What is it and why does it matter? 



Here’s a concept that’s been a part of design strategy for a long, long time. The term Above the Fold began as a reference to the top half of a newspaper’s front page - that’s where the publisher would place the biggest headlines of the day. Why? The part of the page that’s above the fold is what you’d see when the paper sat folded in half on the news stand, so that space was used as a billboard for the paper as a whole. This is where you would place headlines and other content that might encourage people to buy the paper. It was a simple matter of converting a browser to a buyer. 



Although a physical fold doesn’t exist in a website, the portion of a site’s content that’s immediately visible to a site visitor operates the same way as the above the fold content in a newspaper. You’ll use that space to grab a visitor’s attention and encourage them to read on, subscribe, book, buy or convert in some other way. For that reason, it makes sense to carefully consider the content you place in that online above the fold area. That said, decisions about what to place above the fold are like many other decisions you make about your business - there are a lot of variables and it’ll be up to you to figure out what’s most important for your situation and strategy. 



Screen size means Above the Fold is a relative term online. 



Above the fold will be defined differently depending on the platform a visitor uses to arrive at your website. The dominance of mobile is growing but you still need to plan for desktop users. And mobile itself has many variations so you need to design with many device types in mind. It’s true that responsive design will ensure your site functions properly on all these different screen sizes but you still need to decide what exactly the user will see first on all those different screens. 





Your design needs to be about your priorities:



With so many variables to account for, it’s impossible to design with a single, cookie-cutter strategy. A better approach is to create a list of priorities for the content and functionality that are most important to your business. Start by asking yourself three questions: 



• What value does your business provide to its customers?
• What do visitors want to accomplish by visiting your website?
• What is the one, most important thing you want visitors to do on your site?



With that list in hand, your web designer can use their expertise to implement your priorities for the many screen sizes your visitors might use to engage with your site. Remember, above the fold content should be focused, engaging and should drive an action by the visitor. That action may be to book an appointment, sign up for a newsletter or buy something, or it could simply be to continue reading below the fold. Regardless, if done right you’ll have gotten their attention and will have a much higher chance they’ll stay and convert from browser to buyer.

To talk about how you can drive more conversions with your above the fold strategy, contact us today.