Above the fold

Here's an easy way to make your website more effective. It can help with search engine optimisation as well. 

Make sure you have all the essential information above the fold. 

What's the fold? 

When someone looks at a website, especially on a laptop or desktop, they don't see the full page - they have to scroll down, below the fold to see all the information. 

Many people will only scroll and get all that information if the first part is compelling and relevant. 

When someone first comes to your site from a search engine, if they don't like what they see or the information is incomplete, they will 'bounce' straight out again, and the search engine will know that your site wasn't so relevant so you'll slide down the rankings a little. 

So it's really important to have good strong information above the fold. It's surprising how few people get this right. 

Think about the most essential elements for your business: 

1. A good strong, attractive image that sums up your business in the best way possible.

2. A heading that draws in the reader (if you just write something like 'welcome', you're wasting words and space) - try to use something that search engines want to see with key words.

3. A brief description of why your business is good, and who it's for

4. Something that says where it is

It's worth thinking through this information carefully and really refining it. It's not difficult, yet few do it very well!