According to this topic - Are carousels effective? sliders are very ineffective way of managing space on the website. So I am wondering what would be an alternative which would achive the goal of grabbing users interest and making them stay longer on a website.
Would a static full width/height background image do the work or are there some other more efficient options?
The other answers are correct, but they give no ideas for alternatives.
A very simple yet elegant way is how Apple or for example Crobox do it (or many others).
You simply present the content in a static order, letting the user scroll past as he pleases. No flashy animations, dancing carousels or other overload.
This works because the majority of other sites are the opposite and want to push everything into the user's face, to increase maximum information coverage, forgetting to give users space.
It's a little bit like the Progressive Disclosure pattern (only show essentials and once the user demands it, show more). As NN group says:
Websites have grown so complex that progressive disclosure is a good idea for many information-rich sites as well. Deferring secondary material is also a key guideline for mobile design.
The key to effective and engaging homepages is appropriate content that aligns with users needs. No amount of attention getting techniques or widgets will work if the content doesn't interest the user.
It's as simple as that.
In which way would sliders or background grab the attention of the user? That's the same as saying that increasing the page load time makes the user stay longer. Technically true, but effectively useless!
Better than worrying if you should have huge heroes with pictures or videos or sliders, focus on giving your customers clear, actionable, options right off the bat. Then you can worry about background images.
