Infinite scroll is a web development technique in which the site automatically loads more content/results. This takes out the manual clicking on the next page and is a seamless process for the end user. It has become more and more popular due to most social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter opting for this approach. Most of the time, users won’t even know that this process is happening and they will just see it as one long continuous page.  

Advantages to infinite scroll

Less interaction

Infinite scroll takes out the process of clicking to the next page. You can just keep scrolling until you find what you want. It is an easier task and one which doesn’t need any thought put into.  

Boost time on website

The amount of time spent on a webpage will increase, as it becomes more and more addictive to stay on. Also by making it a more seamless approach it will also increase the time spent on the site.  

Disadvantages to infinite scroll

Losing your place

With this technique, it can allow you to lose your place on the webpage. If you refresh the page or go off and on it again, you may lose your place. This will then be difficult to find where you were, having to scroll down all the content while concentrating on not missing your place. Whereas you could find your place a lot easier if you had pages on the content.  

No footer

If when you keep scrolling down more and more content keeps appearing, you will never be able to get to the footer. They generally contain useful information and links, yet if you can’t get to them, it will be harder to find these. Which means you will probably have to go through multiple links through the menu to find what you are looking for. Making it a longer process for the user and user experience.  

Not quite as seamless

Although this technique is meant to be a seamless approach, it isn’t quite like that all of the time. A lot of the time when the user reaches the bottom and the spinner appears, meaning the user will have to wait for a few seconds while the content is loading.   For more information on website developments, industry news or hints and tips, then take a look at our blog page.