Footer links

Footer links, defined

Footer links are the links in the footer area that appears at the bottom of every page on a site. They usually point to contact details, policies, key sections and sometimes service areas. Because they appear sitewide, they're seen on every page by both visitors and crawlers.

An example from a UK business

A roofing company's footer lists 70 "roofer in [town]" links. It replaces them with a short list of main services, a link to one service-area page, contact details and policies. The footer becomes usable on mobile, and the site looks more trustworthy.

What to avoid

• Long lists of location keyword links.
• Hiding important pages only in the footer.
• Using keyword anchors for designer credits.
• Forgetting the footer on mobile, where it can become a long scroll.

A quick check you can do now

Scroll to the bottom of your site on a phone. Can you quickly find contact details and key pages? Count the links. If there are dozens of near-identical keyword links, simplify. If a web designer's credit link is there, make sure it uses the business name rather than keywords.

What it changes for you

A tidy footer helps visitors find essentials such as contact, prices and opening hours. Stuffing it with dozens of keyword-rich links to town pages, or with links to other businesses, looks spammy. Google's link spam policy specifically mentions widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites when used to manipulate rankings.

Footers are also where outdated information lingers longest, such as an old address, a past phone number or a link to a closed social account. They're worth checking whenever your details change.

Other on-page terms

• Header navigation: Primary menu links that shape crawl paths and UX.
• Internal linking: Links between pages on the same site that help users and distribute crawl paths.
• Site architecture: How pages are organised and linked.