Sell your website above the fold.

13.12.2009 Blog Simon Fraser 3 Comments

Sell your website above the fold.

Introduction

More and more I am noticing websites that are attempting to sell themselves above the fold (wiki article) on the home page. Not only do I feel this is a vital element for portfolio websites but more product based websites are implementing this design element.

I am fully aware of the numerous people out there writing in their blogs that the web fold is dead and people know how to scroll, and yes I will admit that the invention of the mouse scroll wheel was great and its getting even easier these days with apples magic mouse and their very smart track pads on the new laptops.

Introduction
More and more I am noticing websites that are attempting to sell themselves above the fold (wiki article) on the home page. Not only do I feel this is a vital element for portfolio websites but more product based websites are implementing this design element.

I am fully aware of the numerous people out there writing in their blogs that the web fold is dead and that people know how to scroll, and yes I will admit that the invention of the mouse scroll wheel was great and its getting even easier these days with apples magic mouse and their very smart track pads on the new laptops.

Articles against the fold
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/blasting-the-myth-of
http://www.360innovate.co.uk/blog/2009/05/infatuated-with-above-the-fold-web-design-by-john-ellis/

The Next Step
When designing a new website or even just reorganizing content you have make sure your important content is to the top of your page (or above the fold) and also that any details above the fold help to explain the reason for your site, this is very basic design features but are vital.  The next big step is to sell your website above the fold, and this can be done very effectively with appropriate branding of your website and then displaying a clear and concise message of what your website offers. This should be designed to attract attention and to grab the user and urge them to read on, users can then use the beloved mouse wheel and scroll the page or even follow a link to an article, even then your users can continue to browse your site if they have found what they wanted, and find even more.

Demonstrations of selling above the fold

These following sites I feel display some very effective above the fold selling, and they are all well know and popular websites across the globe.

jQuery Screenshot	This is the jQuery website and this website displays alot of important information and even reviews latest version and who uses the jQuery platform.
Apple Screenshot	The Apple website could be one of the best examples of selling above the fold, Apple have been using this design element for some time and continue to design and show their products above the fold.
Lee Munroe Screenshot	This is Lee Munroe’s Personal Blog and portfolio, Personally I really like this design and the fact he has placed some of the most prominent links above the fold and is also displaying some of his latest work.
Songbird Screenshot	This website is the home of the Songbird media player, They give a introduction to the software and include a picture displaying the software and a link to download the latest version.

Conclusion

So team up with me, and next time you design a website or interface consider the fold, I’m not saying design a website and place all the content above the fold and make the information unreadable and too cramped, Just consider your design and make sure you are showing the correct information, not only for visitor usability but to also encourage the user to stay and browse your website.

3 Responses to “Sell your website above the fold.”

Paprikaya says:

December 14, 2009 at 12:53

The way I see it it all boils down to how most people read a website.
- Studies confirms that in order to capture your audience you have to write the important information in the first 1 to 2 paragrapshs ( http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/ ).
- According to usability expert Jacob Nielsen users of the internet also suffers from what he calls “Banner Blindness” ( http://www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html ).
- Concise and short information will more often than not be read.
- People do know how to scroll, but whether or not they will scroll depends on them finding what they are looking for – right away.
- A good summary of users behaviour on websites can be found here: http://tr.im/HyQ0
These points are all well documented, and we have to be aware of this as designers and developers of websites.
Certain things stands to reason when you know what the studies show:
- It is important to give our users the important information when they first enter our sites, and to present it so they can get that information just by scanning the page.
- If the user doesen’t find what she is looking for, she won’t even bother to scroll most of the time. And if you force her to scroll to find the relevant information, she may very well be much less attentive than she would have been, if the that information is the first thing that meets her eye when she enters the page.
There is one important note about the above statements though: Jacob Nielsen and a lot of other usability experts are, for the most part, only concerned about the content of a website. The impact of a properly designed graphical interface seems to be of no relevance to the above mentioned studies.

- So keep those studies in mind, they contain information that should not be ignored, but try to not “go fundamentalist” on the area – we are dealing with human behaviour and that is as I believe we all know never fully predictable.

Here are some of the links mentioned above:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/
http://www.virtualhosting.com/blog/2007/scientific-web-design-23-actionable-lessons-from-eye-tracking-studies/
http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/
Newsletter 101: Conquering Structure says:

March 10, 2010 at 15:34

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Joseph D. Shiller says:

March 11, 2010 at 18:24

Does not really seem like brain surgery. Just make sure you have: Branding, Text (clear attractive Offer and call to action), Image(s) and Navigation (relevant links) all in a neat package.
I have also been thinking of what is the optimum screen width is? I think the days of the 600 pixel wide sales letter might be fading away. We can fit a lot more above the fold with the wide pages and with the new monitors, you can really stretch out. I do however dislike scrolling left to right, my wrist hurts enough as it is.

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