What is “the fold”?
“The fold” comes from printed newspapers (remember those?). In a printed newspaper, the prime real estate is on the front page, above the place where the paper is folded in half.
At a news stand, stories that are above the fold are visible without any manhandling on the part of the consumer. Stories that are above the fold are also typically the only ones you can see (before buying) in newspaper vending machines.
On the web, “above the fold” refers to the page real estate that a user can see without e-manhandling (vertical scrolling).
Where is “the fold”?
Due to the vast array of monitor sizes, screen resolutions, browser window sizes, and Internet-connected computing devices, it is impossible to define a single “fold” for a website.
When tasked with finding “the fold” on a client’s website, our first step is to delve into the website’s traffic analytics.
These days, most websites we encounter have 90% or more of their users at a monitor resolution of 1024×768 pixels or above. This means that, in the best-case scenario (which is a maximized browser window and no installed toolbars), you’ve got 768 vertical pixels, minus the browser header and controls, browser footer, and any desktop application or menu bar that might be encroaching from below. If you’re feeling really optimistic, you could allot 50 pixels for browser controls, headers, etc. If you’re feeling realistic, it’s probably 200 pixels or more.
So let’s go with a compromise and say that, on a website with most of its traffic at 1024×768 or above, a reasonable “fold” might be around 600 pixels below the top of a web page.
Of course, some of your decision-making will be influenced by what, exactly, you are trying to position above the fold. The most typical task we encounter is placement of a banner-type advertisement or promotion.
What does “above” mean?
We’ve asked this question of various clients, media companies, and advertising firms; and we’ve heard quite a few different answers. Some firms say “the entire ad”. Others tell us that the vertical midline of the ad (the bellybutton?) is sufficient. Still others say it depends on the ad. With a skyscraper (tall and skinny), it might be OK to cut off the lower 25%-50%. On the other hand, with a leaderboard (short and wide), it might not be OK to cut off any of the ad.
One of the most popular formats today is the medium rectangle or “television screen”. This 300×250 pixel ad spot is the size of choice for showing video clips or other movie/television content. Most agencies want these suckers all the way “above the fold”.
Should you care about the fold?
Unfortunately, the answer isn’t universal for every website or piece of content.
Luckily, there are some great, inexpensive tools you can use to find the answer. It boils down to measuring your audience’s response to the ad placement (ideally in an “A/B” or Multivariate environment), and then responding accordingly.
A great place to start is Google Website Optimizer, which is a free A/B testing solution that lets you test different versions of a web page and easily measure actions taken by users to determine which one is best.
Most ad-serving solutions will also let you measure click-throughs by ad spot, which may be all you need to determine whether “the fold” is affecting click-through on your website.
Always be measuring! The results will almost always surprise you. In one recent example, a client of ours found that the best-performing ad spot was at the very bottom of the page…. well below “the fold”.
