When designing any website, the small details are often just as important as the overall design. From the large hero area at the top of the page to the product images further down, the quality of your web design needs to be consistently high. The website footer is no exception. Because it usually holds important information, good website footer design can make a real difference to the overall user experience. So what are the features of an effective website footer? We’re John and Brian, and we’ve been designing websites from our office in Preston, Lancashire since 2009, so here’s our guide.

What are the most important design features for an effective footer?

An effective website footer is easy to spot, easy to read and genuinely useful. The key design features are:

Clear links and details: your contact details and quick links to your key pages.
Effective white space: room to breathe, so the important information stands out.
A different background colour: so visitors can see where the page ends and the footer begins.
Readable on every screen: good contrast, sensible text sizes and links that are easy to tap.
The legal essentials: your company details and links to your privacy and cookie information.

Clear links and details for effective website footers

The footer is the perfect place to add secondary contact details (your primary contact details should be in the header at the top of the page), as well as quick links to key pages. Once someone has scrolled to the bottom of a page, it’s much quicker and easier for them to use the links and details there than to scroll all the way back to the top. Making things easier for your visitors improves the user experience, and leads to a more positive opinion of your business as a whole.

Most effective footers include:

Your phone number (set up as a tap-to-call link on mobiles) and email address
Your address and opening hours, if customers visit you, matching the details on your Google Business Profile
Links to your main services or product categories, plus pages like About us, FAQs and Contact
Links to your social media profiles

Keep it focused. A footer crammed with dozens of links is harder to use, not easier, and it won’t do anything extra for your SEO. In terms of design, these details are the most important content in your footer, so they need to be well positioned and easy to read on all screen sizes and devices.

Effective white space

For your website footer to be effective, think about the white space (or free space) you use. Empty space can be incredibly effective for making a statement and drawing attention to key details. In a footer, it draws the eye towards the important information and keeps the rest of the area free from distraction.

White space matters even more on mobile. Footer columns usually stack into a single column on a phone, so leave clear gaps between each group of links and details. Otherwise everything runs together into one long, hard-to-scan list.

Different background colour

Visitors expect to find contact details, page links and other key information in the footer, so it’s important to make a clear distinction between the footer and the rest of the page. The most effective way to do this is with a different background colour. If you’re using a three-colour scheme, for example, your second or third colour could become the footer background. If not, choose a colour that fits well with your existing colour scheme and your branding.

Many footers use a dark background with light text. That works well, as long as the contrast between the two is strong enough to read comfortably.

Include the legal essentials

The footer is the natural home for the small print. If your business is a limited company, UK rules say your website must show your company’s registered number, registered office address, where it’s registered (for example, England and Wales) and the fact that it’s a limited company. GOV.UK explains the requirements. It’s also the usual place for links to your privacy policy, cookie information and terms, and for a copyright line, ideally one that updates the year automatically.

Want a hand with your website?

For more information or advice about any aspect of web design, including footers, give John and Brian a call on 01772 822626 or get in touch online. You’re welcome to pop into our Preston office for a coffee too. If we already look after your website, small changes like updating your footer details are the kind of thing our support covers.

Design features for an effective website footer