The Above-the-Fold Power Spots and What Should Stay There

Do you notice how magazine covers are laid out? There are headlines and taglines that are bigger and more colorful than most, and there’s a very good reason for this. They realize that people view a page a certain way, and that’s from top to bottom. Blog advertising is not much different. You can control what your readers see first. The first things that they see without scrolling downwards should reflect your priorities on your blog. When you place advertisements on top, it tells of your blog’s purpose. Those who are focused on getting readers place their subscribe buttons or banners at the top spot, and around this is the link box pointing to their recent posts, most popular posts and categories.

The term “above the fold” is usually associated with newspaper, and this refers to the main headline, main photos and main issues that aim to make the reader pick up the paper and buy it. This is the most important spot on a news page, and your blog functions the same way. What you write about is news to others and so what you deem will catch their attention and continue reading will have to be placed above the fold. You will notice that popular sites place self serving ads above the fold, or widgets that get them the most traffic.

Some other sources delineate the most important spot on a page according to the way a reader browses. We are trained to read from left to right, and so the most valuable place above the fold seems to be the left hand corner. Web 2.0 themes are designed to show the content first (left side) and then the ad banners or the subscribe button.

What to put on your power spots?

1.    A tasteful header image which tells people exactly what your blog is about. Something that doesn’t cover the whole screen, maybe 100 px or so in height.

2.    A link to the homepage, so that readers who might have arrived on more obscure pages on your blog have a means of getting to your front page with minimum hassle.

3.    If you don’t mind placing a photo of yourself on your blog, you can place this inside your About Me box at the top spot, adjacent to your latest post.

4.    Links to your best posts (using the Most Popular WordPress plugin)

5.    Top commentors plugin widget. This is for those who believe that rewarding their blog’s most avid commenters will encourage participation in others.

6.    Your community banner. I have seen blogs with Twitter, Stumbleupon, MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog widgets above the fold and have always asked: what’s the logic behind the placement. Now, I realize that getting people to join their communities in these blog directories and social networks so that they can have a long term traffic source.