Effective Website Footer: 23 Elements to Include at the Bottom

Unveiling Digital Saviors

Picture the digital narrative playing out daily, where Vivian embarks on a website exploration, yet her desired destination eludes her. Scroll after scroll, she persists, eager to uncover hidden treasures. Finally, she descends to the abyss—the bottom of the page. Lo and behold, like a guardian spirit, the website footer materializes, unveiling the sought-after link.

Website footers, akin to digital saviors, intercept visitors, creating a safety net before plunging into the abyss of the page. Beyond aesthetics, the website footer acts as a compass, guiding visitors with essential information and navigation choices.

Designing a website footer transcends visual aesthetics; it demands strategic decision-making aligned with user needs and business objectives.

Footer Elements	Description	Optimal Practices
Address and Map Link	Show physical address and link to directions	Optimize map link for mobile use
Social Media Widgets	Integrate latest posts through widgets	Exercise caution, adhere to standards
Site Search Tool	Allows last-ditch effort for information	Ensure functionality and visibility
Contact	Essential link for visitor communication	Direct to dedicated contact page with form
Phone Numbers	Incorporate local area code for SEO	Clickable button on mobile devices
Navigation	Offer additional navigation options	Consider mega-menu dropdowns

Decoding Footer Significance

Understanding the importance of footers is crucial as they occupy prominent digital real estate. A revealing study, exploring 25 million website visits by Chartbeat, exposes the truth that visitors navigate vast pixels. Regardless of a page’s towering height, the footer remains an accessible realm.

For those delving into the intricacies of visitor scroll depth, tools like Hotjar, Crazy Egg, or ClickTale offer insights into the labyrinth of user behavior.

Now, let’s journey through the elements that can elevate your website footer design. Here are 23 concepts and instances, presented in a dynamic order, followed by our directives and optimal practices for constructing an impactful footer.

Address and Map Link

Showcasing your physical address with a link to directions aids visitors in locating you and signals your location to search engines. Optimize the map link to transform it into a mobile-friendly, clickable button.

Social Media Widgets

Some footers go beyond icons and integrate social media widgets showcasing the latest posts. Exercise caution and ensure adherence to editorial standards if opting for this approach.

Site Search Tool

Functioning as a safety net for users who couldn’t find what they sought through other means, a site search tool in the footer allows a last-ditch effort to locate information.

Contact

A quintessential aspect of web design, the contact link in the footer ensures visitors can easily reach out. Direct them preferably to a dedicated contact page with a form for enhanced tracking and engagement.

Phone Numbers

Incorporating a local area code in your phone number aids local SEO, indicating your business operates in a specific region. Ensure the number transforms into a clickable button on mobile devices.

Navigation

Footers can salvage lost visitors by offering additional navigation options. The trending “fat footers” involve integrating links akin to mega-menu dropdowns, providing more choices beyond standard footer elements.

Mini Gallery

Enhancing image integration, a mini-gallery in the footer allows for a richer visual experience. Each photo may link to relevant content or serve as a standalone visual element.

Keywords for SEO

The omnipresent footer serves as a strategic location to signify relevance to search engines. If incorporating mission or value statements, seize the opportunity to include primary keywords.

Press

Given the low percentage of press visitors, placing a press link in the main navigation is inefficient. The footer caters to rare instances when media personnel visit.

Testimonials

Integrating testimonials in footers provides a continuous stream of social proof throughout the site. Tailor testimonials to align with specific page content for maximum impact.

Privacy Policy

Essential for transparency, the privacy policy elucidates the collected information, its storage, and potential applications. Platforms like TermsFeed or a Free Privacy Policy Generator can aid in crafting a comprehensive privacy policy.

Email Signup

Leveraging the footer for email signups has become commonplace, with 24% of top marketing sites featuring signup boxes in this section. Adhere to email signup best practices, offering social proof and setting clear expectations.

Latest Articles

For those actively engaged in content marketing, showcasing the latest articles in the footer offers a dynamic pulse to the site. Solar Fuels Institute adopts this approach, seamlessly integrating their latest content and social widget.

Branding

Seizing the opportunity to reinforce brand identity, the footer accommodates alternate versions of the logo or distinctive branding elements.

Awards and Certifications

Instill confidence through logos of awards and certifications. Grouping these logos into a “trust box” enhances credibility across all pages.

Terms of Use

Diverging from privacy policies, terms of use outline the visitor’s agreement with the website’s terms. For regulated industries, consider embedding this text directly into the footer.

Copyright

An ostensibly unassuming yet pivotal element. Present the copyright year to establish a fundamental shield against plagiarism. Employing a concise code snippet ensures automatic year updates.

Membership

Membership logos in the footer, particularly from reputable associations, reinforce credibility. Displaying affiliations with chambers of commerce or industry groups contributes to a trustworthy image.

Images

Infusing personality into your footer is achievable by incorporating images. This provides an opportunity to fortify the brand and add a distinctive touch to the site.

Navigation (Reiterated)