Although employed by some websites already, making more effective use of web page footers looks set to become a common practice. Far from being just the end of a page where copyright details, disclaimers and site maps are normally found a footer is now the ideal place to repeat menu options, contact details and even contact forms as in this example from the in.house.media website.
If you think about it, placing a contact form in a footer is actually quite a clever idea because it allows interested visitors to enter the required information without having to go to another web page which is something they’re almost certain to appreciate.
It’s Not the End
In addition to their more practical advantages, footers provide a web page with a more visually attractive finish as opposed to a plain and abrupt stop, and in the case of longer web pages that require a visitor to scroll all the way back to the top to reach the menu, placing a second menu in the footer is also bound to please them no end.
Repeat Yourself
Building brand awareness is as much about the subconscious mind as the conscious and repetition plays a key role in that process so placing your company logo and colours in footers as well as headers will be instrumental in establishing your brand in the minds of visitors whether they realise it or not.
From a branding point of view, making better use of footers would appear to be a sensible move with no obvious downsides. A second menu could end up as being a standard item but only time will really show how useful and creative footers will become.
Until next time.
