Newspaper publishers know the importance of deciding which news stories and photographs will entice customers to purchase and read. Displaying those headlines and photographs prominently on the top half of the paper means that when the paper is folded for display, these attention grabbing items are still visible. This same principle applies to effective websites and is today’s topic for “What Is Wednesday.”
Above the fold, as it applies to web design, is the portion of a Web page that is visible in a browser window when the page first loads. You only have a few seconds to convince a user to explore your site so it’s important to put enticing and important information at the top of the page to get users to read more.
Now that there are a wide array of mobile devices capable of displaying your website, its nearly impossible to know where your web visitors fold will be. Therefore, in web design circles, it’s a hotly debated topic if this principle is even relevant. It is … but not so literally. You don’t know where your website visitors “fold” is but the concept of of ensuring your most important information is displayed initially is still key. Giving your readers valuable content presented in a professional layout will entice your visitors to scroll and explore your site.