It is the most common request in web design: “Can we put a slider on the homepage with 5 moving images and text that flies in from the left?”
Clients love sliders. They feel dynamic. They solve internal politics (“Let’s put the CEO’s message on Slide 1 and the new product on Slide 2”).
But there is a problem: Users hate them.
At AgilePress, we have a strict policy: Friends don’t let friends use sliders. Here is why we almost never use Carousels on a homepage, and why you shouldn’t either.
The 1% Click Rate (The Usability Problem)
The data is brutal. Study after study (from Nielsen Norman Group to Notre Dame University) shows the same thing:
- 1% of users click on a slider.
- 89% of those clicks are on the first slide.
- Nobody sees Slide 2.
If you hide your most important offer on the second slide, you are effectively hiding it from 99% of your visitors. Users have developed “Banner Blindness.” When they see a moving box at the top of a page, their brain identifies it as an “Advertisement” and automatically ignores it to look for the actual content below.
The Performance Killer (The Technical Problem)
To make an image slide, fade, and fly, you need code. A lot of it.
The Villain: Slider Revolution
The most popular plugin for this, Revolution Slider, is a technical monster.
- It loads massive JavaScript libraries (GreenSock, jQuery, etc.).
- It forces the browser to recalculate the layout constantly during the animation.
- It destroys your LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) score in Google Core Web Vitals.
Using a slider is like putting a backpack full of rocks on your runner before a race. Your site will be slow, and Google will penalize you.
The Mobile Nightmare
Have you ever tried to read a slider on a phone?
- The text becomes tiny.
- The buttons are impossible to tap.
- The slide changes just as you are trying to read it.
70% of traffic is mobile. A horizontal slider on a vertical screen is a terrible use of space.
The AgilePress Solution: The Static Hero
If we kill the slider, what do we replace it with?
The Hero Section. A single, powerful, high-quality image (or video background) with a clear headline and a single Call to Action (CTA).
- Focus: The user knows exactly what you do in 3 seconds.
- Speed: We load one optimized image. We use CSS Grid for layout. No heavy JavaScript.
- Conversion: You force yourself to choose your #1 Value Proposition. You stop diluting your message.
Less movement = More attention.
Exceptions: When Is a Carousel Okay?
Are all sliders evil? No. Carousels are useful when the user wants to browse content, not when you force it on them.
Acceptable Use Cases:
- Product Galleries: On a WooCommerce product page, the user expects to swipe through photos.
- Testimonials: A small slider showing reviews is fine.
- Logo Carousels: Displaying client logos.
How we build them: We never use Revolution Slider. We use lightweight, code-only libraries like Splide.js or Swiper.js.
- They weigh 10kb (vs 500kb).
- They are touch-friendly.
- They don’t block the rendering of the page.
Conclusion: Stop Moving, Start Selling
Your website is not a PowerPoint presentation. It is a sales tool.
Every time you ask for a slider, you are prioritizing “looking cool” over “working well.” At AgilePress, we choose performance. We choose clarity.
Kill the slider. Save the speed.