All This Talk About The Fold – Good Content STILL King

Last week, a bit of a Twitter storm erupted over one person’s insistence that the “fold” is meaningless for modern web design. And it got me to thinking….

And here is why. I’ve read a lot of articles about conversion rates and how it relates to keeping your content above the fold and it comes down to one thing:

Is the content GOOD ENOUGH to make the reader do what you want them to do — sign up, etc. — which is your call to action.

Came across a great post that goes into greater detail on this and gives some great statistics.

Higher conversion rates have nothing to do with whether the button is above the fold, and everything to do with whether the button is below the right amount of good copy. More..

When you stop to think about it, it makes absolute sense. A visitor will not stay on your site past first glance if there isn’t compelling content quickly available. Never before has the phrase “make a good first impression because you won’t get a second chance” been more true. You got about 15 seconds to attract and keep your visitor. That’s it!

So maybe that ties into the above the fold argument. But cramming all the bells and whistles into such a small area tends to look … Crowded. It screams ME ME ME! LOOK AT ME!!! Nobody enjoys neediness, even in a website.

And so it comes back to the importance of good content. If you grab the visitors attention with great content you can keep them interested and then reel them in with a solid call to action … Ignoring that old fold!