Before I move on to the rest of the blog post, it might be a good idea to explain what “the fold” is. The term first dug its roots into the world of newspapers. When you would go up to a newsstand, you would generally see the current newspapers folded in half. Because of this, only the top half of the front page could be seen. Editors, knowing this, would have to use this viewable area in a clever enough way to grab the attention of the person thinking of buy the newspaper.
Similarly, with today’s technology (computers as an example) can suffer from the fold as well. You travel to a website, and the content creators have to use the same tactics to get you to further read their content. Only a section of a website will be visible when you first arrive. The pictures and headlines have to draw you in and keep you there on the site, just as with a website.
So, you got it now? Good.
For quite a while, using content above the fold was used to users to be able to access everything else around our sites. That first screen of your site was the most important space for us, because that’s where all the important sections had to be.
Now introduce the smartphone and tablet. These devices have totally changed how we consume information and navigate the web. Since these devices are making us scroll and swipe, webpage design has had to be reinvented. But, does this affect the fold? How has this multi-screen world been changed because of it?
Tim Allen wrote a column on Moz that talks about the fold, and moving beyond it. What do we do now with this new form of search when the devices we web surf on totally change the way we view the fold?
Check out Tim Allen’s article on Moz by following the link below:
Article: Life Above and Beyond The Fold