If you’ve ever read anything about web design trends, you might’ve heard at least something about gamification. Over the past several decades, the video game industry has been changing dramatically. Even so, video game sales are increasing at a rapid and, at times, incomprehensible pace.

This is all the more likely to be known if you’ve ever followed the web design industry. But maybe you don’t. Maybe you own a company that needs a website, but you know very little about web design and how to develop a great website. In this case, maybe you’ve never heard anything about gamification at all. Regardless, one thing is for sure – your business needs a website like you need air. Without a site, you will miss out on the largest part of your target audience. The reason is that people today use the Internet to look for all sorts of things, buy all sorts of products, and order all sorts of services. 

While there are several ways to create and launch a website, the best way is to hire specialists. It’s best for both your business and your budget to hire a web design agency. By doing so, you get access to a team of talented, experienced, and creative professionals that will be able to build a site that is going to provide your brand with essential aspects: exposure, lead generation, and client conversion. Luckily, there are amazing website design companies in the market today. Therefore, you should focus on getting a great website for your company as soon as possible. 

But, let’s assume you already have a website – what’s so special about gamification? The inclusion of game aspects into web design ensures that site visitors are engaged, entertained, and excited about using it and checking out its content. Let’s say your current website simply seems outdated and doesn’t convert as well as it was just a few years ago. This is also a situation when you should find and hire a reliable web design agency that can figure out what’s wrong and what should be updated to boost your conversion rates. This is where gamification comes in. Of course, some things should be taken into account before adding gaming elements to your site, but you can count on your web design agency’s team to do that. Just for the sake of providing a better understanding of why you even need to gamify your site at all, let’s briefly overview a few things. 

Gamification Evolution 

Although gamification can apply to marketing campaigns, this approach normally focuses on boosting sales rather than making things just more engaging. Gamification in website design is about including relevant gaming elements. These elements include accomplishing objectives, completing missions or quests, scoring points, and having competitions. In general, video games have a game world and players. This world and the players in it act upon each other – affecting the course of events. There are also video games that allow players to engage with each other. You need to consider the format that will work best for your site, discuss it with the web design agency, and figure out which gaming aspects and elements would fit your brand the best.

A lot of modern companies manage to create quite a bit of enthusiasm and hype using social media, leaderboards, and events. It is very important that no matter what elements you decide to use, that they ultimately resonate with your business mission and strategy. 

Pro Tip: There’s No One Single Right Way to Gamify Your Site 

Look for ways to add gaming elements to your site. Sometimes the simplest and most straightforward methods are the most effective. Your form of gamification could just be incredible visual storytelling that doesn’t require any serious visitor interactions. Sit down with your web design agency and devise a strategy that takes into consideration your business goals, content, and client preferences. 

Encourage Your Site Visitors to Play 

When you add gaming elements to your company site, you boost interest and thoughtfully encourage visitors to determine exactly they can do and achieve. For a lot of people, the rules and restraints of games are what make them exciting to play. 

Think about an ad campaign for your new product and how your site can be gamified. Here’s a simple scenario that lends itself to easy gamification. As clients go to your site for instructions, naturally, they will see several options. As they look into each of them, more options appear. Clients will, of course, want to explore what they’ve unlocked and then investigate how they can discover or unlock (speaking in gaming language) more content. Game and site navigation is, in this case, closely interrelated. 

However, the issue with integrating content into a progression structure is that some of the visitors might know precisely where they have to go – in this case, they won’t waste time clicking through menus that aren’t relevant to them. Make sure to brainstorm with your design agency about adding a simple toggle or sitemap, so website visitors that don’t want to spend their time playing anything gamelike can get exactly where they want to go.

Pro Tip: Configuration Is of Little Concern 

Always make certain that your game components don’t impede users’ engagement. No matter what game elements are incorporated into your site, they should entice and invite interaction. They should, in no way, force visitors to interact with your content as that will surely push visitors away. 

Getting the Content Across Using Games 

Although your content’s quality is the most vital concern, it’s essential to transfer it in reasonable ways. Users are hardwired to look for logical progressions. According to psychological concepts, your content delivery strategy has to be based on a repeated capture of your target audience’s interest. The majority of games have at least some sort of progression. 

You normally start in the introductory stages to get familiar with the game, its rules, and its mechanics. As you advance, you find out more about the game’s limits. A good game always feels as natural as it can. But, before long, even good games become boring. 

People always look for logical progression in the things they consume. But when they concentrate on and define a new element, their attention begins to taper off. The human mind is incredibly quick to spot and focus on a visual element that wasn’t there before. 

Marketers need to take advantage of the spark of discovery – spur of the moments in which the user unexpectedly notices or recognizes something new and is motivated to look into it. 

Your content conveyance strategy should hinge on a constant provision of useful and relevant content for your audience. If you don’t try to understand your target audience, none of your content will make an impact. Incorporating game elements can help you see what kinds of content are best perceived by your audience. 

Your client profiles and prospective processes must help you develop an effective content delivery strategy. Incorporation of game elements can help you keep user interest at a high level. 

Conclusion: Keep It within a Reasonable Framework 

You mustn’t overdo the gamification of your site. You aren’t creating an actual game. You are adding gaming elements to your site’s design. One of the most crucial scientific concepts understood widely and cited in the web design industry is about the brain’s inherent preference for simplicity and cognitive fluency. Finding a balance between incentivizing and stimulating is critical for generating greater user engagement. 

Entice your site visitors’ without overstimulating their senses. You must keep the most vital content available for free to any visitor at all times. Don’t forget that your site visitors want to see a business website, not a tacky game site. Remember to discuss all these aspects and more with your web design agency. They will help you keep things simple – this way, you’ll certainly capture your audience’s attention every time. And, by providing users with high-quality content, you will be able to keep and cultivate their attention all the way through your sales funnel as they convert into customers.