“Above the fold” is an old newspaper term that has found continued relevance in our online world. In the newspaper industry, it refers to the practice of placing the most important news at the top of a broadsheet’s front page so it can be seen when the paper is folded in half.
Website designers use the term in a similar way to stress that the key message of a page or blog post be at the top, giving readers the vital information they seek without forcing them to scroll or, worse, move onto another site altogether.
On websites and blogs there are a few places where “above the fold” (ATF) applies:
- SEO and page titles: These are the equivalent of a newspaper headline and must be eye-catching and accurate, intriguing people while also informing them about the contents of the page or post. FYI that the SEO title (title tag in your page code) is what appears in search results; the page title is what appears on your actual page. They may or may not be the same but knowing the distinction is important.
- Meta description: This description appears under the heading when your page or post gets listed in search engine results. You want it to do the work of the subheading in a newspaper–offer a little more explanation of what a reader can expect to find. You add this in your page or post settings. It’s important to adhere to length recommendations in this description so you can provide a complete thought within the character limit allowed.
- Introductory paragraph(s): This is the place to summarize the information you are providing. I made it plural because the online world pretty much requires short paragraphs, sometimes of only one sentence in length, so your single idea might span two physical paragraphs.
- Excerpt. In a blog post, this is the blurb that appears on the blog archive or list page. Excerpts are optional but I think they are a great way to “sell” a blog post. You should aim to write your introductory or concluding paragraph in such a way that you can pull a short excerpt for this space.
Beyond the position of your ATF elements, they should (mostly) include keywords, for SEO purposes.
Here is an example from a recent post I wrote about outsourcing, followed by the Google listing for that post:
- Title: What I Learned from Outsourcing My Small Business Branding.
- Meta description: Sometimes it pays to pay someone else. Outsourcing marketing tasks can be very cost-effective in terms of time saved & returns gained.
- Introductory paragraph: Is outsourcing marketing tasks feasible for your small business? You might not think so at first glance. (Leaves the promise of a counter-argument to show that outsourcing may be within reach.)
- Excerpt: Sometimes it pays to pay someone else. (Seen with the headline so it has full context.)
Use the Visual as a Writing Cue
While few people read actual newspapers anymore, the experience of reading one is tangible, given the nostalgia attached to this medium and its regular appearance in popular culture, from film noir and classic films like Citizen Kane and All The President’s Men to more recent films focused on investigative journalism, like Spotlight, and TV series set in the past that show characters reading the paper, like The Crown or Mad Men. Even the new-ish Slow Horses shows a character reading a newspaper in one of its early episodes.
This is why a term like “above the fold” resonates. Just about everyone has seen people reading newspapers, even if they don’t engage in that kind of reading themselves. And the folded newspaper presents a very strong visual. In pop culture, you might see a folded newspaper tossed dramatically in front of a character or piled high outside a newsstand on a busy urban street. It even appears in collections of emojis as a stand-in for “news.”
You may want to keep that visual in mind as you write for your website to ensure that what matters most is, as the saying goes, above the fold.
Photo of newspapers by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.