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What is Website Footer Navigation?

2 min to read

Website footer navigation is an additional menu at the bottom of a web page containing links to helpful content. Once webpage visitors reach the footer, they’re more likely to stay engaged if it’s well-organized as it gives them access to additional information they may be looking for. A footer menu aids search engines when crawling your site. It also lowers bounce rates, which is an important metric for ranking on search engines.

Key Takeaways:
  • Optimize user experience with a footer
    • The footer menu is a resource for visitors who haven't found what they need on a webpage, offering access to additional pages, or contact/support information.
  • Your main menu is complemented with footer navigation
    • While some overlap is ok, footers are on a different hierarchy level of your webpage.
  • Improve your website's discoverability with footer navigation
    • Links to your sitemap and key pages provide additional pathways for search engines to discover, crawl, and index your content.
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What is Website Footer Navigation?

Websites use footer menus to enhance the user experience by giving them access to essential information contained on the webpage. Additional links in the footer menu may include:

  • Secondary navigation

  • Contact pages

  • Company information

  • Customer support

  • Privacy policy

  • Terms & conditions

If a user can’t find what they’re looking for on a webpage, a footer menu may direct them to the specific page they want, giving visitors more options before clicking off your site. 

Pro tip:
Footers should provide different options from your main navigation bar.

Footer navigation links should be those that visitors frequently need, but may not fit into your main navigation bar. Your footer and main menu shouldn’t be the same, but it’s ok to display some overlapping.

Common elements to include are:

  • Core pages: About, Contact, Products/Services (These will likely be in your main menu as well.)

  • Company information: Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Careers

  • Customer support: Help Center, FAQ, Contact us

  • Social links: Facebook, Instagram, X, Linkedin, etc.

  • Sitemap: Links to other main pages. Sitemaps help with navigation and search engine indexing. 

Yes, footer navigation should be different yet complementary to your main menu for optimal user experience. Ideally, website footers include the additional links and pages that your main website menu hasn’t necessarily contemplated as this approach allows the main menu to stay concise and focus on the website core. It’s okay to overlap a few main pages (like “Contact Us”) for visitors who usually search for them in the footer area.

Conclusion

Effective footer navigation helps users by offering access to additional resources at the bottom of a page. By considering the questions and tips above, you can create a footer menu that works for your site’s users and improves SEO.

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