When creating a blog or improving an existing one it’s important to focus on the area above the fold. “Above the fold” is a term used to descrbie the top half of a newspaper. Online it’s what a reader sees without any scrolling. It’s the first impression, and as we know it can be make or break so lets get it right.

I want to share with you 3 things that you’ll find on almost all successful blogs. I can vouch that they work for me and you should definately be incorporating them into your blog too:

Subscription Options

Having your RSS, email and social links above the fold will help you increase the number of subscriptions your site gets. Make sure they stand out and are where the reader expects to find them. A majority of sites have their subscriptions somewhere in the top right hand corner and I would suggest you do the same. Getting more return visitors is the foundation for building a sustainable blog.

Advertising

Have a look at any top blog and you’ll see that almost all have advertising above the fold. Check out the analysis of JohnChow.com (#3) for an example of great ad placement. He has 13 ads above the fold. I can testify that almost all the sites I’ve worked with who have added an ad above the fold have found an increase in their revenue. So to improve your income look for places where you can put ads near the top.

Search

70% of people say they will use the site search if they can’t find what they are looking for, so make sure you give them the option. Best placement is the top right corner, if that doesn’t work the next best place is near your navigation (categories, tags etc).