“Above the Fold” is the top half of your website which is visible on a computer screen without scrolling and must communicate clearly what is your intent.
The term “above the fold” is a newspaper man term which describes the top half of a newspaper. The top always gets more visibility than the lower half. Imagine seeing a stack of newspapers in a store or vending machine. The “big headline” is always above the fold along with the major stories. Websites are a lot like newspapers. You need to capture your visitor’s interest “Above the Fold”. 
While there is ample discussion on the scrolling habits of website visitors and how time is spent scrolling below, I believe the type of website and who is your target audience plays a large part in how you should treat the “Above the Fold”. One thing is certain and that is the top of your home page is your prime website real estate. By prime real estate, I mean that most people will make their usefulness evaluation of your site when they are at the top of the page.TaylorTown believes you must clearly state five things above the fold to capture attention.
These five points are: Who you are, What you do, Where you do it, Why you are the best and What do you want the visitor to do now! Also a phone number or contact form should be very prominent as a call to action to encourage conversions.
Clients will ask we questions concerning regarding SEO and the layout of their website. Some are questions are:
Is having a large expansive image in your “Above the Fold” area a good idea? Well, my initial reaction would be no, unless your chosen image answers these five important questions and contributes to your message. It’s definitely easier to write descriptive text explaining the purpose of your site than conveying this info with images. Sadly I’ve noticed poor images above the fold with little direct relationships to the purpose of the site. A true waste of your website’s prime real estate and your visitor’s limited attention.
Will ads or affiliate links above the fold hurt my SEO? Yes, it likely will and this is a recent algorithm change meant to improve user experience. Ads above the fold invites your website in getting spanked by Google.
How else could my content “Above the Fold” hurt my SEO? If your content above the fold slows down your load- time then you may lose some SEO points. Try a page speed checker and if you get this warning ” Eliminate external render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content.” you may want to consider coding improvements.
Where you place your most important message which around here we call our “power statement” gives guidance to Google of it’s relative importance. Learn page organization from the newspapers to hit a bulls eye with your audience and Google.
If you have questions about your effectiveness ” Above the Fold” contact TaylorTown SEO and we will utilize many free tools to help you understand how Above the Fold effects your SEO and User Experience. Don’t waste your most valuable web real estate. State your message clearly to capture your visitor’s attention and their interest.
