FAQ: Where’s the fold on my new website design?

Ahh, the million dollar “fold” question. Many of our web design clients ask it.

Here’s our answer:

Today, some say there really is no fold. Modern sites are responsive and users are using a wide variety of devices to view sites. Scrolling is what we do. It’s how we explore. Much like clicking and clicking and clicking was what we did “back in the day.”

But for direct response marketers like us, we must recognize that there are some important “above the fold” considerations.

One, for example, is related to display advertising. We buy inventory that’s primarily above the fold. We know statistically that we can get better engagement on publisher pages when our ads are placed above the fold.

Another example is related to website design and primary navigation. We absolutely must have our utility and primary menus above the fold. At Responsory, we’re a big fan of hover menus for content-deep sites because they reveal secondary page links at-a-glance. So above the fold, our user has complete control of his/her experience before he/she has to scroll.

We assure our clients that our Website Planning, Design and Development Workflow guarantees that their new site will be designed for optimal usability for today’s consumer and business users. We design for our clients’ target audiences — consumers and professionals from mom and pop shops to enterprise users. We have access to A LOT of best practices and analytics to help us understand a great variety of user types.

If a client still has concerns, we share an example (shown here) of our home page and where “the fold” lands.

You’ll see in this screen grab that our Responsory.com home page is adorned with a 1752 x 800 hero image. Look close and you’ll find there are multiple fold lines. That’s because the fold depends on the size of your screen setting (this shows desktop/laptop screen sizes). The fold for mobile and tablet will be entirely different. (And a different FAQ!)

Today’s usability-focused sites are more in your face with regard to size because so many users are using touch screens — from those crazy large android phones you can’t really fit into a pocket to the ginormous touch screen monitors popping up in conference rooms and kitchens coast to coast. Form fields, text links and buttons are big so the user doesn’t have trouble clicking on them.

If you’ve got concerns about your home page or are contemplating a website redesign, give us a call. We’d be happy to show you how an audit of your current site or your competitors’ sites can reveal a great deal of insights and opportunities to help you create a fantastic experience for your visitors.