The footer of a website is the section that appears at the bottom. It usually includes important features such as copyright, an email capture, or links to resources.
The footer serves several functions. Because? Because it offers the opportunity to connect with visitors one last time and encourage them to continue interacting with your website. Additionally, it is a perfect place to include required information, such as legal notices and privacy policies, on each page.
Unfortunately, footers are often overlooked or thrown together at the last second, resulting in many missed conversions and opportunities.
So how can we get the most out of your website footer?
1. They establish consistency
A website footer provides users with consistency, as the same information appears at the bottom of each of your pages. This helps us locate ourselves and makes it easier for regular visitors to find what they are looking for.
2. Keeps users alive
Even site users who carefully read the entire content may reach the end of an article and close the page. To prevent this from happening, a way for readers to discover additional content, such as FAQs, popular blog posts, contact and return policies, is provided at the bottom of the page.
3. They meet expectations
There are certain things that site users will naturally look for in the footer: privacy policies, account information, and social media links, to name a few. Don't disappoint them or make their search difficult by not including items where they expect them to be.
4. They make it easy to include the required information on each page
Many websites, especially in fields like real estate and medicine, are required to include ads on every page. The footer provides an easy way to do this without having to manually duplicate the info over and over again.
5. They let you have the last word
If someone has read your entire blog post, consumed your entire page, or skimmed through your content, the last thing they see is your footer. That makes it the perfect opportunity for the latest impact, donation or newsletter subscription.
The exact content of your footer will vary depending on the purpose of the site. But it's important that you consider what will be most valuable to your audience and website. For example, do we need to include legal requirements? Is your goal to guide visitors to important areas of your site? Or are we more focused on generating sales and subscribers?
Here are some common elements to include in the footer:
1. A call to action (CTA)
Here are some CTA examples:
Including a CTA in the footer is a great strategy because it is visible on every page and gives site visitors one last chance to take action before leaving.
2. Contact information
Make it easy for site users to communicate by including contact information in the footer. This could look like a list of ways to get in touch, a link to a contact page, or even a form embedded directly in the footer.
Also consider making email addresses and phone numbers clickable, so users can easily message or call you.
3. Locations or maps
If your business has a physical store, facility, office, or other location that someone can visit, you should include an address or map in the footer. It would also be interesting to include the schedule to avoid confusion.
This can help local search results and strengthen Google's correlation between your website and your listing. from Google My Business . Solid proof of your exact address and contact information is important to Google because it always wants to provide accurate information in search engines. The stronger correlation you can provide, the more likely your listing will appear in search results and on Google Maps.
But you do want to include all of this information in the exact same format that you use in your Google My Business profile.
4. Links to RRSS
Social networks are an important tool for all of us who want to be present and be seen. And while you can send social media followers to the web, there are also benefits to sending users to social networks.
For example, it's a great way to engage potential customers, share tips and images, and show off what you've created around a brand. And of course, if social media is one of your sources of income, it's even more important! It consists of interacting and involving the user.
So, consider including social media pictograms or even images from a social source like Instagram in your footer.
5. Subscription forms
Let's not doubt the power of a contact list! In addition to your website, it provides the most powerful communication tool for the audience. Use an email list to notify subscribers about sales, new blog posts, tips, and other offers.
And, to create that email list, include a registration form in the footer and in this way we can establish synergies with our target.
6. Popular posts or articles
If blogging is an important part of your website, consider including posts in the footer. You may want to add popular or recent posts, or even feature the ones that are most critical or those that may be most prominent.
Instead of featuring individual posts, we could include a list of categories, so site users can easily find the type of content they're looking for.
You also don't have to add links to your posts manually. You can use widgets like Featured Posts and Pages Widget to keep information constantly updated.
7. Legal information
Legal information is vitally important for most websites: copyright information, terms and conditions, and privacy policies. But if you are in specific industries, such as real estate, CBD, or medicine, you may need to include additional disclaimers or legal statements.
The footer is the perfect place to include them because they appear on every page.
8. Links to critical pages
Depending on your site, critical pages can include all types of information, from account and login pages to product categories, FAQs, service pages, and even contact forms. However, let's not limit ourselves to repeating only the main menu. We can include the most in-demand content at the moment.
Here are some best practices for website footer:
1. Design for mobile devices
Remember, people will visit on devices of all types and sizes! And footers often continue when displayed on a mobile device; Visitors may not scroll to see all of your information.
If we're not sure how your site looks on all phones and other devices, we can use a tool like BrowserStack . It gives you an instant view of your website on many devices of different sizes and brands.
2. Let's not load the footer
Reduce your footer content to what is most useful and important. And, if you need to include a decent amount of information, divide it into parts by creating categories, cleaning and separating with spaces.
3. Organize your information
This point is closely related to the previous one. But it's not just about categorizing data. It's also about using visual cues to group content.
Let's take a look at what WooCommerce did. They divided the footer into three parts:
4. Let's be creative
Footers don't all have to look the same. Let's consider shapes like curves and triangles, images, custom graphics and other interesting features to differentiate ourselves from the competition.
5. Let's go for different designs
There are many different ways to organize your footer, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Depending on the information to be included, one or another structure will have to be proposed.
If you have more content, you might consider a taller footer with multiple columns. Or you could even think about a more visual footer, with very little text and lots of graphics. It depends on the information available at any given time.
6. Accessibility
Accessibility is about making your website easy to navigate and consume for every user, including those with physical disabilities. These are just some accessibility considerations that apply to the footer:
Typically, the layout and design of your footer will depend on the theme you are using. Many themes include built-in footer layouts that you can choose and customize to your needs. You will need to consult your specific theme's documentation for details on this.
However, in WordPress, footers are widgetized areas, so you can drag and drop widgets or blocks into them without having to edit the code. This is how you can add content to the footer:
1 In your WordPress dashboard, Appearance → widgets.
2 Expand the footer column you want to edit.
Remember that the footer is the last chance to impress site visitors and a great way to present information on each page.
So let's take the time to really think about the content that goes into the footer. Consider what would be most useful for your goals and user experience.
A good footer can have a big impact.
Do you need a little help? Jetpack offers a variety of blocks y widgets of WordPress to make it possible to create your perfect footer. And if you're just starting out, there are many and great WordPress themes to choose.
How big should my footer be?
The exact size of your footer will depend on your website and the volume of content you want to include. Some are thin and narrow with a single line of text. Others take up much more space and include a lot of information.
However, the mobile design must be taken into account. If a footer is too long on mobile devices, site users may be forced to scroll a lot to see all the information.
Does a website really need a footer?
No, technically a footer is not required for a website to function properly. However, it is a valuable and effective piece to include important content.
Can footer links help me with SEO?
Yes, they can help with SEO rankings because they help build site hierarchy and internal linking. They help Google understand the pages on your site and how they relate to each other.
Most importantly, they help provide a good user experience by supporting navigation. Let's not just include a bunch of links to help with SEO, that will have the opposite effect! Instead, focus on adding links that help your site visitors. That's what's really important for search engines.
Do I need to include a copyright notice in my footer?
A copyright notice typically looks like this: © 2021 Example.com
It is a written statement that the content and design of the website belongs to you. And, although it is not a legal requirement, it can help prevent copyright infringement and thus help win court cases in the event of theft of website content.
Can I use widgets in my footer?
Yes, basically a website footer is a widgetized area in WordPress. That means widgets and blocks can be added to create footer content.
Do you need to update your website?
Do you need any of our web design services? In IndianWebs We have extensive experience, and a team of programmers and web designers in different specialties, we are capable of offering a wide range of services in the creation of custom web pages. Whatever your project is, we will tackle it.