What’s “above the fold content?”
It’s a phrase often used by web designers and digital marketers. But the phrase has been around way before the internet.
Newspapers put their most compelling headlines at the top of their front pages. When newspapers vendors fold the paper, “the above the fold content” would remain visible for readers to see.
If readers don’t like what they see above the fold, the newspaper won’t make many sales that day. That’s why you see that front-page headlines in newspapers are always captivating.
Websites have “above the fold content” too. It’s what you see once the website has finished loading. The first thing you see on a site must get your attention. You may not scroll down if it doesn’t.
If you want to get prospects into your conversion funnel and sell more, you’ll learn a lot from these examples:
1. Airbnb
Airbnb has over 150 million users today. The service is an excellent alternative to hotels.
When you visit the site, the form you see above the fold will get you to search and book a place immediately.
As you can see in the above screenshot, there’s a picture in the background that looks cool. It’s an image of a nice kitchen.
You can learn from Airbnb. Use powerful images that help visitors imagine what they will get. And include a form that gets them started right away.
2. HubSpot
HubSpot is one of the most successful companies in the digital marketing space. The content they have above the fold is superb.
The first thing you see is about helping your business grow. They included a call-to-action button that asks you to “Get HubSpot free.”
Who wouldn’t want to get a tool that’ll help them grow their business for free?
3. Snack Nation
Snack Nation is a B2B snack membership service that brings healthy snacks to businesses.
The content above the fold tells you everything you need to know. You don’t even need to scroll.
If you’re interested in having healthy snacks delivered to your office every day, you’ll click the “Try It Free” button.
4. Webflow
Webflow is a tool that lets you design your site visually without ever touching code. You don’t have to worry about things like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.
The site has one of the best above the fold content. The first impression was excellent. I couldn’t resist trying the tool for free.
Webflow summarized what their tool does in three words: design, build and launch. And they show you a call to action button asking you to get started for free.
Inside the above the fold content, they added a button that tells you the site itself was built with Webflow. Very few startups could explain a complex solution in such a simple way with little words.
5. Grammarly
I’m a big fan of Grammarly. Most writers I know use it.
Grammarly ensures that I don’t miss any embarrassing grammar mistake before hitting the “publish” button. The tool gives writers confidence in their work.
Grammarly has been improving the effectiveness and efficiency of its tool over the past years.
The above the fold of the site would get any writer to start using the tool immediately.
You see what the tool does. There’s a link to download their extension for Chrome because I’m currently using the browser. There’s also a GIF that shows how the tool works.
6. Buffer
Social media marketers use Buffer to plan, collaborate, and share content on social media. The tool allows you to share insightful content with your followers even when you’re busy with other things.
Buffer has an exquisite above the fold content that’ll make you scroll down on their home page.
I like the way they combine colors. They also have an illustration that depicts the kind of results their users expect to see.
7. Wistia
Wistia is one of the most creative brands in the marketing technology industry. Wistia’s above the fold content would enchant anyone.
You’ll see a video of a woman dancing around and smiling with a pink video camera in her hand.
Just by staying in the above the fold area alone, you would have learned everything you need to know about Wistia.
8. Shopify
Shopify is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms today. It currently powers 800,000 online stores.
The first things you see on the site are a video and some images that make you want to use the platform.
Smart companies like Shopify are turning to visuals to appeal to users.
So, use visuals in your above the fold area. Visuals can help you grab attention in many ways you can’t do with text.
9. Drift
Drift is a chat software and conversational marketing platform. Both B2B and B2C companies use Drift to start conversations with their customers.
Drift has a simple yet powerful above the fold content. Their focus is to make you start using the tool immediately you land on their site.
The company uses social proof on its page. They wrote that Drift is “the #1 rated sales and marketing chatbot software.”
10. InVision
Even though I’m not a designer, I’ve been hearing a lot about InVision in the past year.
When I decided to visit their site, the above the fold content alone blew my mind.
There’s a video playing in the background with no sound. And there’s a link to watch that video.
Above the “Watch Video” button, there’s a form that asks for my email address that would lead me to sign up for free.
11. Mint
Mint’s super simple above the fold content will attract anyone who’s meticulous about money.
Upon landing on the home page, you’ll see an image of their app in action.
The image is a monthly expense statement of a sample user. Mint presented it in a nice-looking pie chart that’s easy to understand.
12. Moz
Moz sells SEO tools. In the above the fold, they promise what you should expect when you use their tool for SEO: traffic, rankings, and visibility.
Let’s assume that you have doubts about Moz fulfilling this promise. All you have to do is look down a bit without scrolling, and you’ll see popular companies that are already using their tools.
If startups like Zillow, 99designs, and Razorfish are using Moz, it’s a sign that their tool delivers.
Visitors to your page shouldn’t have to scroll down before they can trust your product or service. Make them trust you, right there in the above fold.
13. Skype
Skype has been around for some time. I use it to stay in touch with family and friends.
Skype’s above the fold content is simple and straightforward. You learn what Skype does pretty quickly.
They used three words to summarize Skype: Talk, chat, and collaborate.
I’ve been using the tool for over eight years, and those are the three things I use it to do.
You can do the same thing when creating the above the fold content for your site. Summarize what you do in a few words, and include an image that describes it.
14. DoorDash
DoorDash is a food delivery service that lets you order breakfast, lunch, and dinner from your favorite restaurants and they deliver to your doorstep.
Their website is simple and easy to use.
There’s no long, boring introduction in the above the fold content. If you’re hungry when visiting the site, you probably don’t want to read much. You want to order food immediately. The site lets you do that.
Just enter your address and DoorDash will return some nearby restaurants.
15. Ahrefs
Ahrefs sells an SEO tool, just like Moz. It’s amazing to see that both companies use the same tactics for creating and designing the above the fold content area. Ahrefs went a little bit further in using more social proof.
Ahrefs offers you a promise of what to expect from using their tool. Moz did the same thing.
Ahrefs shows you the companies that are using their tool. Moz did the exact thing, though Ahrefs have more big names like Facebook, Adobe, eBay, and Shopify.
Ahrefs went further by showing how many people started using their service in the past seven days. In the screenshot of the site below, 2,301 started using Ahrefs in the last week.
Ahrefs also went further by offering seven days of free trial for $7. Moz didn’t do that in their above the fold content.
Near the bottom of the fold, you’ll see a screenshot of the Ahrefs app in action. Ahrefs uses this to encourage visitors to scroll down and see more.
16. Kayako
My heart melted when I visited Kayako’s site, a help desk software. Just by looking at the above the fold content, you’ll feel loved. You’ll want to learn more about their software.
And right there on the above the fold, they have a call to action button that says, “Start your free trial.” If your business needs a help desk software, you don’t have to scroll to want to try.
The illustration on the page is unique. They depict a customer care representative hugging a client. And there’s a hot tea on the table.
Upon landing on the home page, it’s clear that Kayako only wants you to take one action. That action is to start a free trial.
17. Xero
Xero’s keeps it simple. The first thing you see is what their software does and who they serve. It’s clear that Xero is accounting software, and it’s made for small businesses.
So, if you’re a small business owner, you feel that Xero is for you.
Then there are screenshots of how their app looks like on desktop, smartphone, and Apple Watch.
Xero has two main buttons. The first one asks you to “try Xero for free,” and the second one asks you to “buy now.”
Xero is a known brand in the online accounting software niche. The “buy now” button is for people who already trust the brand and want to start paying for it immediately.
18. Squarespace
Squarespace is one of the most popular website builders today.
Squarespace’s above the fold content is a bit complex, but exceptional. They used animation to delight and educate visitors about their software.
Squarespace uses animation to show that it’s possible to use its website builder to sell products like wristwatches and sneakers, and services like photography and woodworking.
You can start a free trial with no credit card required. They make this clear and visible when you land on the site.
19. Square
When you sell one product or service, it’s easy to use your above the fold content to promote that one thing. But when you offer a wide range of services and products?
One great company that sells different products and services is Square. You’ll want to sign up with them when you land on the website.
Even though Square offers a wide range of services and products, they still managed to keep their design simple.
Square quickly tell you that you can grow your business with their tools.
Their focus is to get you to sign up or start a conversation with their sales representative.
If you offer many services or products, you can use this technique when designing your website. You don’t have to list every service or product you sell on your home page.
Instead, focus on getting your customers details. Educate them about your products and services later.
20. Trello
Trello’s design is simple and straightforward. They know the importance of above the fold.
Trello use above the fold to tell you what their tool does, and what you can achieve with it. Then they ask you to sign up for free with your email address.
When a site is this simple, it’s hard to resist the urge to sign up. Trello is so easy to understand when you land on the site. The illustration on the right side is superb too.
21. Airtable
Airtable is one of my favorite apps today. I use the tool every day.
Their website is fun to look at. The content they have above the fold makes you laugh and think.
They did a great job of conveying the message that you can use their tool however you like. Such a sense of freedom is likely to help them gain more users.
Make people feel positive when they land on your site as Airtable does.
22. Geekdom
Geekdom, a coworking space in San Antonio, uses the above the fold to showcase their office. That’s one of the first things visitors would be interested in seeing upon landing on the site.
Conclusion
I visited hundreds of sites. I saw lots of great content above the fold. But none of them beats the examples you saw above.
Ensure that your above the fold content is nothing but excellent. Put a lot of work and time into it. When you do that, a lot of prospects will take your business more seriously.
Note that you need a powerful tool to collect emails on your site. And OmniKick is that tool you need. Sign up and install OmniKick on your website today, and watch your email subscribers grow as a result.