Website Footer Design: User Expectations & How To Fulfill Them

Gone are the days when website footers were considered an unimportant part of the website design when compared to the header or the body of the page. The changing times have proved that website footers are indeed an important element in website design. Their importance is not just proved in getting higher ranking on the search engine result pages but also in keeping the user engaged till the end. A recent study showed that a 50% increase in conversions was experienced when the goals were aligned to the footer of the page. A more easily navigable footer can also lead to an increase in revenue by directing the user directly to the landing pages or making them take certain actions through CTAs at the end. Owing to this growing importance of footers in web design, the leading website designing and web development companies in India are also shifting their attention to the footer in website design.

User Expectations & How To Fulfill Them

The expectations of users from the footer of the website have increased manifolds. They want it to be in sync with the design above and not just be a separated piece at the end. If you are also a website designer and are looking to design a new footer or redesign your existing website footer design, here is what today's users are expecting from a footer and how you can meet and exceed these expectations.

• Direct Option For Subscription According to research, around 20% of the top ranking marketing sites have an email signup/subscription box in the footer. No wonder majority of the visitors scroll down to the end of an info-rich page to get regularly updated with its content. Many other visitors scroll down to sign-up so that they can get discount offers etc., right in their email.
  • Live Up To Their Expectations Simply including an email signup option on the footer wouldn't help you supersede the expectations of the visitors. It should have an interesting tagline giving the visitors a valid reason why they should be signing up. An attractive and compelling CTA after the signup bar also helps in fulfilling the expectations by catching their attention quickly. Giving them a hint of the number of subscribers or testimonials of any subscriber at the top of signup form would also get more email signups or subscribers once you include the option in the footer.

• An Easy Way To Get In Touch It is a general notion that the contact information or details and a contact form of the company are to be found at the bottom of a web page. If there is no Contact Us or Get in Touch With Us option, the contact details and form would definitely be there at the bottom. So, every visitor expects the footer of a website to have the contact form with other details like email id, contact number, and address with a map. It is the easiest way for the visitors to get in touch with the company without getting confused over any other means.
  • Live Up To Their Expectations There are many new ways for designers to add contact forms or information at the footer of the web page. A well-designed contact form should not just be able to grasp the fancy of the visitor but also compel them to add as much information as possible. Apart from that, adding the contact details of the company should also be clear and crisp. The physical location and contact number along with the email id of the company are important to become more trustworthy. In a nutshell, the footer should have multiple ways for the visitor to contact the company
• Link To Company's Social Media Pages With a majority of people using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc., expectations for a company to have social media channels is inevitable. The users want the footer to have a direct link to the company's social media pages to engage with the company on multiple platforms. Apart from that, they also expect a website footer to have social sharing buttons to enable them to quickly share any content they like with their contacts on their social media pages.
  • Live Up To Their Expectations Usually, visitors look for social media icons at the bottom of the footer or right above the email signup/contact form. Include the social media icons and widgets for the channels where the company is active. Do not add icons for channels where the last content you posted was in 2014.
• Site Summarized In A Single Sitemap Although usually added for SEO purposes, sitemap is also an important element expected to be present at the footer by many visitors to ease navigation. Every time a user is unable to find a certain option or page on a website; it is the sitemap that acts as a guiding light. This sitemap gives a summarized look of the site and directs the users to the desired page on the website in a single click. Visitors, who are unable to navigate to any certain page on the website, scroll down to find a sitemap linking them to the desired page.
  • Live Up To Their Expectations Adding a sitemap is a great way to retain the users who are trying to find a direct link to a certain page on the website. These are HTML version of your sitemaps, similar to XML sitemaps that play a key role in the optimization of your page for search engines. Include a sitemap as one of the navigation buttons to allow the web crawlers to find your pages and index them for ranking.

These are just some of the things that a user expects from website footer. Other things include navigation buttons like Home, About Us, Services, Privacy Policy, Terms of Condition, etc., call-to-action buttons to direct users to take a particular action, brief about us content, etc., can also be included in the footer. The Company Copyright for the current year should also be present at the footer to show the originality of the site.