Designing Above the FoldGet Web Design Tips and Tricks on mps-web-design.com. Designing Above the Fold topic will increase your understanding on Web Design Tips and Tricks. We at mps-web-design.com only provide news, articles, information in Web Design Tips and Tricks. Web Design Tips and Tricks at mps-web-design.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Arguably, you have just 10 seconds to grab your visitors' attention. That doesn't seem long, but as the brain can absorb thousands and thousands bits of information per second...10 seconds is long enough to get your message across! The 'above the fold' part of a web page (especially of the home page) is the most valuable real estate you have on your web site. The first fold of your web site needs to communicate the biggest benefit you have to offer your visitors. This is often referred to as your Unique Selling Point or 'USP'. However, 7 out of 10 web sites are poorly designed above the fold. Here are the 4 top pitfalls that drive visitor's away. 1. Flashing banners 2. Too many links 3. No clear USP 4. Time consuming flash animation So what should you do to capture the attention of your visitor? Here are the things you should include above the fold. 1. Spell out your USP Answer the visitor's biggest question, 'what's in it for me?' Use a main headline and supplement it with a secondary headline. Communicate benefits, benefits and more benefits to the visitor. You should use a H1 or H2 tag for the main headline and H3 for the supplementary headline. Is your USP to save the visitor money? Offer a guarantee? Make live easier? Help the visitor to earn an income? When you are working out your USP and benefits...remember the difference bewteen 'benefits' and 'features.' If you have a product that is reliable - that is a feature. The benefit would be peace of mind or lower maintainence cost. 2. Opt-in Email address or Bookmark If you offer your visitor the chance to bookmark or opt-in to a newsletter or request more information then place the links into the 'above the fold.' You should do this for every page. You have worked so hard to build and promote your website and now you are attracting traffic, but if you can get an email address or allow your visitor to bookmark you, you will increase your chance to continue promoting to visitors after they have left your web site 3. Navigation I am sure some smart alecs will say your navigation should never be above the fold, forcing visitors to scroll down and read your copy. I could not agree less. You should have your navigation above the fold, giving your visitor full control. Ideally, place your navigation bar somewhere on the top or left hand-side of every page. When visitors first arrive at your site, they should be able to find what they want quickly. Don't frustrate them with quirky and quacky titles either. Use titles that convey benefits like, 'Special Offers' or 'Savings' or that are generally understood. 4. Professional Design Avoid banners and flashy animation. Not only does it consume real estate, but it will slow the page download...a cardinal sin. Keep it simple. Each page on your website should download in 15 seconds or less on a standard 56-bit modem. Even if you are promoting affiliate programs banners have a generally poor conversion rate. It is 10 times better to sell in context with text or product links. Besides selling straight off the home page has little credibility. Conclusion Remember the 10 second rule and design to communicate your USP and biggest benefits in headlines. Present the chance to opt-in or bookmark your page. Give your visitors the chance to navigate around your site and avoid flashy animation. Use the above the fold part of your web page shrewdly. Keep it simple and offer clean and effective web design. That is the way hold your visitors for longer. ==================== Rich Vicar has been providing search engine placement solutions since 1998. He is expert in submitting your web site in an ethical, efficient and effective manner. http://www.glenfox.com contact@glenfox.com ====================
Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
More Articles:1. Alternative to Web Site Templates and Design Software By Cherie Davidson Before I discovered the concept of Web site templates, I felt woefully inadequate to build my own site. It was the old "catch-22" where I didn't have the money to pay to have a site built, I needed a site to make the money to have a professional site, and without the knowledge of how to build a site, I had no hope of getting a site.But even templates took some degree of technical knowledge. I could get a reasonably priced site for between $40-$75 dollars generally speaking, but I had to … 2. Is your printing costs sky rocketing? Here are some things you can do to be able to lower your printing costs. 1. Cheap but good quality printer. There was a time when only a handful of people can afford having one of those colored and digital printers. Now that these things are more rampant, they have become more affordable. Color printers of good quality are even inexpensive already. Ink cartridges are more expensive by far. So you would not to print large amount of copies unless absolutely needed. But for small quantities, you… 3. Excellently Constructed Websites By Jesse S. Somer Want to see an excellently constructed website? As a writer I found one of my favorite writers: (Paulo Coelho) has a site that could inspire anyone who wants to create a more humanistic presence on the Web.Being a writer, when I was asked to do some research into what makes a good website, of course I straightaway went to check out all of my favorite authors. After sifting through a few standard sites I remembered to look at one of my all time respected writers-Paulo Coelho. Judging by how man… 4. The Common Sense Approach For Designing Websites Think user, usability! Ever visited a website, which has the most dazzling flash graphics, that takes so much time to load. that the aesthetic value of the graphics is just lost on you? Your tired 28.8 kbps dial-up connection at home takes up precious time to load the website, and you want to curse the web designer who did not think of the home user's needs before designing the website. This genre of websites lacks basic usability, which causes immense frustration to users who need to interact … |
||||
