8 Elements to Include in a Website Footer
Your website footer is more important than you think. Though it isn’t the first thing your website visitors will see, it very well might be the part of your site which leads them to navigate away after reading one full page or continue exploring your website.
For this reason, putting ample time and energy into the elements of your footer is essential for crafting a website with a LOW bounce rate and HIGH retention!
(In other words, it can be an important component of making your website successful!)
Today, I’m sharing with you eight elements to include in your website footer for the best possible results!
1. Freebie or Lead Magnet
First, including something that gives value to your visitors for FREE is vital.
This can be a PDF download that teaches them something relating to your niche, or even a lead magnet that does the same thing, but requires them to enter their name and email address before downloading.
I love including something like this in my clients’ footers because it allows them to grab the info of their visitors before they navigate away from the website, letting them keep in touch!
It’s important to note that the upper part of your website footer is best for this in order to ensure it can be easily seen.
2. Navigation/Links to All of Your Pages
On many websites, the top navigation is limited to two to five pages, so including a navigation in the footer where all of your pages can be easily found is important.
Usually, bigger corporations put links that are searched for less at the bottom, like “careers” and “FAQ.”
You can use the same model for your site and include the most important links (like “about” and “services”) at the top of your website (the header,) while the others are at the bottom (the footer.) For example, a page like “resources” that lists affiliate codes for resources and tools you use in your business wouldn’t make sense in the top navigation, but makes perfect sense for the footer.
3. Social Media Icons
If you’re not giving your website’s visitors a way to connect with you on other social channels, you’re missing out on a chance to connect with them further!
Include social media icons that link to your other social media profiles in your website footer to allow users to learn more about you, engage with your content, and ensure you are popping up in their feed every now and then!
As a Squarespace and Showit website designer, I never recommend putting social media icons in the top navigation to distract users from the most important pages, but the footer is a great location to include and highlight them!
Remember this: If your website’s visitors navigate away from your website without giving you their email address or following you on another social platform, the chances they will find you again is extremely low—so give them every chance to make a lasting connection!
4. Instagram Feed Block
If you use Instagram often or post photos/graphics of importance to your business, including an Instagram feed block in your website footer can be a great way to personalize your website with up-to-date content—without even logging on.
The feed block will update automatically, allowing website visitors to see whatever you’ve been up to recently on the Gram—and save you the trouble of constantly uploading new photos to your website.
This not only adds a personal touch, but gives visitors the impression that you are extremely active on your website (even if you aren’t!)
5. Email Address
This is optional if you’d rather send people to a contact page instead, but if you have a business email you don’t mind sharing, including it in the footer is a great way to make sure it can be quickly and easily found by anyone searching for it.
Tip: If you do this, be sure the email address you’re using is professional and includes your business name, such as hello@yourbusinessname.com.
Even if you have a simple personal email like yourname@gmail.com, it’s best to ditch it and upgrade to a professional email that enhances your credibility.
With Squarespace, you can add your email as an icon that will appear along with your other social media icons.
Fair warning: expect a lot of spam or nonsense pitch emails by including your email on your website.
6. Business Hours/Address
This obviously doesn’t apply to every business, but if you work established hours where people can come into a physical location for your services, be sure to include that info here.
Even if you work established hours virtually, including the times in which you are available during the day to answer phone calls or emails can be helpful to your visitors so they know when they can expect a reply from you.
7. Search Bar
I give every client of mine a search bar in their website footer so that their website visitors have a way to find the information they are looking for if they make it all the way to the bottom of the page and are still empty-handed.
This decreases bounce rate by allowing visitors to continue searching my clients’ websites for the keywords they are looking for, instead of simply navigating away from the website altogether under the assumption that what they are looking for isn’t there.
8. Copyright and Website Legal Policies
Lastly, it’s important to include your website’s copyright information and legal policies in your website footer to ensure they are easily accessible.
This helps you avoid any lawsuits or other legal troubles, and allows everyone visiting your website to know everything they need to know about your website in terms of privacy, patents, and more.
There are many places online where you can find incredible legal templates for websites that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and I recommend exploring these to get a good idea of what you want to include before meeting with a lawyer.
(With that being said, remember that templates you find online will not necessarily protect your website in every capacity, and you should always seek actual legal advice before making your site live.)
As a Squarespace and Showit website designer with years of experience, I have had my fair share of experience designing, building, and implementing amazing and useful website footers—so you can rest assured that the advice I’m giving you is coming from a pro!
If you are looking for someone to do the hard work for you (all the way from header to footer,) look no further! Check out my services page below in order to learn more about what I offer and how I can be of help to you.
I’ll see you there!
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