Exploring Web Design Gamification

Every modern business requires a website – its not a choice, its a crucial necessity. A company website must include unique and engaging content that represents its brand properly. Almost every house in the Western world has at least one computer and Internet access. Due to the rise of mobile technologies, the number of mobile gadget users is growing exponentially.

People have gotten accustomed to going online before actually buying a product or ordering a service. They do research and compare prices, look for discounts, sales, and so on until they find what they need. Or they get persuaded that they have found what they need.

However, the web design industry doesnt stop there. People dont like wasting their precious time on things they find boring. Of course, there is no universal method that can keep any person, regardless of who they are, engaged, and interested. But there are more targeted methods that can keep certain segments of the community engaged and interested.

One of the techniques that particularly improves audience engagement with websites is gamification - to put it in laymans terms, the use of game elements in web design. An increasing number of web designers are applying this technique to their projects to generate leads and increase conversion rates for their clients.

So, why would you want to gamify your site in the first place? Lets say you have a website that doesnt perform well with lead generation and client conversion. Gamification of your site would add a new dimension to it.

This would then engage potential customers and hopefully win them over. If for some strange reason, your company still doesnt have a site, you need to change that ASAP. Otherwise, you are going to miss out on a big part of your target audience and, therefore, quality client material. If this means youre starting a new site from scratch now, consider gamifying it from the get-go, this will save you time in the long run.

The best way to create and launch a website is by hiring a reliable and reputed web design agency in San Francisco and the Bay Area that has the talent, tools, and qualifications required to build high-quality websites. The great thing about web design agencies is that the market is full of spectacular companies that cant wait to get their hands on some amazing projects.

In other words, you wont have trouble finding an agency to meet your needs. But, before you hire someone and your websites creation gets underway, there are several things about gamification you need to know.

Gamification in a Nutshell

Lets take a look at several definitions of gamification. Most people define gamification as having to do with game elements or game dynamics. According to Badgeville, gamification is: “the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. Gamification taps into the basic desires and needs of the users impulses, which revolve around the idea of status and achievement.”

Even though gamification might be considered just another catchy piece of jargon, its concept isnt new. It can be traced back to 2003 when it was uttered by inventor and computer programmer Nick Pelling. This fact aside, the word didnt catch on till 2010. That was the moment that an increasing number of businesses started gamification processes to increase client retention rates.

And here we are now - gamification is everywhere. The wonderful thing about it is that its quite simple to implement. Moreover, its possible to choose from a wide range of approaches to make certain they fit your content. Were going to review two of them below.

Adding a Progress Bar to Boost Engagement

Probably, one of the most direct gamification techniques is displaying a progress bar when a sites visitor fills out a form or provides a product or service review. This way, people can see the part of the process theyve accomplished while they move from one step to another.

For example, if your site visitors have filled out three of five pages, the progress bar should say “60% complete.” People despise leaving unfinished tasks, so the desire to finish a process helps motivate users to follow through to completion. Progress bars can be used virtually anywhere. As long as the visitor is focused on finishing a task, theres enough room for a progress bar.

Progress bars can also be used to motivate users to achieve a certain status like LinkedIn does with its Profile Strength feature. This ensures higher levels of user engagement levels and overall interaction on the website.

One of the most common objectives on a site is to get visitors to download something or subscribe to a mailing list. The idea behind this is to get a persons email address. And placing a progress bar somewhere in the process will encourage them to follow through with their signing up.

Actual games

As obvious and trivial as it may sound, you can add actual games to your site. Why the hell not? Humans love games, so why would you not give what they love, especially if you can gain from doing so? Even if that game isnt related to your content, service, or product, it still manages to keep people engaged with your website. Engagement is always good - no matter the reason.

You may create a mini-game and publish it instead of a regular blog article. It doesnt have to be anything complex. Build a small game and monitor the traffic and engagement metrics. By the way, consider adding a game to your 404 error page (Page not found). Your websites visitors will enjoy this small addition - the reports will show. The same goes for the 500 Internal Server Error page. While you certainly must fix these issues, a game placed on these pages will help you retain your customers.

And its not a shameful practice. Quite the contrary – even such a digital monster as Google takes advantage of small video games. For example, you can play Google Gravity or Google Snake for as long as you want - should surfing the web start to bore you.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, web design gamification is an efficient way to reinforce your content and boost engagement with your target audience. Some studies have even discovered that website gamification can boost conversions sevenfold.

By trying out various techniques, you should be capable of drawing more of your target audience and encourage them to engage more often and on a much deeper level.

Website gamification is not a trend that is going to vanish in several months and not leave a trace. It is an effective strategy that can boost a new website or revive an old one, thus taking your brand to new heights. Its immensely difficult to keep the modern user entertained, interested, and, most importantly - engaged. It doesnt take long for the average user to lose interest in a website.

And unfortunately, when they do, they will move to your competitors sites to look for what they need. Therefore, if you want to see your audience grow and become your loyal clients, you have to make sure that your sites visitors spend enough time on your site to move naturally and comfortably into the sales funnel on their larger user journey.

Gamification has proven itself to be a great and effective way to get people engaged with websites and willingly check out available content. Mastering this technique is a great tool in your companys journey towards success.