9 Things to Include in Your Website Footer
If your website’s footer had a go-to karaoke song, it would be “Don’t You Forget About Me”. 🎶
The footer is an often-overlooked piece of your website. It’s at the very bottom, so it doesn’t really matter, right?
Well, just like your header, your footer is on every single page of your website. It’s prime real estate, so you want to make sure you’re maximizing its potential.
Today, we’re sharing the top 9 elements that you should include in this important section of your website. 👇
What to Include in Your Website Footer and Why It Matters
1. Your logo or brand mark.
This one’s a given. You’ve likely got your primary logo in your header, but your footer is another great place to reinforce your brand identity.
If you have a secondary logo, brand mark, or another variation of your logo, this is the place to add it, or simply use your primary logo again.
2. A one-liner that describes your business.
You want to make it impossible for users to miss who you are and what you do. If a user lands on your homepage first, great! They’ll be able to easily see what your business is all about. But if they land on, say, one of your blog posts, they might be confused about what you do.
This is why you want a one-liner in your footer. We talk all about one-liners and why your business needs one in this blog. But to quickly summarize it for you, a one-liner is a brief one to three-sentence statement that answers the following questions:
+ What problem do you solve?
+ What solution do you provide?
+ What are the desired results you help your customers achieve?
For example, here’s our one-liner:
Lots of businesses miss opportunities to grow because they're playing it safe. At Hoffbeck + Co, we help businesses disrupt their industries so they make more money and help more people.
3. Your location and contact information.
If a potential customer wants to know where you’re located and how to reach you, they’ll usually intuitively scroll down to your footer to find that information. Depending on the nature of your business, certain contact information may be more or less applicable to include in the footer, but generally speaking, you’d want to consider including:
+ Business Address
+ Phone Number
+ General Business Email Address
This is particularly important for location-based businesses. Because your footer is on every page of your website, Google prioritizes the information included in it. You’ll definitely want Google to see your location so you can rank for those local SEO keywords!
4. A navigation menu.
When a user makes their way to the bottom of your website, you want to give them something to do next. Don’t let your footer be a dead end. Make it easy for people to find your pages and navigate to whatever they’re looking for on your website. Be sure to include a navigation menu for this. You’ll want to add your main pages here, plus other important pages that you may not want to feature in your top navigation bar.
5. Links to your social media channels.
Your footer is a great place to link to your social media accounts.
Pro tip: You want to keep your social links out of your header – you don’t want users bouncing off your site before they have the chance to scroll down the page!
Give them a chance to see what you’re all about on your website, and if they make it all the way to the bottom and want to connect with you on your social channels, great! Then, the links are right there for them to click on.
6. An email signup field.
We love email marketing here at Hoffbeck + Co! If you’re not leveraging the power of email marketing for your brand, here’s what you’re missing out on.
If you have an email list (or if you’re just starting one), add the email signup field to your footer so it’s easy to find and invite people to subscribe on every page.
7. A copyright statement.
A copyright statement is a small but important bit of information you should include in your footer. It’s a simple way to help protect you and your website content.
Here’s a good starting place for the copyright line, but to make sure you’re getting it right, consult your attorney:
The current year.
Your business name.
All rights reserved.
For example, our copyright statement looks like this:
Copyright © 2023 Hoffbeck + Co, LLC. All rights reserved.
*Please note: we are not attorneys and this is not legal advice. Consult with your lawyer on best legal practices for websites.
8. Links to your legal pages.
This one may not be glamorous, but it’s another very important element to protect your business from legal issues. Here are legal pages to consider including on your website and consult with your legal advisor about (and depending on your business or industry, there may be others):
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
9. Credits.
Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due! This includes your website designer and developer and any photographers and videographers whose content you display on your website (if applicable).
Don’t underestimate the value of your footer.
Although it lives at the very bottom of your website, it’s one of the most important parts to maximize. Use it to your advantage!
Take a look at your website footer. Does it include all of these things?
If you need layout inspiration, check out our footer down below! 👇🏼
Feeling inspired to learn more about website design and strategy? Dig into some of our other blogs about improving your website! 👇🏼
More soon,
Mara
WEB DESIGNER + SEO SPECIALIST
P.S.
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