What is a websites footer for?

bamme

Senior Member
The question is the heading really! I see lots of sites that have the same links listed in the footer as they have in their top navigation bar. i dont have a disclaimer or terms and conditions to put in, so i just wondered why sites do this and if i should do this instead?
 
if its the same links as the top nav. Its mainly so you dont need to scroll back up to go to another page. Simplees

If its links like .. privacy policy etc its just so that they are out of the way but still accessible. Also usability pretty much says now that that is where they will be on all sites, so people know where to look for them.
 
thanks for the help, nice examples on those links :) out of interest should every site have a sitemap?
 
That totally depends in my oppinion. For example, a simple portfolio with a showcase, about page and contact options doesn't really need one. But bigger sites, such as communities, corporate sites etc, that have a lot of subpages could use one.

It totally depends the "width" of the site itself if a sitemap is needed to helt the user find what he or she is looking for!

:domo:
 
Use your footer to put text links in if your nav bar / buttons are flash so search engines can see them, where they may not have done otherwise... Put a sitmap link down there too - Sitemaps are good for search engine optimization.
 
As you'll see from rawksteady's links, it's become quite popular to have a deep footer with lots of information in it. They are a good spot for some final 'calls to action'. We recently added a contact form in our footer and have noticed a marked increase in contacts, so they definitely work. We often use them for quick links to other sections of the website and for common downloads etc.
 
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