Mind-Blowing Website Footer Design Examples and Best Practices by Gapsy

8minutes read
website footer design

The footer is a safety net for users to find additional information about your company’s policies. You can place a link to the return policy or place an online contact form. The footer acts as a transition to further interaction. It takes people to different pages. This encourages them to take action. He stores them on the website. Because this may be the last thing a visitor sees on your site, it’s essential to think carefully about what information to include in your footer. This element is often overlooked during the design process. Because it’s so far down the page, some site owners think it’s less significant than the title or content at the top of the page.

In this article, we’ll take a look at what a footer is and explain why it’s important for user interaction. We will also share the elements that can be placed in the website footer. Finally, we’ll also look at a few eye-catching examples that will inspire you to create an up-to-date and effective footer design for your website.

What Is a Website Footer?

The website footer is the section of the website that is located at the page bottom. It usually contains a copyright notice, a link to a privacy policy, a sitemap, a logo, contact information, and an email registration form.

The footer is the last section users see on your site, so it’s important to think carefully about what information to include in it. According to Chartbeat research, 80% of visitors always scroll to the end of the site and study the information in the footer. However, visitors who scroll down the page look at the content at the bottom of the page much longer than they look at the content at the top of the page. Content just below the fold (approximately 1200 pixels from the top of the page) takes almost three times longer to view than content above the fold (between 0 and 550 pixels from the top of the page). Here is a picture illustrating this behavior.

Surveys about the footer of the websites
80% of visitors always scroll to the end of the site and study the information in the footer

What does it mean? One possible takeaway is that the content you want to reach the most people should be in the header, while you want people to see the longest in the footer.

Now that we understand the importance of a website footer let’s look at what information belongs to this section of a web page.

What to put in the website footer?

  • Copyright notice
  • Link to the privacy policy
  • Site`s map
  • Logo
  • Contacts
  • Social media icons
  • Email Registration Form

It is essential to understand that the only requirement for creating a great website footer knows what your visitors are looking for. This is why there is no exact recipe for a website footer design. There are common ingredients, but what you put in, the quantity, and the order are up to you.

Let’s look at some of the elements you can use when creating a footer.

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Functional Website Footer Design: What to Include?

Even if you are not a developer or a designer, it is clear that each element on the site has its specific purpose and location. The main mistake in the website design is that all attention is given to the sidebar, main content, header. Still, the site footer itself is forgotten as if its functionality is not at all important, but this is not at all the case. That is why we offer you tips on how to improve your website footer design, which will make it not only functional but also responsive and relevant to your website users.

Notice of copyright

If your content on the site is unique, and if you want to be successful, it must be, then you can claim to protect your content, images, and all information on your site. To do this, you need to indicate in the website’s footer that you own the copyright to the material on your site, and no one has the right to remove this information and distribute it legally.

All that is needed is the copyright symbol © (or the words “Copyright” or “Copr.”), the year the website was published, the most recent significant update, and the copyright holder’s name. The copyright notice should only appear once. On the main page of your website, it can appear on any number of pages. It can be placed anywhere on the homepage but is most often found in the footer. Here is an example of the famous HubSpot website:

HubSpot's notice of copyright
copyright in the website footer

Link to the privacy policy

If you collect personal data from users, such as their email addresses or payment information, the Privacy Policy agreements are legally binding. For this reason, it is essential to develop a lawfully compliant Privacy Policy and to ensure that this policy is easy to find and access on your website.

It is best to place a link to your Privacy Policy during the website footer design. This will satisfy the requirements of the law and meet the expectations of most consumers, as they expect to find this information in the footer. Some companies, such as Conde Nast, will want to add an excerpt from their Privacy Policy in addition to the link. Here is an example from The New Yorker.

The NY Policy in the website footer design example
the new yorker privacy policy

Site`s map

You can add a sitemap to the footer in two ways. You can provide multiple links to sections of your website, or you can give a single link to your XML sitemap.

The first approach is known as creating a “sitemap footer.” These footers contain navigation points that cannot fit neatly into more significant sites’ top or global navigation bars or navigation points that encourage visitors to browse the site. The sitemap footer on Grace Eleyae, for example, includes navigational links that visitors may not have considered when they first entered the site but would like to explore.

example of site's map in website footer
site's map in the website footer

The second approach to including a sitemap is designed with search engine bots in mind. One of the essential things a search engine bot will look for is a link to your XML sitemap. A sitemap is a file that contains URLs and information about the pages and media that you consider to be the most important on your site. According to Google, search engines use this file to better crawl websites, extensive and meaningful ones. This is why placing a link to this file in the footer is considered the best SEO practice.

Logo

Footers are a great place to enhance your brand’s personality. There are several approaches you can take. You can include your logo, but present it differently than in the header. Maybe you can increase the font size. Maybe you can add an image. You may want to include a statement about your brand’s mission or value below the logo. These are just a few ways to remind visitors who your company is and make a memorable last impression.

Envoy, for example, adds a trademark right below its logo in the footer. It reads: “We create opportunities for a connected world. Be bold.” This way, the reader will understand ​​what the company does, even if they haven’t read the “About” page.

You may also like: The Ultimate Guide on How to Design a Great Logo For a Business

Contacts

You want to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to contact you. For this reason, website footers often contain contact information such as a work email address, phone number, or postal address. Or it could just include a link that will take you to a contact form.

The luxury boutique hotel Bellevue Syrene dedicates one part of the footer of its website to its contact information. The footer contains the address, phone number, fax number, and email address for potential guests to contact the hotel in the way they want.

Bellevue Syrene footer contacts
contacts in the website footer

Social media icons

Social media is another way that potential customers can connect with you. For this reason, it is recommended to add links to social media profiles. It’s also an easy way to increase your followers on your platforms. With these benefits, it makes sense that 72% of websites include their social media icons in their footer.

Here’s a look at the display of animated social media icons in Flatstudio’s Rewind app.

Flatstudio's Rewind social media icons in the footer
that's how the footer social media icons look like

Final Thoughts

Creating a website’s footer design requires careful planning. This section is where people look for important information that they did not find anywhere else. Therefore, you need to make sure you provide them with the content and elements they need so that they continue to explore your site and not leave disappointed.

Therefore, it is crucial to approach the design of the website’s footer with special attention. Our Gapsy studio knows how important it is to create a functional and user-friendly design, so we think through every part of the site with special attention. Do you have an idea in mind which website or mobile design you would like to implement? Then we are looking forward to cooperating with you, and we will make your every wish come true.

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