SiteSmith

Website footer: what belongs at the bottom of the page

SiteSmith · · 5 min read

A good footer repeats the few things a visitor might be looking for after reading a page: how to reach you, where you are, when you are open, and links to the pages they could not find in the menu. Add the small print that belongs on every site, like the copyright line and a privacy page link, and stop there. A footer is a safety net, not a second home page.

People scroll to the bottom of a page for two reasons. Either they read everything and now want to act, or they could not find what they wanted and are hunting. In both cases they expect certain things down there, because nearly every website puts them there. If your phone number, address or hours are missing from the footer, many visitors assume they are missing from the site.

On a phone, the footer is also where people land after a long scroll. It should give them a next step without scrolling back up.

Contact details

  • Your phone number, written out and set as a link so a thumb can tap it to call.
  • Your email address or a link to the contact page. If you list an address, make it one you check every day.
  • Your street address, if customers come to you, set as a link to a map. If you work at customers' homes and do not want your home address public, list your service area instead: "Serving Wake County and nearby towns."

Write the name, address and phone exactly as they appear on your Google Business Profile. Name, address and phone: why they must match everywhere explains why the small differences matter.

Hours

Your regular hours in a short, readable format: "Mon to Fri 8 to 5, Sat 9 to 1, Sun closed." If your hours change by season, update the footer the same day you update Google. If you are a 24-hour emergency service, say so here as well.

A handful of links, not every page on the site. Typically:

  • Services (or your top three or four services)
  • About
  • Contact
  • Reviews or testimonials
  • Gift cards, careers or a booking page, if you have them

These help people who missed the menu and people on phones who do not want to open the menu again.

Small icons for the accounts you actually keep up, and perhaps a link to your Google reviews. One line, not a wall of logos.

Licenses and memberships

For contractors and many trades, a license number in the footer is reassuring and in some states expected in advertising. Check what your state licensing board requires. A short line such as "Licensed and insured. License no. 123456" does the job. Badges from trade associations can go here too if they mean something to your customers.

  • Copyright line: "© 2026 Smith Plumbing LLC". Use your legal business name. Keep the year current, or set it to update automatically if your editor allows. Website copyright year in the footer: does it matter covers that small question.
  • Privacy policy link, if you collect anything through forms or use analytics. Most sites do.
  • Terms, if you have terms of service, and an accessibility statement if you publish one.

What these pages must say depends on your situation; ask your attorney if you are unsure.

What to leave out

  • Your entire menu again, plus every service, plus every town. Long lists of links in the footer look like clutter and help nobody. If you serve many towns, link to one service area page.
  • Long paragraphs about your history. That belongs on the About page.
  • Several phone numbers unless they really go to different places. If they do, label them: "Office", "After-hours emergencies".
  • A newsletter signup unless you actually send a newsletter.
  • Anything from the old site that no longer exists: a fax number, an old address, a link to a page that was removed.
  • Credits that look like ads for whoever built the site, in large type. A small line is fine if you agreed to one.

On a computer a footer is often laid out in three or four columns. On a phone those columns stack on top of each other, and the order matters.

Put contact details first, then hours, then links, then the legal line. A customer who reaches the bottom on a phone should see the tappable phone number before they see a list of links.

Make each link and the phone number large enough to tap without zooming, with space between them. Light grey text on a dark background is a common footer style that becomes hard to read outdoors; keep enough contrast that the text is easy to see in sunlight.

Here is a plain footer a pest control company might use, in the order it would appear on a phone:

Greenleaf Pest Control Call (555) 010-2345 [email protected] Serving Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Owasso and nearby towns Mon to Fri 7 to 6, Sat 8 to 12 Services · About · Reviews · Contact · Careers Licensed by the state. License no. 0000. © 2026 Greenleaf Pest Control LLC · Privacy

That is all most visitors need at the bottom of any page.

A storefront needs the street address and a map link up front:

Main Street Yoga 214 Main Street, Suite 2, Asheville (map) (555) 010-6789 Class schedule · Beginners · Pricing · Contact Front desk open 30 minutes before every class Instagram · Facebook © 2026 Main Street Yoga · Privacy

Once a season, scroll to the bottom of your site on your phone and check:

  • The phone number taps and dials the right line.
  • The email address is one you still read.
  • The address and hours match your Google Business Profile.
  • Every link opens a real page, not an error.
  • The year in the copyright line is right.

If you change a phone number, hours or address, the footer is usually the first place to update, because it is on every page. In most editors you change it once and it updates everywhere. If your editor makes you change it page by page, that is a sign the site was built in a way that will keep costing you time.

What to do this week

  • Scroll to the bottom of your home page on your phone and write down everything you see.
  • Cross out anything outdated, duplicated or not useful to a customer.
  • Make sure phone, address or service area, and hours are there and correct.
  • Keep the links to five or six key pages.
  • Check the copyright year and that the privacy link works.

If your footer is a jumble of old links and you would rather start clean, you can see your site rebuilt first with a footer built around your contact details.

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