Web designers are under pressure to put as much content as possible above the fold. Why the pressure? It’s commonly believed that people don’t scroll. There’s an interesting article that tries to debunk this belief. The author of the article works for ClickTale, a firm that offers their customers the ability to “Record visitors’ every action as they browse your web site. Watch movies to understand visitor behavior, gain valuable insights and improve your web site.’s usability.” ClickTale knows if people are scrolling and states that 22% of a site’s visitors scroll to the bottom of the page.
My problem is that scrolling doesn’t translate into clicking, but that’s to be expected. If you put all your “good” content at the top, there isn’t that much left to click and there’s even less reason to click. It’s the proverbial Catch-22. My experience with heatmaps shows that menus start with a high number of clicks and rapidly degenerates. Content is different and I’m not sure what to say. It isn’t as straightforward.