Footer Study: A look at 72 popular websites
By CleverSage | February 6, 2008
While compiling the information and observations for the Navigation Study: A look at 72 popular websites post, I also kept notes and observations on the footer elements of some of the most popular sites. After all, these are the sites that have spent millions of dollars and countless hours on visitor interface and usability. Why not take notes from the best?
Your footer is an integral part of any site’s layout, something that is deserving of your time and attention when building. It’s a mini resource center where many visitors to your site look for crucial information about your site, and as a means of communicating with you.
An Overview
When collecting the information about each site I made note whether or not their footer contained the following elements:
- Feedback - Was there a way for visitors to leave feedback?
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Use
- Advertise - Was there a link to advertising information?
- Sitemap
- Help/FAQ
- About
- Contact
- Blog - Was there a link to a company blog?
Below are the results:
Footer Elements Breakdown
- Privacy Policy (83.33%)
- About Us (77.78%)
- Terms of Use (75.00%)
- Help/FAQ (66.67%)
- Advertise (58.33%)
- Contact Us (58.33%)
- Sitemap (34.72%)
- Feedback (16.67%)
- Blog (15.28%)
Summary
I believe that integrating ALL of these elements into your footer if at all possible. These footer elements are all important ways for your visitors/clients/users to interact and communicate with you while providing useful information.
Topics: Usability, Website Design |