Comments on: Debunking the “above the fold” myth http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/internet-marketing-strategy/debunking-the-above-the-fold-myth.html Marketing insights, answers, and research from the analysts at MarketingExperiments.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:19:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Adam Lapp http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/internet-marketing-strategy/debunking-the-above-the-fold-myth.html/comment-page-1#comment-1187 Adam Lapp Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:45:59 +0000 http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/2008/06/debunking-the-above-the-fold-myth/#comment-1187 Hi Karl. You are right, the page fold is not a myth and it's imperative to place key content and objectives early in the visitor's sequence of thoughts, i.e. so near the top. The specific myth we are referring to is that EVERY web page, no matter the product or industry, must abide by the rule that says if you don't cram everything above the fold, then your page will fail. This is certainly incorrect, corroborated by many online experiments we have conducted. Sure, if you have a FREE product or a EASY account sign-up or a SIMPLE email capture, then a short page with the main content and objective above the fold is probably best. But, if you are selling an expensive product or if you are requiring a lot of personal information (address, phone) you may very well need more that just the area above the fold to sell your self. Your copy length should be proportional to the risk involved. Low Risk = Short Copy. High Risk = Long Copy. Although this is also a generality since copy length depends on a variety of factors, it's definitely a good rule of thumb. Adam Hi Karl. You are right, the page fold is not a myth and it’s imperative to place key content and objectives early in the visitor’s sequence of thoughts, i.e. so near the top. The specific myth we are referring to is that EVERY web page, no matter the product or industry, must abide by the rule that says if you don’t cram everything above the fold, then your page will fail.

This is certainly incorrect, corroborated by many online experiments we have conducted.

Sure, if you have a FREE product or a EASY account sign-up or a SIMPLE email capture, then a short page with the main content and objective above the fold is probably best. But, if you are selling an expensive product or if you are requiring a lot of personal information (address, phone) you may very well need more that just the area above the fold to sell your self.

Your copy length should be proportional to the risk involved. Low Risk = Short Copy. High Risk = Long Copy. Although this is also a generality since copy length depends on a variety of factors, it’s definitely a good rule of thumb.

Adam

]]> By: Karl Gilis http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/internet-marketing-strategy/debunking-the-above-the-fold-myth.html/comment-page-1#comment-1179 Karl Gilis Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:17:57 +0000 http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/2008/06/debunking-the-above-the-fold-myth/#comment-1179 The page fold is not a myth. It’s reality. Whether users want to scroll or not, depends on the type of page and the type of website. A nice article illustrating when users want to scroll (and when not) can be found at http://webusability-blog.com/page-fold-fact-or-fiction/. It also gives some good examples of good use of the area above the page fold. The page fold is not a myth. It’s reality.

Whether users want to scroll or not, depends on the type of page and the type of website.

A nice article illustrating when users want to scroll (and when not) can be found at http://webusability-blog.com/page-fold-fact-or-fiction/. It also gives some good examples of good use of the area above the page fold.

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