What Is A Website Footer?

Date First Published: 1st September 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Design

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 3/10

Learn more about what a website footer is in this article.

A website footer is a section of a website, located right at the bottom of every webpage, that contains important information and links. Footers are often black in colour, but they don't have to be. Without a footer, websites would be much more difficult to navigate. Most visitors expect to see a section when they scroll down to the bottom of a webpage and without it, they would think that the website is missing a feature, so that is the reason why most web developer include a footer as part of their website template.

Footers are an important feature of a website as they help visitors navigate options at the bottom of each webpage. Footers act as a collection of elements that users go to when they are searching for a specific page. For example, the footer of Computerhelp4all can be seen below. 

The <footer> tag was introduced in HTML5, which is specifically designed for adding footer information at the bottom of a webpage.

Note:

Footers are usually part of the main website template, meaning that they appear on all (or nearly all) pages and are consistent throughout the website.

What Does A Footer Consist Of?

A footer usually consists of:

• A copyright notice - This contains the copyright icon (©), along with the name of the copyright holder. The purpose of this is to discourage anyone from copying the content of the website without the copyright holder's permission. Sometimes, a copyright notice may contain the year of publication.
• Links to essential pages, such as the homepage, contact page, about page, privacy policy, terms of use, cookie policy, and more. Visitors often expect to find links to these pages in the footer. Websites that collect personal data from users are required to have a privacy policy and if they use cookies, they are required to have a cookie policy.
• Social media icons (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). These provide links to social media pages and convince people to follow the owner of the website or like their posts.
• RSS feeds - Footers may contain a link to an XML file that allows users to keep up to date with the latest content without giving away their personal contact details.
• The website logo - Some companies place their logo in the footer as well as the top navigation bar, but they don't have to.
• Company contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses. Website footers may contain this information or a link that brings them to a contact form.
• A sitemap - Some companies place links to different sections of their websites in the footer, but this takes up a lot of room. A single link to an XML sitemap can be provided there.
• A newsletter form where people can enter their email address to stay updated with the latest news of a website. This can be placed in the footer, but it is often placed on the left or right side. Some websites may use popups, asking them to subscribe to their newsletters, which can irritate users.