Web Site Design: Designing Above the Fold

Web Site Design: Designing Above the Fold

by RMH Web Design

The most valuable “real estate” on your homepage is located above the fold, or the part of your page that appears in a browser before the need to scroll down. Visitors see this part of your site first and what appears here will help them decide whether or not they will stick around.

There are several important things that should appear above the fold:

Your logo or company slogan to help establish your “brand”.
A message telling the visitor “What’s in it for me?” Here is where you will list some benefits your visitors will enjoy by staying on your site or buying your products or services. Your copy here should use keywords for the search engines and should focus on the visitors. Tell them what they will get by being on your site and purchasing from you. And you needn’t list every single one.

What is the biggest benefit to your visitors?

For example, if your site sells all natural dog biscuits, tell your visitors the benefits of these dog biscuits. There is a difference between a benefit and a feature however. A feature would be that the dog biscuits are made of all natural ingredients. A benefit is that you don’t have to worry about your dog eating chemicals that are unhealthy.
A navigation menu. Your visitor has decided to stick around and browse your site. Don’t make them hunt for your links. Place your menu where it is seen easily by your visitors so they can click on their desired destination. And be sure that your menu appears in the same place on every page.
Special Offers, Sales promotions, or Giveaways. Make mention of a sale near the top of your page to capture the attention of your visitors.

Try not to clutter this area however. If a site looks too busy, it can make it harder for someone to spot what it is they are looking for and may turn them away.

So what things need not appear above the fold?

Tons of banners and affiliate program links, especially big, flashy banners with animations. Use these in moderation.
A huge picture of something and no text. Visitors will want something to “grab onto” when they reach your site. If the only thing they see is a huge graphic without text or any links, chances are they will not scroll down to see what else is there.

Back to the natural dog biscuit site, if the only thing your visitors see is a huge picture of a dog that takes up their whole screen, this really isn’t giving them the most important information. And it probably will take the page longer to load, which can also drive visitors away. If you want to use an image such as this, make it a bit smaller (half the screen vertically perhaps) and include text to go along with it on the other side.
A huge “Welcome To My Site” message. This is a waste of precious space using a welcome message that takes up the whole screen, not to mention that there really aren’t any valuable messages or keywords in there. Make your welcome message small and short.

Just as newspapers place their top stories above the fold, place your most important information and navigation in clear view of your visitors when they land on our homepage . State a clear purpose for your site and the benefits of being there. If visitors cannot find the information they are looking for within seconds they will move on, so the important stuff should be placed above the fold in a clear and concise manner.