Derek Powazek’s recent redesign brought to the forefront the concept of making engaging footers. I’ve been thinking about these for quite some time now. I shared some ideas about making footers usable about a year ago discussing this same topic, only with a little less eloquence.
The bottom of the page is a decision point for visitors to your site. They will either decide to continue browsing your site, or leave.
Engaging your visiors at the bottom of pages is one of the best things you can do. For instance, here at GarrettDimon.com, The only points where I offer any real navigation is at the end of each article. You can either comment, go through the archives, or subscribe. Now, I realize that in some cases not having any navigation at the top is extreme, but that’s not the point. Sites can and should offer more navigation if it makes sense, but more sites need to engage their visitors at the bottom of the page as well. Derek says it very well in his article.
…a user that actually reads all the way to the bottom of a page is like gold. They’re your best, most engaged, happiest users. You know, because they haven’t clicked away. They did the best possible thing they could do, and now they’re at the bottom of the page. And how do you reward them? With a copyright statement. Maybe, if they’re lucky, some bland footer navigation. If you ask me, that’s just rude.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. In fact, I couldn’t even come close. For most blogs, the last option is to comment, but what happens when they read past the comments? Do they leave? Scroll back up and look for more? This becomes much more prevalent when you’re talking about a pure content site. Offer up more content, help keep them interested.
Despite bringing this up a while back, I’m as guilty recently as anyone else. It’s time to change that and start treating footers as the prime real estate they are. By giving visitors an easy path to keep reading, you can improve their experience, and give them something to look forward to.