Home & Landing
Showing the Next Section Above the Fold A/B Test
When the first screen ends exactly at a section boundary, visitors may think the page is over. Showing the start of the next section may signal that more content follows. Do not treat extra scrolling as a win; track completion of the target action.
A/B test scenario. This page is a test plan, not the result of a real experiment.
- Home & landing
- Primary action completion rate
Control vs Variant
How hard the same message is pushed is the variable.
- Changed
- Emphasis
- Page
- Home & landing
- Difference
- changed
Hypothesis
If the top of the next section stays visible at the bottom of the first screen, visitors may notice more easily that the page continues and scroll down to content that helps them decide. That extra reach could feed through to the primary action completion rate.
Test plan
When to run this test
When the second section gets little visibility, a heatmap shows few visitors below the first screen, or session recordings show people leaving without scrolling, the first screen may be reading as the end of the page. If the visible sliver draws people down, more visitors see the lower section and use what they find there to complete the target action. If they leave because the offer on the first screen is unclear or the page loads slowly, fix that first. Keep section boundaries readable, and do not add automatic scrolling to push visitors down.
How to measure success
Primary action completion rate
Check whether increased scrolling carries through to completion of the target action.
Also track
- Lower-section visibilityMeasure whether the predefined section enters the viewport; do not use the same scroll percentage across different layouts.
- Lower-section interaction rateTrack interaction with links or controls in that section.
- Time to primary actionCompare time from page load to completion of the target action.
- Page exit rateCompare exits among visitors assigned to the page.
How to set it up
- FoldSet the first section height so a predefined part of the next section is visible.
- Keep constantKeep content, section order, typography and CTA unchanged.
- OutcomeRead lower-section interaction alongside completed actions.
- ViewportCheck the fold on devices included in the test.
- AccessKeep section boundaries clear and scrolling under visitor control.
What to watch when reading the result
- 1More scrolling or more views of the lower section are not a win on their own. The deciding measure is the primary action completion rate; lower-section interaction and page exit rate only explain how visitors move through the page.
- 2Where the fold falls depends on screen height, so read the result separately for each device in the test. Before carrying an effect seen at one screen size over to other devices or to pages with a different layout, validate it there.
- 3A hard-to-read difference is a cue to check time to primary action; the variant may be getting visitors to the same result by a longer route. Do not decide before the planned run ends; once it does, enter both arms' completions and visitors in the A/B test significance calculator and see whether chance alone could explain the gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does increased scrolling make the preview layout a winner?
No. Use completed main actions as the primary outcome. Scrolling and interaction with lower sections explain navigation rather than establish business success.
How should exposure to the next section be measured?
Record when the defined section actually enters view. Identical scroll percentages can refer to different content after a layout change. Track section interactions separately.
Will the visible preview be consistent across devices?
Not necessarily. Check supported viewport sizes and avoid generalizing from one screen height. Do not force automatic scrolling to create the intended behavior.
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