'Above the Fold' is a Myth!

[caption id="attachment_3166" align="alignleft" width="200"] "Above the fold" is a good goal for newspaper advertisers, but not web developers. Photo credit: Valerie Everett / Foter / CC BY-SA[/caption] For a long time, marketing professionals were very concerned about making sure that all of their most important website content was "above the fold," meaning that users can see it without scrolling. This led to a lot of hand wringing and rearranging of content, eating up hours of time that could have been spent on improving copy or considering other important UX issues. Well, at long last, the truth is here to set us free: 'Above the fold' is a myth. Users know that to access the content they are looking for, they need to scroll. And they do.

History

'Above the fold' actually comes from the newspaper industry. It refers to the top half of the newspaper which contains the headline and the lead story. Because it's the first thing that readers see when they pick up a paper, advertisers prefer to have their ads appear above the fold. It is a little silly when you think about that, though, isn't it? After all, the whole point of buying a newspaper is to read more than just the headline. But whatever. Anyway, when the Internet came along, the technology was a completely new thing without any points of reference, so developers borrowed 'above the fold' from newspapers. This may have made sense back in the days of dial-up, when people were still learning how websites work and figuring out what the Internet was supposed to be. But we're in the age of WiMAX now. Everyone knows what the Internet is for, and how to find information on it. Everyone knows that, to get the information they want, they have to scroll.

What about that Neilsen Study?

You may have heard that a Jakob Neilsen study claimed that some 77% of users do not scroll, a data point that contributes to the 'above the fold' obsession. If this information gives you pause as you consider placing important information below the fold, note that this study has not only been disputed, it has been directly contradicted by the findings of other studies. In fact, studies have shown that 76% of people do in fact scroll. Another way to look at this is to look at it logically. For instance, when you visit a site, you scroll, don't you? So why would you assume that most other people do not? That's like assuming that you're the only one who stops at red lights.

What Does this Mean?

Now that you know that 'above the fold' is a myth, what do you do with this information? 1) toss some confetti. 2) focus on other things. For example, now that you know that people will scroll to see your content, you should make sure that all of the content you put on your site is not only relevant, but top-notch. One way to do that is to have expert help in developing your content, the kind of expert help that our Ecreative copywriters and Internet Marketing Specialists provide. For more information about copywriting and SEO services from Ecreative, contact us today.