going to show how five of the top micro-animations can create a great experience, guide people deeper into your website and make users want to come back.

Using Subtle Animation for Websites

First, let’s talk about what makes a good web design animation:

Good micro-animation engages and welcomes users and – dare we say it – makes a website seem human. Unlike other forms of animation that exist solely to entertain, micro-animations directly engage and guide the user, making the website more intuitive.

What makes a bad micro-animation, then? Unpredictability and inconsistency. Humans want to be comfortable. So, a bad micro-animation is really anything that might make a user uncomfortable or uncertain. This creates a high bounce rate and low conversion rate, which are both terrible for business.

The Best Website Animation Effects to Guide Users

Here are five “good-for-business” micro-animation design examples:

Button States: A button state occurs anytime a mouse interacts with a website link so that it changes. Examples of animation possibilities include the button (or text link) changing color when the mouse hovers. Or it could be as wild as a confetti animation after the click. Give users subtle feedback after interacting with the page to assure them that things are working properly.
Attention Grabbers: Users are inundated with information and need help knowing where to look. A subtle animation on your website, such as an arrow, can show the user they can use a carousel or expand hidden content. Another example of an attention grabber is an animation on a download form – it’s like waving your hand and saying, “This is cool!”
Skeleton Screens: Luke Wroblewski first coined the term “skeleton screen” in a blog post advising that designers eschew the use of spinners (typically, a graphical element that is animated rotating on its center point) in favor of visual placeholders. When a user arrives on a website, the skeleton screen shows the basic layout of the page before populating the details. Just about any site can utilize a skeleton screen when loading its content to prevent users from clicking away. It also helps with site speed by minifying cumulative layout shifts.
Hamburger Menu: With the ever-growing use of mobile devices, the hamburger menu is becoming more recognizable even on desktop applications. You can draw attention to this otherwise minimal design element by adding micro-animation when a user clicks on the hamburger to open the full menu. Bonus points: Animate the menu icon so it changes shape after it’s been opened, indicating the opposite action the user can take.
Mouse Tracking: Add depth and delight to the user’s interaction with your website by adding mouse-tracking micro-animations. These animations follow the mouse wherever it moves across the screen. Here’s a great example from Buddha Pizza.

Want Some Cool Website Animations for Your Business? Reach Out!

Micro-animations can influence users to engage with your brand and make purchases. At Oneupweb, our vertically-integrated web development, graphic design and content teams work together to bring qualified users to your site and guide them toward conversion. If you need help designing or developing your website with animated elements and excellent UX, reach out to us online or call (231) 922-9977 today.