As the name suggests, 3D enhanced websites are based on a regular site. Regular websites have a flat layout with various sections and boxes with UX/UI that you can scroll through and click to navigate. By using 3D graphics, videos or real-time elements instead of 2D, a normal experience is transformed into a 3D enhanced website.
What exactly is a 3D enhanced website?
Pretty easy, or not? It's a normal website just with 3D. And the 3D comes in the form of video animations, images and real-time.
Think of it this way. Where there was previously a simple 3D stock graphic in a box on your website to visually represent your services next to the text, there is now an individually designed 3D animation or image sequence that presents it in a much more impressive way.
Or the place on your side where you display a globe and how your products get from A to B. This is now in real-time 3D. Users can rotate, click, and play around with the globe using their mouse or fingers to better understand your transportation process.
How does it differ from traditional 2D websites?
Since 2D websites are usually designed for images, text and occasionally videos and have an overall informative goal, there is little scope here to create a big impression on the audience. All the animations, interactive elements, visual representation and seamless integration into the design to create the big wow effect are simply missing.
3D enhanced websites take a more exciting approach here. While maintaining the structure and accessibility of the site they embed 3D assets seamlessly into the UX/UI to create an experience that stays informative and becomes visually exciting.
What are the benefits of a 3D enhanced website?
Maybe you've heard of pictorial narration. This is exactly the approach 3D takes. You can use this to give your users a helping hand and boost their imagination. By using 3D, you no longer just need to describe how great your products, services and company are, because you can now surprise with the help of a high-quality visual 3D expression that is exciting, compelling and makes your target group want to know more.
Different forms of 3D can help you in multiple ways. High-quality 3D renders can dramatically increase the perceived quality of your products. An interactive 3D globe helps your users learn important information in a playful and interactive way. And a seamlessly embedded 3D animation at the top of your page helps create the right atmosphere and make visitors hungry for more.
Overall, 3D can dramatically improve the image and quality of your web presence. 3D feels just more real, closer and individual. If you implement 3D well, your website has suddenly become much more interesting for everyone who visits it, is able to leave a lasting impression and makes the leap to stay ahead of the competition.
This will help you stand out from your competition, improve your image, and improve user engagement and consumer centricity.
Can 3D increase my conversion rates?
Yes, 3D can increase your direct conversion rates assuming you’re talking about sales. However, you should be careful with your expectations here. A lot of testing is required, and if your site is already highly optimized for conversions, it is likely that drastic changes will initially have a negative impact.
Think of it this way. Do you really believe it would be bad for your e-commerce store if users suddenly had a realistic 3D version of your product instead of some images that they could move around, zoom in and rotate (assuming we don't limit performance and accessibility)?
An alternative representation that is of higher quality, more detailed and more interactive is in no way worse.
What goal should you set for yourself with 3D?
If it's unlikely that 3D directly immediately lets you convert more, it can't make that much sense, right? Well, let's turn the tables, since roughly only 3% of people in each market are ready to buy. That's what you're referring to, there’s another 97%.
That's 97% of all people out there who are currently exploring, browsing or looking for information. By using your 3D experience, you make your web presence more interesting, existing and therefore achieve more user engagement. Of that 97%, more people are now spending more time on your website. More people have a more positive impression and can remember you much better than your competitors because, to their surprise, your presence wasn't boring.
More people are now talking about your company and products with people they know, and when they are truly ready to make a purchase decision, they are more likely to come to you.
How can I build a 3D enhanced website?
Most 2D websites can be converted into a 3D experience by upgrading. Nevertheless, designing a new website from scratch offers more advantages and flexibility to allow the 3D to harmonize in a more elegant and immersive way with the design.
To imagine, design and develop one, you can pick a creative agency of your choice that specializes in this area, e.g. Immersive Studios.
The process is similar to a normal website. First a strategy is developed, then a structure and content concept, then comes the UX/UI design process. At the same time, the 3D assets are produced here and then incorporated into the design. The website is then developed.
What are the key features that make a website 3D enhanced?
You can't just put a 3D image or video on your website and say now it's a 3D experience. You have to try harder. Successful 3D websites are characterized by the fact that they seamlessly merge design and 3D elements to achieve an impressive, immersive experience. There are many creative ways to achieve this and it doesn't necessarily have to be real-time.
For which industries or niches are 3D enhanced websites suitable?
3D enhanced websites are suitable for almost all niches. The advantages described above are also general, meaning every industry can benefit from them. Yet the individual situation and size of the company should be taken into account.
For small companies and small budget startups, these experiences are too expensive and do not pay back at their current state. This type of website is seen as more of a long-term investment and is only worthwhile if you deal with a larger target group.
Large companies in all areas, whether software, mechanical engineering, travel industry, healthcare or others, can make great use of a 3D enhanced experience. For them, such a website offers a great one-time investment to build positive user retention in the long run.
What technologies are commonly used to create 3D enhanced websites?
Simple forms to use 3D are as images or video sequences. More complex deployment than real-time experience requires development with the help of the best-known frameworks ThreeJS, WebGL and React 3 Fiber. Using a template and concept, custom animations are developed and 3D models and scenes are painstakingly created on the web.
What are the costs to develop a 3D enhanced website?
I will give a rough range as the cost always depends on the scope of the project and your individual expectations. The following price ranges are estimates that you can expect from a professional creative agency.
Generally speaking, a 3D website always costs more than developing the same website in 2D. While the strategy, design and development of a complete (10+ pages) company website from scratch costs around $20-50k on average, developing a 3D enhanced website costs around an additional $10-20k. The development time is between 2-5 months.
Websites can be upgraded to a basic 3D experience for just one to several thousand dollars in a time frame of a month.
Real-time 3D should never be underestimated. It is possible to develop individual effects for more than $20k alone as the effort can get enormous. But unless there is a direct benefit to it, I wouldn't recommend this.
Can e-commerce functionality be integrated into a 3D enhanced website?
Of course. 3D in the e-commerce sector is a wonderful opportunity to display products in more detail and enable interactive real-time viewing.
If you already have an e-commerce store, you probably don't even need to develop it from scratch. You can connect and integrate 3D solutions to make the purchasing experience with little effort more exciting for your customers.
What is the impact of 3D elements on website load times?
Again I have to consider the difference between images, videos and real-time 3D. Images and videos produce a large amount of data when we have a lot of it. Through clever optimization we can solve the possible problem that our site takes too long to load.
Real-time 3D affects both performance and loading time. Nevertheless, animations and elements can be developed in a planned and optimized manner so that the influence is pretty small. Since we're talking about "enhanced 3D experiences", we don't have to worry as much because the effects that are usually used here aren't too complex.
Examples of 3D enhanced websites
Wise
Wise uses 3D graphics and video animations to make the site experience more exciting. The visual representation makes it easier for customers to understand how wise money moves all the money. Wise also uses 3D to reinforce their own visual branding and create an even more professional appearance.
Madbox
Madbox is a mobile games game studio with real-time experience in their hero section on their homepage. In a playful and exploratory way they present how they develop games and what the company's mission is about. Altogether Madbox manages to bring a 3D environment typical of their games to the web and create an immersive insight into their gaming world.
Fair.xyz
As a no code platform, Fair makes the creation of digital assets easier for companies and artists. Fair uses interactive 3D in the background of its hero section and 3D visualizations all over their site to stand out and resonate with the digital art that the platform helps to create.
Summary
3D enhanced websites are the next level of normal websites to make them more interesting, exciting and interactive. The layout and structure remain the same while 3D assets are seamlessly integrated without hindering UX, performance or accessibility. The assets come in the form of images, videos or simple real-time 3D. Those experiences usually suit medium to large businesses across all industries and niches to help improve user engagement and retention in the long term.
