Footer

The footer marks the end of the website for the user and indicates that there is no more content below it. If users scroll down to the footer, this can be a sign that they are looking for additional information. This is an opportunity for the footer to present special, valuable or appealing content. The footer also contributes to the credibility of a website by ensuring that certain basic information can always be found in the same place.

Due to the often limited space, the footer of a website usually only offers limited functionality. In terms of usability, the footer could sometimes be considered less important as the user has to scroll to the bottom of the page to reach it. Nevertheless, the footer plays a crucial role in the navigation of search engine crawlers. With the help of "deep links" in the footer, these bots can penetrate directly into deeper levels of the website, which makes the crawling process more efficient as fewer resources are required for browsing.

• The strategic distribution of link power through internal linking
• Information about the owner of the website
• Information about the current year to emphasize the topicality of the website
• References to the legal notice or the general terms and conditions

Optional content in the website footer

Information on payment methods and returns processing is also a useful addition if the website is an online store. Trust can also be promoted by placing certificates, seals of approval, positive customer reviews and a reference to secure SSL encryption for data transmission.

The company logo should also be displayed again in the footer of the website. This ensures that the user is immediately reminded of the company. This improves recognition and ensures that the company is remembered for longer. Placing the corresponding icons in the footer, which are directly linked to the company's profiles on these platforms, is suitable for referring to the company's social media presence.

The footer of a website is often used to show visitors how to sign up for the newsletter. This is an excellent strategy for increasing customer loyalty to the company through email marketing.

If your offer is also accessible via an app, it is advisable to provide links to the app stores in the footer. Given the widespread use of the internet via mobile devices, this increases the chance that users will download and use the app.

In the past, the use of links in the footer was considered an effective measure for search engine optimization (SEO), as they could improve the ranking of a page. Nowadays, however, footer links are rarely used for external links. An exception could be the targeted use of footer links from the homepage, for example as recognition for the web design agency, in which case the link should preferably only contain the brand name instead of a generic keyword.

Website operators should generally be careful with external links from the footer. However, footer links can still be useful for internal links in order to direct the so-called link juice from the homepage to subpages. However, webmasters must be aware that this type of internal linking does not improve user-friendliness, but mainly serves search engine optimization strategies. With the ongoing developments in crawling technologies, it remains to be seen whether this practice of internal linking will continue to be necessary.