The above the fold space on any website is one of the most important spaces for web design. This loads first, and is what your potential customers or clients will be greeted with immediately. As a result, it needs to showcase your company branding and grab attention. But what are the effective options for above the fold website content? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design professionals. We work with a variety of companies across Manchester, and the North West, including those in Blackburn and Chorley, to provide high quality web design solutions. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about the effective above the fold web design options.
What are the most effective above the fold web design options?
Choosing the right content to fill up the above the fold space is an important consideration that can have a huge impact on the visual aesthetic and design of your website. But how can you get this right? Well, there are several effective options, including:
- asymmetrical design
- dark colours
- absent navigation bar
Asymmetrical design above the fold
Large images that take over the above the fold content are known as hero images. And these have been a key web design feature for several years. So it’s no surprise that businesses and brands have been doing things a little differently. Most notably, there has been a rise in asymmetrical design. This itself contradicts the vast majority of hero image styles used previously, so it can be a stunning way to grab the attention of potential customers who may have otherwise skipped over the content.
Asymmetrical design blends the colours, images and text on the hero image to create something that doesn’t fall into place. Blurred barriers between elements can look chaotic, but within this, there is a goal. And the goal is to divert attention to the call to action button. Asymmetry can help to achieve this effectively.
Dark colours above the fold
Website content above the fold can be very effective when more deep, dark colours are used effectively. However, this needs to be designed in line with company branding to ensure the best possible results.To compliment the dark colours, designers are choosing bright, bolder colours for the text and the call to action button that will usually be featured too. Yellow and gold have been two very influential colours for exactly this reason.
Hiding the navigation bar above the fold
The majority of websites still display a static navigation bar, horizontally across the top of the page. This does eat into the above the fold content space slightly, and it can also make your website look cluttered, if you have an especially chaotic hero image. As a result, some companies have opted to remove the navigation bar completely, instead replacing it with the small hamburger icon, or even a swipe out menu, on both desktop and mobile screens. This can reduce the visual distractions and make sure your hero image is centre stage, grabbing all the user attention. Mobile search has easily surpassed desktop search, so an increasing number of potential customers, will be accessing websites on a mobile device, where a hamburger menu will be beneficial anyway.
For more information or professional web design support, get in touch with the team today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.