Is Customer Engagement Affected by “the Fold”?

For years, some web designers have adhered to a long-believed newspaper philosophy that the only content that matters is the content “above the fold.”

In the paper-and-ink world, that term refers to stories that appeared on the upper half of a folded broadsheet newspaper. In web design, it speaks to the first thing visitors see when they pull up a web page.

There’s increasing evidence, however, that the “fold” in web design isn’t as important as some people think.
In fact, according to a 2009 study by British web design agency CX Partners, eye tracking data suggests the “fold” isn’t an issue if the page is setup smartly and web visitors are given proper scroll cues and teasers to lead them to content below it.

But CX Partners’ survey data hasn’t necessarily convinced everyone. There still seems to be two schools of thought on the topic:

• Of course the fold matters — you need to grab people’s attention quickly.

• It’s 2011 — people know how to scroll.

This debate is particularly important to companies executing a content marketing campaign. After all, creating compelling content is one step. Making sure your customers and web visitors find and read it is another challenge completely.

So, which “fold” theory do you believe? Do you think your customer engagement is being affected by content that resides below the fold?

I recently posed this question on LinkedIn Answers, largely because customer engagement is a key indicator of success in any content marketing program. Your content development efforts must be engaging to your audience. If content below the fold isn’t being read, it will negatively impact that engagement level.

Here are what some of the experts had to say:

Holly Berberich, Marketing Manager and Project Manager, Executes Profitable Marketing Campaigns

“I think that regardless of the page, you need to have great headlines above the fold that properly target your audience and keep them on the page so that they will scroll. It’s 2011 and most people know that they can scroll, it’s a matter of capturing their attention right when they hit the page.

That being said, the best thing to do is to test. Test with moving content above and below the fold or creating shorter and longer pages, and see which gets better results. In any content marketing strategy for any company, it is important to always test whether “below the fold” matters for your target audience or not.  For some, it may not matter.”

Janna Hartley, Senior Graphic Designer, StoreyManseau

“I think it’s still necessary to keep important information near the top. However, people are more likely to scroll these days, possibly due to the emergence and prevalence of blogs. I recently read that the most clicked link on TMZ.com is well below the fold at the bottom of the page. Additionally, research has shown that users are scrolling to the bottom and that 76 percent of page-views with a scroll bar were scrolled to some extent.”

Carl Diamond, Owner at Diamond Website Conversion

“Keep in mind that new visitors are notoriously impatient. Depending on whose research you believe, you either have three seconds, or four to seven seconds to engage them. If you do, they will make the next 30-second commitment to further engage.

One of the reasons they can make a decision so quickly is, when they arrive, they are not trying to figure out whether or not to do business with you, but only whether or not to stay or go. They can do this in a nanosecond. If your website is crystal-clear about what customers can do, buy or get there — and you have a great Unique Value Proposition — they will scroll. In the absence of those things, you’ll get a high bounce rate.”

Polina Tarnopolsky, Principal User Interface, Information Architect and Usability Consultant at Idea Group

“Only very important information that you want the user to receive immediately (eye-level and all) needs to go above the fold. Otherwise, know your audience. If they read blogs and your site is a blog or blog-related (or the type where a user is used to long pages) your audience will not have any issues with the fold-line, nor will it care about it.

Given the latest studies and screen sizes, unless it’s marketing related material or specifically designed types of information, the below the fold rule is outdated in 2011.”

Paul M. Allen, Owner, PMA Technology Group

“Out of sight, out of mind. I would agree with those who suggest that what is visible on the opening screen is critical. You need to get the visitor’s attention and capture their interest immediately, or the opportunity could easily be lost.

What many seem to forget or ignore is that a website is a publication. Over time, nothing has changed in respect to design philosophy. Take your cues from what you see when you walk by a newsstand. The front page sells the product.”

There are some varying opinions among that group.

But everyone seems to agree that a visitor’s first impression of your site is incredibly important. That above the fold content can be the spark that encourages users to continue exploring. Research conducted by web page usability expert Jakob Nielsen last March proves that point.

In analyzing more than 57,000 “fixations” (or instances when a user focused on a particular spot on a website) he found that users spent 80.3 percent of their time above and 19.7 percent of their time below the fold. Interestingly, the most time spent below the fold was at the very bottom of the page and websites with strong cues that encourage scrolling saw increased engagement further down the page.

What have you experienced in designing your web page to encourage engagement in your content marketing initiatives?

It’s likely that it varies depending on who your audience is, what they expect from your website, and what kind of content you’re creating. But it’s definitely something to consider if you’re investing significant time and resources on content marketing.