Endless page scrolling: helps or hurts?

The generation of two thousandths is known for its habit of browsing information on websites in a matter of seconds, making the decision to stay or go out. Competing projects should know exactly how to collect and retain the audience, or they risk remaining in the shadows. In an effort to attract the attention of the masses, for example, using the parallax effect, many also decided to introduce an endless scrolling. This approach has been actively used over the past few years, and examples of very popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram only confirm its effectiveness.

However, the fact that an endless scroll is suitable for these sites does not mean that it is suitable for your web resource. The chip is quite reasonable when performing certain tasks, but on some projects, on the contrary, it may hinder the achievement of goals.

WHAT IS INFINITE SCROLL?
Since this term can be used to denote various characteristics and functionality, in this case it means an endless scroll with automatic loading of content as the user scrolls down the page. It seems that the page is endless and the user can scroll as much as necessary.

POSSIBILITIES OF INFINITE SCROLL
Endless scrolling works best with certain types of content. For example, it is ideal for sites with low levels of engagement, such as Twitter. Since this web resource is filled with short text blocks, visitors quickly browse the content.

Most often, endless page scrolling works well with a lot of easy-to-read content. If this corresponds to the goals of your company, this function is quite suitable for you.

Positive characteristics of the method:

User retention. This is one of the main features of the endless scrolling, plus it allows you to quickly engage visitors. In addition, it also motivates users to stay on the page, since they can endlessly browse the content by scrolling down.
Easy navigation / usability. Scrolling is an easy-to-understand and universal method that does not require much effort to perform. It immediately gives visitors access to the basic information of the site.
Suitable for viewing illustrated materials, as well as for users of mobile devices. Infinite scrolling is a good way to provide a view of a variety of simple visual elements. Also suitable for mobile devices, where the best way to navigate is scrolling with one finger.
That is why this approach is great for Instagram, the main purpose of which is to quickly present a series of photos. There is no need to linger on each image for a long time, plus the majority of service visitors use mobile devices.

REASONS TO AVOID INFINITE SCROLL
Despite the advantages, it is best for owners of certain types of web projects to refuse to implement such a mechanism at all:

Commercial sites. They make it easy to search and purchase products that meet certain characteristics. Web resources designed for sales should provide simple and accurate navigation tools. If the main goal of your company is to sell, the use of an endless scroll is not recommended. Design a simple and user-friendly design with disabilities so that consumers can concentrate on buying.
Selling site and scrolling
Any sites that search for special products or services. When users enter a project with endless scrolling, they are faced with many options. It is not always suitable for those who pursue specific goals. Too many options are likely to force the visitor to leave the web resource.
Sites with content oriented for a long period of time. Journals and web resources where articles require in-depth study will not benefit from the use of endless scrolling. Continuously loading content may seem overly overwhelming in terms of usability and lead users to leave the site rather than continue reading.
The difficulty of navigating when re-searching for specific information. One of the main reasons for not switching to this function is the difficulty of re-searching for specific information. This may have a negative effect on commercial niches. For example, because of the endless scrolling, it’s almost impossible to bookmark. Many users of Pinterest faced a similar problem when, returning back to the news feed, they could not find the necessary entry that is present on the page just a few seconds ago.
Impact on search engine optimization. One of the most discussed problems in the topic is the negative impact on SEO optimization. Pages with endless scrolling, in fact, represent a single page, and therefore the amount of content available for search results is reduced.