Above-the-fold refers to the portion of a web page that’s visible without scrolling down.
The term is borrowed from print newspapers, which feature the most important content above the physical fold of the paper.
Because it’s fairly common for web visitors to not scroll down a page, the content that appears above-the-fold is crucial, including calls-to-action (CTAs).
Learn more in:
- How to Use the Inverted Pyramid to Improve Web Content.
- Scrolling and Attention
- Scrolling and Attention (Original Research Study)
On mobile devices, because of their narrow screen width, less content will appear above-the-fold as compared with desktops or laptop devices. So when ensuring your most important links or CTAs are above-the-fold, check your web page on mobile devices too.