Yes, key content should be visible, but is the idea that the page fold is a barrier to conversion a myth?

What is the page fold?

Commonly used to describe the upper half of the front page of a newspaper, in web terms the page fold is the area you see on a web page before having to scroll. Unlike newspapers, we cannot predict where the page fold is. It doesn’t just depend on screen resolution but how the visitor has sized the browser window and what toolbars they have customised it with.

What we also need to remember is that newspapers are a different medium. We know they are about current news and affairs. We know if we want to read a tacky tabloid, we’ll head straight to The Sun. We know for more sophisticated reporting we’d pick up a copy of The Times.

What do potential customers know about your website? If they haven’t heard of you, the chances are they won’t want to know about Juanita’s latest product just yet or sign up on one of Muriel’s contact forms right now. There are two things they need to know first before they become a click happy customer:

1. What do you do?
2. Why should I get it from you?

Answering these two questions above the fold will not only grab the users attention, but will get them interested.

Scroll with me

Jakob Nielson , usability guru extraordinaire, stated in his Scrolling and Attention Alertbox that there’s a 80/20 split in users that will scroll.

Image courtesy of UseIt.com 22/03/2010

Remember our blog about scent trails? The same theory applies here, you need to show users information at the right time they are looking for it. To get users to scroll, you need to make sure your page has a good scent. Think about the user’s goals and break these down. Prioritise what questions they’ll have, answering the most important ones first. What questions will they need answered next? Is the home page the best place for this, or can you take them elsewhere? Make sure the page has a good scent so users know there’s more sweet smelling content if they do decide to scroll.

The image below is also from Nielson’s Scrolling and Attention Alertbox, showing that users will scroll. Blue dots indicate one fixation, with bigger dots representing longer viewing time.

Image courtesy of UseIt.com 22/03/2010

As well as the information on the page, visual cues can also be used to guide users into scrolling. Here’s a few tips to bear in mind:

1. Less is more
   Good use of whitespace encourages exploration
2. Avoid harsh horizontal lines
   Whilst these are good for breaking up content, if horizontal lines go full width there will need be a small amount of content visible below to encourage the user to scroll
3. Steer clear of in-page scroll bars
   Not only are iFrames a major no-no, but having in-page scroll bars don’t give the user an indication of how much content is on the page

In an even older Alertbox from way back in 1997, Nielsen stated that “scrolling is now allowed”. So why is it that 15 years later we are still fearing it?

The project delivered a complete overhaul of the site with a new design, CMS and analytics service. As with all design projects we used user centred design techniques to ensure the site was focussed on the needs of the user:

“With an organisation of Interserve’s size there is always a pull to design the site around the needs of the company and not their clients.  We made a big effort with the design and information architecture to make sure we put the user first – simple terminology, intuitive navigation and information architecture and a really powerful site search powered by Google.  It’s these small things that make a big difference, helping users to quickly find the information they are looking for. ”
Amie Kabia, Lead Designer on the project

Interserve’s new site is powered by a new backend CMS that allows site managers to quickly and easily update the site in real-time with the minimum of effort.  As with any company listed on the London Stock Exchange financial information has to be released at precise times to comply with strict corporate governance rules.

To see the new site in action visit www.interserve.com

Webexpectations worked closely with the Harvey Maria marketing team to overhaul and roll-out their new online store based on the Netsuite platform. Netsuite offers an enterprise E-commerce platform that includes CRM and Financial functionality all within one co-ordinated system.
To take a peek at the design visit www.harveymaria.co.uk

Webexpectations have been working with Mizuno for 4 years helping them to better manage their multilingual websites with a powerful CMS, red hot design and cross browser friendly development.

The new site features 3D models of their golf clubs, along with video tutorials on how to improve your game.

To take a look at Mizuno’s new polished clubs visit http://golf.mizunoeurope.com

This week we launched their new conversion driven website at www.sorce.co.uk.

Step-by-step process for increasing sales

In order to increase online sales we followed our conversion driven design methodology:

• Get real insight – we rolled out Google Analytics on the existing website so we could understand how Sorce’s marketing and website were performing.
• Formulate a plan – with Google Analytics in place we can understand exactly what is and isn’t working and most importantly have a clear idea of what needs changing to increase sales and conversions.
• Re-design the website – conversion driven design? Yes. The new site was based on user centred, conversion driven design coupled with our findings from Google Analytics. With the new site came increased sales performance.
• Better traffic – now their new site is launched the focus switches to driving better quality, more targeted traffic to the site. For a specialist company such as Sorce online advertising is all about laser precision targeting of finding precisely the right type of potential customer to visit the site.

To learn more visit www.sorce.co.uk

Webexpectations were asked to create a new, easy-to-use car loans website for British Credit Trust where both existing and new customers could apply for car loans online; these can be made towards a wide range of cars available on the website itself.

“Webexpectations were responsible for designing and developing both the front and back-end functionality of the website, including a bespoke content management system (CMS). As the website is functionality rich, guerrilla usability testing was carried out on a HTML prototype to ensure that customers receive the best user experience possible.

BCT wanted to move more into the online world, making themselves more accessible to potential customers online and using the internet to drive more traffic to their business. We think we have achieved this for them and the proof is that, within the first week after the site went live, 114 people signed up with the British Credit Trust.”

Chris Martin, Deputy Head of Development

» Visit the new BCT website

Quality has always been of upmost importance for us. We passionately believe there is a right way and a wrong way to build a website and that quality isn’t something that’s optional.

Here are just five of the small things that go on behind the scenes when we build a site. Each has a huge impact on the quality and delivery of the end product:

1) We build accessible websites that meet the UK Disability Discrimination Act

Not only is this a legal requirement it’s also the right thing to do. Websites should be accessible to as many potential customers as possible.

2) Our code is W3C standards compliant

What does this mean?  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the web’s governing body, setting the industry standards and guidelines for developing quality, accessible and reliable code. Our websites are built to these high standards.

3) Our websites are cross browser compatible

Our websites work in Firefox 2+, Internet Explorer 6+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+ What browser do you use? Does your website work on a PC and a Mac? Did you think about this? I’m sure your customers do when they can’t get your website to work!

4) We build Google friendly websites

From the ground up our websites are built with Google in mind.  This is something we passionately believe is important which is why we follow Google’s 37 page document for search engine friendly website development.

5) We love relationships

We love relationships and like to work with you as partners and not simply suppliers.  The more involved we are with your team the more passionate we become about delivering a website that truly works.

Any questions about how we like to go the extra mile and pay attention to the detail get in touch. You can email me at yousafa@webexpectations.com

p.s. did we forget to mention our websites make you money too? We’re Google Conversion Professionals

The desktop application is a slimmed down version of the online tool, which will be used by AkzoNobel’s paint businesses.  Users will be able to upload and save real photos of their own rooms, which they can decorate and scheme around AkzoNobel’s many paint colours.

“AkzoNobel really understand that user experience is important for a successful user interface (UI).  Our virtuoso design team got their marker pens at the ready and carried out lots of paper prototyping and guerrilla usability testing to work out the best possible layouts, before designing the front-end.  The end result is an intuitive user interface that’s easy to use.”

Richard Frizoni, Project Manager

The goal was to create a user friendly website that holds all collated AkzoNobel and former ICI Paints photography for central use.

“Imagine Imagebank is an online tool that Webexpectations’ staff use frequently when working on AkzoNobel’s projects, so we already had really good insight into how we could improve the user journey and overall user experience.

Working closely with AkzoNobel, Imagine’s new branding was implemented into an attractive, intuitive user interface, with an all new easy-to-use navigation system and an improved search system.”

Sheetal Masih, Head of Creative

To view more than just the finished result, we’ve written a series of case studies that describe the Webexpectations process.

Enjoy.

Mizuno Golf

ICI Paints / AkzoNobel

TNT Post

Regus

Spring Global Mail

British Credit Trust

DRS

Think Brick

CCS Insight Pricing

Green Team Gardens