Scrollytelling:
The Secret to Telling Immersive Stories Online

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Scrollytelling is a powerful technique for telling immersive stories on the web—using a combination of interactive content elements that elevate story arcs, improve readability, and sustain reader interest.

In this Guide to Scrollytelling

Basics

Why It Works

How To Use

Examples

Design Techniques

No-code Design

Video Tutorial

Best Practices

FAQs

Resources

Basics

What is Scrollytelling?

The portmanteau of “scrolling” and “storytelling”, scrollytelling is a web design format used to tell dynamic, multimedia stories that unfold as readers scroll through a website. Popularized by editorial from the likes of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, scrollytelling underpins some of the most immersive and engaging content experiences on the web.

Scrollytelling websites dynamically combine a variety of content elements—from video, images, 3D models, charts, and infographics, to text and animated typography. It breathes instant life and movement into any content, and actively involves readers in what they are consuming—creating a sense of control, exploration, and discovery.

Why it works

The Power of Scrollytelling

If you’re a marketing manager or content strategist, you know how important audience engagement is. Operating in an attention economy where the average human attention span is about 8 seconds, you need to break through all the other digital noise and offer something that captivates your audience immediately.

Scrollytelling can do all that and more. It has emerged as a powerful way to present content and create dynamic narratives that actively engage audiences. Most importantly, it allows users to interact with content in a way that wasn’t possible in the not too distant past.

" Scrollytelling makes your reader an active participant in your content.

Unlike traditional linear website experiences, scrollytelling allows readers to scroll up and down—even across—and click on buttons or icons to reveal additional information and interactions. They control the narrative by navigating at their own pace and taking the time to explore every single part of the story, which in turn produces a more personalized experience.

How To Use

How to Use Scrollytelling on the Web

There aren’t any real rules when it comes to scrollytelling, but as the name suggests, it works best for telling stories—blending sections of text with rich visual media. This makes it a popular choice for commercial departments and content studios looking to create slick marketing and brand experiences.

Editorial

From news articles to photo essays, scrollytelling is a popular choice for editorial departments looking to tell their story in a visual-first format.

Data reports

Transform your traditional linear and data-heavy reports for interactive experiences that allow a story to unfold and data to flourish on the page in a more easy to understand way.

Advertorial

Like editorial content, advertorials often offer a narrative, and scrollytelling techniques can help shape this story visually to engage and convert your audience.

Product pages

Showcasing products with scrollytelling techniques helps them jump out from the page, cutting through the noise of competitor content and engaging customers.

Examples

Striking Scrollytelling Examples

As such a creative and versatile format, scrollytelling can effectively be used on any website—you don’t have to look too far to spot a website using one or more scrollytelling elements. We’ve seen some great scrollytelling examples for photo essays, animated comics, interactive presentations, and even portfolios.

Design Techniques

Popular Scrollytelling Design Techniques

Scrollytelling isn’t a singular, isolated web design technique—it’s a collection of multiple techniques and tools that together create interactive website experiences. This is what makes scrollytelling such a fun and exciting choice for web content; there are so many ways to play around with it. Here are a few of the most popular scrollytelling techniques you’ll want to experiment with:

No-code Design

How No-code is Making Scrollytelling Viable for All

Scrollytelling looks complex to build, which is partly why it feels so premium and impressive. If you take a peek at the code behind scrollytelling websites, you’ll be instantly vindicated; it’s next-level stuff.

As a result, many creative teams and agencies believe scrollytelling is beyond their reach—it would require an eye-watering budget, endless amounts of time, and a taskforce of design-genius developers to ever make it happen.

We built Vev to change that. With a pre-coded library of scrollytelling elements that can be easily customized and moved around a visual canvas, creative teams can design and publish slick scrollytelling web experiences in a matter of hours.

You can even integrate your CMS to bring dynamic scrollytelling elements to your existing content without overhauling your existing tech stack.

Learn More ↗

" Vev is enabling a new generation of creatives to craft and publish interactive visual stories without knowing any code.

Tutorial

How to Build a Scrollytelling Website in Vev

If you’re looking to bring an immersive, cinematic feel to your website, you’ll want to get familiar with scrollytelling. Watch our video tutorial, led by Lewis, to get to grips with scrollytelling.

Full Tutorial ↗

Best Practices

Scrollytelling Best Practices

Scrollytelling is extremely powerful, but only when done right. To effectively engage and guide the audience through your content, following best practices is essential. Here are a couple of points to consider to ensure scrollytelling is not only visually captivating but also intuitive, responsive, and impactful for your users.

Focus on seamless user experience

With scrollytelling, the flow of information is crucial. Ensure each section transitions smoothly, and be mindful not to overwhelm the user with too many effects; prioritize clarity and ease of navigation.

Use smooth scrolling and scroll progress indicators to keep users engaged and aware of where they are in the story
Incorporate responsive design so that the scrolling experience works seamlessly across all devices, including mobile

Prioritize performance optimization

Scrollytelling websites often feature rich multimedia content, which can slow down load times. Vev's inbuilt optimization settings ensure your site performs well without sacrificing quality, but remeber to:

Optimize images and videos for the web before uploading them to Vev to ensure best performance
Take advantage of Vev’s built-in lazy loading to ensure media only loads when it’s about to be viewed, improving speed and performance

FAQs

I have a question about scrollytelling...

What are the advantages of using scrollytelling over traditional web design?

Scrollytelling offers several benefits over traditional web layouts:

- Increased engagement: Users are more likely to stay engaged as they actively scroll through the narrative.

- Enhanced storytelling: Complex information can be broken down visually and interactively, making it easier to understand.

- Improved user experience: Scrolling is an intuitive action for users, and combining it with interactivity creates a seamless flow of content.

- Versatility: It allows for the use of multimedia elements like videos, animations, and interactive charts.

Do I need coding skills to create a scrollytelling website?

No, you don’t need coding skills to create a scrollytelling website or page.

Many no-code and low-code platforms, such as Vev, offer templates and drag-and-drop features that allow you to design interactive, scroll-based stories without writing code.

That being said, having basic knowledge of design principles or working with a designer can help create a more polished result.

How can I ensure that my scrollytelling website is mobile-friendly?

Scrollytelling websites should be designed with responsive layouts to ensure that the experience is smooth across all devices, especially mobile.

To optimize for mobile:

- Use larger touch targets for buttons or interactive elements.

- Simplify animations and interactive features that may not perform well on smaller screens. (Remember, hover animations won't work on mobile!)

- Test scrolling speed and navigation on different screen sizes to ensure the user can easily follow the narrative without disruptions.