Grab your readers "Above the Fold"

What does Above the Fold mean?

Many of you may already know but for me, I just learned about it. It has to do with the newspaper business but can also be applied to blogs and websites.

From Wikipedia:

"Above the fold is a graphic design concept that refers to the location of an important News" story or a visually appealing photograph on the upper half of the front page of a newspaper. Most papers are delivered and displayed to customers folded up, meaning that only the top half of the front page is visible. Thus, an item that is "above the fold" may be one that the editors feel will entice people to buy the paper."

If you think about it, you see newspaper displayed with just the top showing. You see them like that on the newsstands and in the newspaper boxes on the side of the road. The title of the newspaper grabs you first and then the top one or two headlines or photographs.

I have read that the odds of people reading the area "above the fold" are the best. If a person never picks up a newspaper at least they know from first glance:

• The name of the newspaper
• The important headlines
• The most important story of the day

To get someone to actually pick up the newspaper and turn it over to read the other stories makes the odds go down. To actually get someone to open the paper makes them go down even further. The odds are better that they will look at the back page than opening the paper.

Have you ever been on a subway or train and read the back of the paper while someone was reading the front page?

This is just to explain what "above the fold" is all about and to get you to visualize the concept.

As far as a blog or website goes, we can use this marketing concept for our readers.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What does the top of your blog or website look like without having to scroll down?
• Do it "grab you" right away?
• Is it full of ads and text?

Learning about "above the fold" has really been an eye-opener for me. I have always been a visual person but never even thought about what I was really putting at the top of my webpages and blog pages. I just naturally put a graphical banner because I like graphics more than text.

If you have too many ads or too much text at the top of the page you could "bore" your viewer and they may just move on or Stumble something else. If you want to sell a newspaper then lots of text at the top is fine because that is why people buy newspapers, to read the news.

I suggest a graphical banner or heading that grabs you right away and makes the reader want to read more. But then again, that is my preference. Maybe your readers don't need something like that.

I suggest that you stay away from putting too many ads at the top of the page. It looks like all you care about is making money and you want your reader to feel like your blog has something in it for them.

Try focusing your attention on your blog or website "above the fold" and as always, put yourself in your readers shoes to see what they see. Take a look at a newspaper to get a general idea of what I am talking about. It could make all the difference in your readership.

If you can grab your reader "above the fold" then hopefully they will "open the newspaper" and continue reading to become a loyal reader of your blog or website.
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