Designers, Developers, do we really still need the fold?

You’ve heard it before, I’ve heard it before, we’ve all heard it before: your website design needs to have a catchy hero image with a strong Call to Action (CTA) right as soon as your eyes hit the screen. And… I disagree! At least for the most part. The fold shouldn’t be the master of your design.

Why do I think the fold is overrated?

I disagree with the idea that designing for “above the fold” is the best thing since sliced bread. As modern web designers and web developers, I think we have a right to explore new patterns and ways of introducing page content to website visitors. Why? A lot of what we know about this mythical fold is from the 1990’s and 2000’s and it just isn’t as relevant. In the 90’s, of course you don’t want to load content past a fold when you’re running on dial-up internet. In addition, the majority of website users were coming from desktop computers where you could see a lot of information at one time above the fold.

That’s not the way things are anymore though, with users using their phones more than desktops and the trend is only set to increase as time goes on. The fold is so different on mobile! The placement is so different, and even short pages on a desktop computer get scrolly on a phone. And what have we been practicing for decades now? Scrolling below the fold. The longer a page is, the more likely it is that users these days have the ingrained user experience knowledge that they need to scroll down.

Well okay, but why do we still use it?

But okay, let’s slow down. The fact remains that people these days have short attention spans and will very quickly scan content to figure out if they want to read more. So shouldn’t we be putting our juiciest morsels right above the fold and leaving the longer content for below the fold? Does the fold still matter?

I would suggest that as always, best practices for UX and content design are your friends. Have an attractive headline and intro content. It’s good practice to get to the point. Does all this mean you need to slam a gutenberg cover block immediately on the page and cram a CTA in there? Maybe it does! But I would argue that there’s more ways to be creative and functional than just that.

A fear based argument for why the fold is still so important is that “website visitors will scan an attractive fold design and then leave your website”. My counterargument there would be that those same users are on your page for a reason: the SEO likely brought them here straight from Google or from another referral, so if you page content is robust then your user should scroll down. I believe that users these days know how to scroll, so as long as your website is accessible then you should have no problem giving your users the knowledge they’re looking for. A handy nav for long pages, or focusing on nicely laid out information architecture will go a long way, more than slamming a hero image, sentence and button link at the top of your WordPress page will.

Live and let live… but do try to explore.

At the end of the day, know when to use it or lose it when it comes to folds. A website that’s beautiful and consistently helpful will put you ahead way more than a cookie-cutter fold design will! And yes, this advice is probably not a one-size fits all! Sometimes paying attention to the fold can get your message across in the easiest way. But, I would encourage you webby folks out there to play around with your design, and don’t be afraid of letting your website visitors discover your content below the fold. You may be glad you did!