Guide
Above the fold: what it means, and where yours really is.
The phrase comes from newspapers: the stories above the crease on a folded front page were the ones you saw on the stand. On the web, it’s what’s on screen before anyone scrolls.
In short
Above the fold means the part of a web page visible without scrolling. There’s no single fold, because it depends on the screen, so measure the average for each device. What’s above it should tell people what the page is and what to do next. It doesn’t all have to fit there, because people do scroll.
There’s no single fold
A newspaper’s fold is in one place. A web page’s depends on the phone or the window, the browser’s bars, the zoom level and more. A fixed pixel number you read somewhere won’t describe your visitors. The useful number is the average for your own pages, for each device.
In the sample above, it’s 780 pixels on a phone, and on the same page on desktop it’s 899.
What belongs above it
What this is
A headline that says what the page offers, in the words your visitor would use.
Why it matters to them
A sentence or a picture showing the benefit, so it’s worth carrying on.
What to do next
Your main action, if someone could reasonably decide this quickly. For an expensive or complicated product, the first step may be to scroll.
A reason to scroll
Let something run off the bottom of the screen. A page that looks finished at the fold is one people stop reading.
Do people scroll?
Yes, on the whole, especially on phones. “Everything must be above the fold” is old advice that leads to cramped pages. The better question is how many of your visitors reach the thing that matters, and a scroll map answers that directly. In our sample, 45% of phone visitors reach halfway down the page: not everyone, but far from no one.
How to measure yours
Install a scroll map
It needs real visitors. Your own screen won’t tell you.
Look at one device at a time
Maximizii draws the average fold as a line across each page and device.
Find your important element
Is it above the line? If not, what share of people reach its depth?
Questions
What does above the fold mean?
The part of a web page you can see without scrolling. The term comes from the top half of a folded newspaper.
Where is the fold on a website?
It varies by device and window, so there’s no one answer. Measure the average on your own pages. Maximizii marks it on each scroll map, per device.
Is above the fold still important?
Yes, but less rigidly than it was. It’s the only part everyone sees, so it should explain the page and give a reason to continue. Not everything needs to fit there.
What’s below the fold?
Everything you have to scroll to see. Many people do scroll to it, and a scroll map shows how many.
Keep reading
- Scroll mapsHow far down people get, how many reach each depth, and where the fold falls.
- Landing page heatmapsIs your main button seen and clicked? Check before you spend more on traffic.
- How to read a heatmapCheck the sample, read each map in turn, and turn what you see into a change.
- Heatmap examplesFive real heatmaps from a sample shop, and what each one is saying.
- What is a heatmap?What a website heatmap shows, the main kinds, and what it can’t tell you.
- Website heatmapsClick, scroll and attention maps over a picture of your real page, from one line of code.
Find out where they click.