Staying Above the Fold: The Fear of Scrolling

Not all content must be above the fold; Users will scroll

We’ve all had those long, difficult conversations with clients, defending our decisions to not put certain content ‘above the fold’.  It’s not surprising that many people who come from traditional media revere the fold, but even digitally-savvy clients and stakeholders often fear scrolling, even though they do it all the time.

In Why the Fold is a Myth, Bnonn Tennant provides a simple rule for placing CTAs: Put the CTA below the right amount of well-written, compelling copy–regardless of whether or not it falls below the fold (which is about 700px down the page).  The ‘right amount of copy’ differs based on your audience and the complexity of the product/offer — the less your audience knows about the product and the more complex it is, the more copy you’ll need (and thus the lower the CTA on the page).

Tennant backs up his rule with data, showing how in some cases a CTA lower on the page can outperform one that is above the fold.  These are great case studies for those clients who need a bit more convincing.

The bottom line, of course, is to test your layouts and copy.  As David Ogilvy said:

The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST. If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace.

And with digital advertising, we can (and must) continue to test and optimize our advertising once it’s in market.

Finally, when you just need to vent, this cartoon and link can keep your spirits up when you’ve had the ‘above the fold’ conversation one too many times…  http://www.thereisnopagefold.com/

Short URL: http://goo.gl/gnz60

About Peter

Peter Chaivre is a digital producer in Silicon Valley specializing in platforms and web apps.

One Response to Staying Above the Fold: The Fear of Scrolling

  1. Pingback: CPR Promotions » Dead air in radio webdesign

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