As a web designer there are a few "suggestions" that clients throw at me all the time.

• Can you make my logo bigger?
• Can we have only pictures and no text?
• Can we have a flash website?
• Can you be sure to keep everything "above the fold?"

In this post, I'd like to address the concept of above the fold.

The term comes from back in the days of printed newspapers. The best photographs and most attention grabbing headlines were placed above the newspaper fold to entice buyers to purchase that particular issue. There was literally no way to see what was on the bottom half unless you made the purchase, costing you money.

For years now, the term above the fold has been used to represent the information that is placed above 600px on a website. According to the people who use this term, users aren't willing to scroll on a webpage. The fact of the matter is that this does not cost the website visitor anything other than a quick flick of the finger on the scroll wheel. It's free, unlike a newspaper. There is no reason someone won't look below the fold unless you have a poorly designed website.

Take a second and read this quick post called "Life Below 600px" by Paddy Donnelley. I subscribe to the concept of the build up. Simply put, provide information and graphics that a website user will want to see. Then entice them to scroll down and want to see more by even more great graphics and written content. Maybe the best example you can find out there on the internet is the website for Charity Water. I want to scroll on just about every page on this website. The data is presented so well. There is breathing room around everything and pages have important information 3000px down. I saw it though.

We analyze the statistics and how our iMinistries website is interacted with on a regular basis. We've also noticed on all of our pages, users are willing to scroll. With the above the fold concept you'd think that most of the clicks to our "Free Trial" or "Pricing" button would happen only at the top of this page. Clearly, we are getting many clicks all the way at the bottom. We believe this is because we've presented the information on this page in a simple, clean  visual way and have provided content that our website visitors want to see.

On a Church Website, what do you think should be above the fold?

1. Log In to your website.
2. Expand Site Control.
3. Click Site Preferences.
4. Click Design.
5. Change your skin to Responsive Olivet Skin.
6. Follow our support files to finalize the setup.

iMinistries recently completed the design and development of a custom school website for Harvest Christian Academy in Elgin, IL. The website serves as a tool for both potential students and current students.

• News and events organized by grade levels for easy viewing by parents
• Teacher pages so each educator can have it's own "online classroom"
• Online registration and custom forms
• Easy abilities to connect socially
• Newsletter
• Simple page updating

Over a period of six months we monitored the usage of all of iMinistries websites using Google Analytics. Some results were to be expected. Others surprised us. From these statistics we've come to the conclusion that the convergence of technology, social media, and design/UX create a healthy church web presence.

Technology

Definition: The platform your website is built upon, and how you manage website content.

A church should be using some sort of content management system (CMS). Website content includes, pages, blog entries, sermons, news, and events. This technology should be SEO friendly and easy to update.

Why?: People come to your website for content (see the astounding numbers below). It is important to present that content in a way that is easy to find and interesting. A CMS is the best tool for completing those tasks because:

1. A CMS helps you organize your content.
2. A CMS lets you concentrate on the content, instead of the back-end technology.
3. A CMS makes your website findable on search engines.

Social Media

Definition: Outlets used to engage and connect with users and draw traffic to your website.

Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, and LinkedIn are a few examples. Newcomers are Google+ and Pinterest--both showed good results in the first six months, but not enough to give much thought to them yet. We plan on revisiting this in another six months and are curious to see if that changes.

Why?: Social media hubs like Facebook give you a level of personal interaction that is usually lacking on your main website. Twitter and video sites can also help your content be shared to audiences who wouldn't normally come into contact with you.

Design/UX

Definition: How your website looks and functions.

Is it easy to navigate and find content. Is your website visually appealing? Is it simple? Your website should look professional. This design should be carried over into the social media outlets to create a uniform online presence.

Why?: What good is content if your visitors can't find it? Or if interacting with your website is not a positive experience? Your UX leaves a lasting impression to users, most of the time within seconds of their arrival.

The Infographic

Put all these things together, and you have a healthy web presence. Here is a visual representation of our data:

We here at iMinistries recently created our own editable social media icons to add to our church websites. And we want to give our work away ...

This set of icons are scalable and completely customizable. Scroll down to download our zip file which contains a PSD and PNGs. Who doesn't love free stuff?

• Logo
• Branding Scheme