If you’re an online-savvy individual, you have probably heard of the term “the fold”, and about the overall idea of keeping all the important information regarding your business...
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read more »If you’re an online-savvy individual, you have probably heard of the term “the fold”, and about the overall idea of keeping all the important information regarding your business “above the fold” of your website. Over the years, I have had a number of customers bring their concerns regarding “the fold” to my attention both before and during the developmental process of their home/landing page.
When the term “the fold” was initially coined, it referred to a newspapers' actual fold line and the importance of displaying the most relevant or eye-catching information before the actual halfway point of a newspaper’s front page—i.e. “above the fold”.
However, the idea of a website fold is slightly different when compared to the newspaper. Unlike the newspaper, in the online world there are number of factors that can affect the actual position of the fold.
First of all, the position is heavily dependent on the size of your Internet browser window. Over the last decade, computer screens have changed in sized significantly. Ten years ago, I was operating on a 14-inch screen with 800x600 resolution, which meant more than 70% of an average page was below the fold. Today, my MacBook Pro has a 15-inch widescreen display with 1440x900 resolution—between the resolution and other factors, now over 60% of an average webpage is visible.
The secondary factor that will affect the position of the fold is an individual user’s browser selection, toolbar settings and default font size. Depending on whether an individual is using Safari, IE, Firefox or Chrome, the top portion of the browser window may range from sparse or very crowded. Personally (despite my husband’s disapproval), I love Firefox. Yes it’s not as “cool” as Safari and not as “new age” as Google’s Chrome, but it has a friendly, mostly minimal interface that fits my usage patterns. Don’t get me started on any of the IEs, though. Depending on your primary online browser and selected browser font size, the amount of information that is displayed below or above the fold will vary.
Now, the question to ask is: How should a business owner and their web designer address the fold in the real world?
One-way to approach the issue of “the fold” is to try to predict its approximate positioning based on your target market. Understanding your target market and knowing your target audience is the key in being able to pinpoint the rough position based on their computer screens and browsers. If your company’s target market is an older age group who didn’t grow up using computers and generally doesn’t spend much time online, it’s safe to say that IE or Firefox (with some exceptions) is their browser, as it is usually the default. And, they are likelier to have their browser font size set higher due to poor eye sight. If your target market is younger and uses the web for most of their business searches, Firefox, Chrome and Safari (for Mac users) would be a safe assumption to make in their browser preferences. And their browser font size is probably set at the default or smaller, making the website fold at a much lower point of the screen.
Secondary, when trying to predict the approximate location of the fold knowing your target markets income level can help you narrow down their possible computer screen sizes. If you target audience has high discretional income, they are more likely to be operating on a larger screen then your average user--in which case the issue of the fold isn’t as big of a concern. However, if your target audience is a lower income group, they are more likely to be operating on an older machine with a smaller or lower-resolution screen, and the idea of the fold becomes more of a concern.
Now, regardless whether or not you can predict the position of the fold on your audience’s screen, the most important factor to consider when laying out a home page is Content Relevance and Hierarchy. When not knowing the exact position of the fold, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Yes, these days more then ever, individuals are a lot more likely to scroll past the website’s page fold, but it’s still important to include the most important items about your business near the top of your website. Features and services that you would like to highlight regarding your business should be present above the so-called “fold.”
Identifying the important information that you would like to present to your website visitors is key. If your goal is to capture your visitors attention within the first 8 second of landing on your website, consider what that information is and where it should be displayed on the page. Identify the features and services you would like your visitors to spot upon their initial landing. If your home page is overcrowded with too much information, you’re more likely to scare visitors away and lose potential leads. However, not presenting the right information above the fold can also result in lost sales as well. It’s a fine line to walk, but a proper website design will make or break your online advertising efforts.
Choosing a web designer that can guide your website project in the right direction, provide their marketing expertise and position your home page for high conversion rates is essential in online marketing. After all, in the long run, a poorly designed website can actually cost you money beyond the initial investment and may even affect your return on investment of other advertising efforts.
The nature of our job (web design, SEO, and online marketing) is unique in ways that were unimaginable a decade or two ago. We have tremendous flexibility in how and where we work, and even the methodology we use. Results are expected, as always, but it is now, more than ever, our own burden to define our work process and the tools we use to accomplish it. Certain software and services have proven themselves over time to be surprisingly useful and save us time, money, effort, or stress. This is the first article in what I am hoping will be a recurring segment about the tools that we use to do our work.
Several aspects of our work require us to deal with login information for various sites. We frequently maintain client logins for google apps/gmail, google places, content management systems, email newsletters, online directories, web servers, and countless other online services as a service to our clients. These logins are often sensitive—a good deal of trust is placed in us to hold this information. Maintaining hundreds of these accounts used to be complicated.
Enter 1Password. I learned about this software from a podcast, and have seen it recommended on several high-profile sites. Basically, 1Password is an intelligent password management system with integration into various web browsers. It allows us to maintain a large set of accounts and passwords in a secure, but very efficient and easy to use manner. While most modern browsers have a password manager of some form that may suffice for lighter use, when you do a large amount of cross-browser testing, a tool like 1Password really shines.
Besides passwords, the program can store software serial numbers, credit card information, personal information, server accounts, and even arbitrary notes, all secured. It's a one-click process to fill out a shopping card address/credit card form.
Since we have a few people working on the same projects, we discovered that 1Password can even sync over Dropbox. Adding a new password on one computer will push it to all other synced computers in seconds! The iPhone and iPad applications also sync, so you can have access to your private information wherever you go. Gone are the days of separate lists of passwords all out of sync and out of date.
1Password is one of the first things I install on a new Mac, and it's hard to imaging what we did before. I highly recommend it to anyone who has struggled with password or account maintenance.
Considering everything that has happened with the British Petroleum disaster, it’s safe to say that the company’s public relations and marketing departments have a tremendous challenge ahead of them.
As extremely profitable but questionably eco-friendly oil company, BP already has a large struggle keeping a positive image with the general public. Now, when you add a full-fledged environmental desaster—millions of gallons of crude oil in the ocean, scores of sea creatures and birds killed, harm to natural habitats, property damage, loss of human life, and accusations of negligence by the president himself--things go from bad to worse.
The constant bombardment by the media for the “best, freshest coverage” means showing the worst angle possible of every aspect of the disaster. Compound that with the continuous joking by satirical channels (@BPGlobalPR on Twitter comes to mind) and other countries now trying to shine their own “light” on the issue does nothing to help their situation.
Just to make something clear, I’m not defending BP or at all saying that the situation has been handled properly pre- or post-explosion. Instead, I will trying to set my personal issues aside and think not of the implication that this disaster will have on our yearly (usually beautiful) trip to the beaches of Destin, FL, and only analyze the issue from a marketing perspective.
As the disaster continues to worsen in severity, BP more than ever should be implementing the strategic marketing plans already pre-planned by their PR department. The development of the multi billion financial fund for disaster relief was step one of this process.
At this point the company has two very different, very broad marketing approaches to choose from.
One option is to completely abandon all former brand names and marketing efforts and start over. Pretty big, I know. This is similar to what Blackwater did after realizing that no marketing or money in the world can repair the image of the company after the events of Nisour Square in Baghadad in 2007. Now, Blackwater hopes that the general public will not realize that Xe is one and the same, and if they do, the company’s message preaches a complete change and turn around.
Judging from the initial steps of BP’s marketing strategies, it doesn’t seem like this is the option they are exercising. But in all honesty, as disastrous as the BP oil spill has been, it still doesn’t come anywhere close to the former Blackwater’s doings.
The alternative is the approach that BP has decided to take, and, in my opinion, is probably the best route. The plan seems to be to implement proper public relations strategies that will eventually lead to improving the image of the company. The goal of BP’s marketing department should be to involve itself into the efforts of rehabilitation of the shore lines, the company’s involvement and assistance with general rescue efforts, and everything from ocean and shore cleaning to visits to the communities effected by the spill.
The allocation of 20 billions dollars to the relief fund is definitely a good start, and so is the establishment of The Gulf Research Institution funds. Contributing money to the communities helps subside the negative opinions of the general public. That said, mere money may be seen as a passive, disconnected way to help, especially when many hold the view that the company practically pumps money out of the ground.
Another approach could be for BP executives to visit or temporarily relocate to the affected areas and speak to the public regarding their commitment to recover, issuing some “sincere” apologies. Executives may be wary, however, as there is a strong resentment for them in the area. Come to think of it, Xe may be able to provide protection…
There are countless ideas that BP could implement as part of their image recovery process and a 20 billion dollar capital budget to draw from will surely help. Smaller, more “personal” efforts would go a long way, not only for the people directly helped by the efforts, but also to help personalize the company with the public. It could put a more personal, caring face on a company that today is viewed as “big, corporate, evil BP”.
It will be interesting to see what marketing strategies BP is going to implement, how successful they will be, and how long it will actually take to fix the damage—both to the environment and their image.
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