Pros & Cons of Infinite Scrolling

What is Infinite Scrolling?

Infinite scrolling is a technique based on the idea that content is loaded continuously as users scroll down the page. This eliminates the need for pagination and allows for a seamless experience.

Why?

Because users can keep scrolling down to see more content without having to click through to another page.

Infinite scroll is a part of technical SEO strategy and is mostly used to increase user comfort when navigating a website. However, while it’s good for users, it doesn’t always have to be SEO and Google crawlers-friendly solution.

The Pros & Cons of Infinite Scrolling

The Pros

1) They’re great for smartphones.

It’s easier to scroll on a touchscreen phone than click the little links to go to the next page.

2) They hold a user’s attention.

Having to click a link to “see more” can actually be distracting for readers. If they can keep scrolling and the information keeps coming, readers could be more likely to stick around. This is a big reason why websites that focus on images. Like social media networks, do so well with infinite scroll.

3) It’s easier to display large amounts of data.

If you have a lot of information on your website, infinite scrolling is a good way to show more marketing content at once.

4) It’s great for updating information in real time.

Real-time information needs to update constantly, which infinite scrolling does well. This is another big reason infinite scrolling is so popular with social media networks.

5) Infinite scrolling does not make your website load more slowly.

Infinite scrolling loads about seven posts at a time, but this does not mean that your page speed is affected in any way. In fact, there is nothing to show that it loads any slower than another type of website.

The Cons

1) It’s harder for users to search.

If a user wants to find a specific piece of marketing content, he or she might find it annoying to have to continually scroll down to find it. This is why search engines like Google don’t use infinite scrolling on their web search results pages, but they do use it for their image search results pages.

2) You won’t have a footer.

Footers are usually a great place to put important links like “About Us” or your contact information. And it’s become the norm for many searchers to look at the bottom of a webpage to learn more about a company. But with infinite scrolling, there is usually no “bottom of the page” to speak of.

3) Readers can’t skip information as easily.

Not having a sense of where content stops can be overwhelming for some users, as is the inability to skip to other, specific information. Instead, users have to read and scroll through things they may not be interested in seeing.

4) It requires more JavaScript.

Infinite scrolling relies heavily on JavaScript, which could make some developers nervous about the future of infinite scrolling and digital performance.

Five Rules For Good Infinite Scroll

Keep The Navigation Bar Visible

When you keep the navigation bar persistently visible, you create better navigation experience for users. Why? Because if navigation bar is out of reach, users will have to scroll all the way back when they’re far down the list.

Use a “Load More” Button If You Have A Footer

Infinite scrolling impedes the user’s access to the page footer. Reaching footer becomes a challenge—since items continually load as the user approaches the bottom of the page, the user will see the footer for a second or two until the next set of content is loaded and pushed the footer out of view. This prevents the user from reaching the footer.

Back Button Bring Users Back To Their Previous Spot

Another usability challenge of the infinite scroll if the problem of scroll position. The scroll position isn’t recorded as a ‘state’. If users follow the link from the list and then clicks the Back button, they expect to return to the same point on the original page. But when the user’s position in the list of results is not tracked, the browser’s back button will generally reset the scroll position to the top of the page.

Allow Users To Bookmark Particular Items

One of the most often cons of infinite scroll is that it’s impossible to bookmark items from the list of items. A simple bookmark results action (“save for later” of “add to favorite”) can be a very powerful tool for your users. Pinterest, for instance, uses a bookmarking digital tool that helps users save creative ideas.