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Why the Footer Is the New Site Map

Years ago it was common practice to place a link to your sitemap in the footer navigation. Those days are over because the footer has become the new site map.

A sitemap is where users can go to find a directory of all site links on one page. But this is no longer necessary for most sites if you design your footer right (although XML sitemaps are still necessary for SEO).

Traditional Footers

Back then, the footer was rarely considered an important usability element. One study shows that most sites would use a traditional footer. It would contain a short line of administrative links and copyright info. The belief was that most users don’t use the footer because it’s at the bottom of the page.

The traditional footer has now evolved into the mini sitemap. Mini sitemap footers are not only gaining more but more effective than traditional footers. Testing found that a mini sitemap footer resulted in more sales and clickthroughs.

Mini Sitemap

If you have a large site, you should make your footer a mini sitemap of its own. When users can’t find what they’re looking for in the header, they’re going to look in the footer. This is where they should see a comprehensive list of your site links organized by category.

Cramming too many links in your header can make your menus messy and overwhelming. Reserve the header for your most important content links and use the footer for all others.

mini-sitemap-footer

When you make your footer a mini sitemap, users can rely on it to find what they want faster. This is because the links are all laid out and not tucked inside dropdown menus. Users don’t have to open and sift through dropdown.

Not only that, but they also don’t have to click a category link to get to more specific links. They can just click the specific link directly.

It also saves them time from using the search field. They don’t have to type in a keyword to the page they want. Once they scroll to the footer, the link is there.

Designing the Footer

An effective mini sitemap footer needs distinct category labels that contrast with links. If you don’t include them, you’ll make it hard for users to scan the list of links. Users need to be able to spot a category and scan that list without wasting time on others.

scannable-footer

You should have ample spacing between your links so that they’re easy for mobile users to tap. If you have many links and categories you should consider using an accordion menu to display them. This not only saves space but it’ll prevent errors from tapping smaller targets.

accordion-footer

Mind the Footer

Not all sites need a mini sitemap footer. If you have a large site that holds a lot of content, you should consider it. This is especially important for ecommerce sites where users need to find products quick.

Designers should no longer ignore the footer. It’s a site element that needs care and attention. Organize it with lists of links that will make all your site’s content quicker to get to.


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This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. Luis Reply

    While I agree with just about everything in this article, I must say footer sitemaps (if we can call it this way) are anything but new. They’ve been a trend for many years now.

    • anthony Reply

      I don’t care about it in terms of trend, but rather practice. Many sites still do it wrong. It’s important to know the benefits of this practice and how to do it right. There are no articles that touch on that except this one.

  2. Greg Reply

    A fantastic example of breaking out of the bad habit of information-hiding.

  3. Pothi Reply

    Thanks Anthony for the insights on footer/s. Just redesigned one of my sites’ footer to make it more useful to my readers.

  4. mnsudheer Reply

    Great tip.I have seen many sites placing lot of links in their footer but never thought about it.Now I understand.
    Thanks for sharing anthony

  5. Jeffrey Pillow Reply

    Nice write-up. I’ve been thinking about my footer lately. It’s an odd dream to have at night. On a similar note, for blogs, even well established ones, I am often surprised by how difficult it is to find someone’s archive. I am begging to read more yet find myself giving up after a quest to find more turns out futile. It’s like this weird game of keepaway in an effort to have a minimal or clean design.

  6. Mig Reply

    “When you make your footer a mini sitemap,… the links are all laid out and not tucked inside dropdown menus. Users don’t have to open and sift through dropdown. ……they also don’t have to click a category link to get to more specific links. They can just click the specific link directly.”
    “…Users need to be able to spot a category and scan that list without wasting time on others.”

    Hiding the links behind accordions on mobile screens seems to conflict with the pros you stated about having the mini sitemap. If there are too many categories and links or under certain contexts the accordion might be the right choice, but the compromise is worth mentioning.

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