The Relevance of Mr. Irrelevant
Do you know who Mr. Irrelevant is?
Mr. Irrelevant is the title given to the last person picked in the NFL draft every year.
They are usually the 256th person picked to play. Dead last.
While it isn’t the best position to find yourself, there is some unusual notoriety that comes with it. For instance, people recognize you as the last pick in the draft while the guy picked before you gets nothing.
So, what the hell does this have to do with blogging?
Good question.
Your Blog Footer is Mr. Irrelevant
Most people view their blog footer as Mr. Irrelevant.
It’s the often forgotten part of your blog.
It sits innocently at the bottom of each page. Dead last.
Nothing good ever happens at the bottom of anything, right?
“Bottom feeder”, “rock bottom”, “the bottom fell out”, “bottom dollar”, “at the bottom of the food chain”…you get the idea.
To be honest, how many visitors actually reach the bottom of your blog anyway? You might be surprised.
That’s why you should change your perspective when it comes to your blog footer.
The Importance of your Blog Footer
When one of your readers actually reaches the bottom of your blog, what is the typical action they take?
They bounce.
If you don’t give them another option, they are most likely going to type the next website in the address bar or hit one of their tabs/bookmarks.
Your blog footer is a diamond in the rough though. Don’t sleep on the possibilities when it comes to that little guy at the bottom of your page.
It provides a golden opportunity for you to deliver more value to your most dedicated readers.
Instead of just ending the page with nothing, why don’t you put something there for them as a reward for actually reaching the end?
They deserve it.
Elevate Your Blog Footer
So what are your options?
There are many ways you can look at your footer and determine what you want to do with it.
I’m going to use a few well-known websites to explore some of your options…things you could do, and things you shouldn’t do.
There are three main categories I lump them into.
- The Minimal Blog Footer
- The “Lil Bit of Something” Blog Footer
- The “Footer So Good It Should Be a Header” Blog Footer
Let’s get to it.
1. The Minimal Blog Footer
One way to look at your footer is to totally disregard it.
That’s exactly the approach used by Neil Patel at Quick Sprout. His footer is, well, rather stark.
Which is interesting given all of the research and analysis he does on data and user behavior on his blog.
QuickSprout Blog Footer
Here is what his footer looks like:
As you can see, not a lot going on.
He has a few disclaimers and that’s about it. Rather…meh.
2. The “Lil Bit of Something” Blog Footer
Now, let’s say you don’t want to have a boring footer and actually want to add some value. Well, the best way to do that is to start to add some flair to it.
Let’s look at a few sites that have added some content to their footers but haven’t gone all out.
Smart Passive Income Blog Footer
Here is the blog footer from Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income site:
As you can see, he hasn’t completely disregarded the value of the footer.
Pat has added a nice subscription option at the top of the footer followed by site navigation and social proof.
At the very bottom he adds the disclaimers and other mumbo jumbo.
His footer works well with his minimal and nicely designed website, yet provides great value and various calls-to-action for the reader.
He also adds a bit of social proof to the text of his opt-in by noting the size of his list. Yes, I’m jealous.
Also note that the colors chosen for the footer are consistent with the overall brand imaging and the major call-to-action (signing up for the mailing list) uses stronger colors that pop out – including the strong green button.
Blog Tyrant Blog Footer
Here is another minimal, yet effective, blog footer. This time it’s over at Blog Tyrant.
With this footer, Ramsay provides a specific call-to-action (sign up for the mailing list) and minimal site navigation (back-to-top).
This is a nice clean design that focuses on exactly what he wants the reader to do…sign up for the list!
Like Pat, he also adds social proof to the text of his opt-in by citing the number of subscribers on his list. Again, I’m jealous.
Although, small audiences can sometimes be the best audiences!
Social Media Examiner Blog Footer
I was a little surprised when I arrived at the footer for Social Media Examiner. To tell you the truth, I was expecting more.
But, maybe they believe less is more.
Here is what their footer looks like:
They have implemented a minimal design with specific calls-to-action.
While they also offer the mailing list opt-in like Pat and Ramsay above, although much more hidden, they also focus on business opportunities for the reader.
In particular, they highlight the fact you can either advertise with them or apply to be one of their contributors.
These are obviously very important to the site and its business sustainability.
Oh, and they throw in the obligatory disclaimers and at least a back-to-top button. Good stuff!
Jeff Bullas Blog Footer
Ok, sometimes we swing and miss.
This is one of those times.
I love Jeff Bullas’ blog, I really do. His content is outstanding. But his footer…needs a little work.
Check it out:
He uses the same ultra-minimal approach used by Neil earlier but you really can’t see it.
There is an ad pop-up that rears its ugly head as you scroll down. It stays on screen from that point on and serves as a quasi-footer. (If that is even a term)
While having ads in your footer may provide some revenue, I just don’t like how it is presented here.
It seems too disconnected from the overall site design and appears rather generic and spammy.
Adding to the disarray, there is a floating sidebar that gets cut off from view as you reach the bottom of the blog.
As a reader, I’m turned off by the footer and will probably bounce.
3. The “Footer So Good It Should be a Header” Blog Footer
As a Top Shelf blogger, you want to elevate your blogging game above all of the others.
Your footer should be no different.
Let’s look at a couple of footers that actually get me hyped.
XOSarah Blog Footer
Ok, just take a moment to soak this bad boy up.
Stunning design with crazy functionality to boot.
Sarah Morgan at XOSarah.com obviously knows what she is doing.
She has the same disclaimers and back-to-top button that some of the others have, but she goes Top Shelf with the other elements.
Her opt-in is beautifully done and dominates the view of the reader. She adds some flair to the text and actually excites the reader to join the list. Well done!
Even her site search is beautifully done, and that’s hard to do with such a mundane piece of functionality.
She also includes full site navigation in the middle and includes multiple social media options for continuing the relationship.
Slow clap for Sarah!
Rebekah Radice Blog Footer
I love everything about Rebekah’s blog and of course I wasn’t disappointed in her blog footer.
Check this beauty out:
It’s beautifully designed but also chock full o’functionality.
She offers the standard disclaimers as well as a site search but also goes above and beyond by giving the reader more content!
She not only provides navigation capabilities but she does it by topic area which makes it super easy for the reader.
She also provides links to her latest blog posts to keep the reader on her site. Brilliant!
And of course, she’s trying to make some money with her footer too.
She offers her speaking services in a dedicated section of the footer and throws in a few sponsored ads to boot!
Rebekah is straight up killing her blog footer!
This footer has a little bit of everything and should serve as a solid example for what you might want to do with your blog footer.
Wrapping it Up
The important thing to consider is your blog footer doesn’t have to be forgotten, neglected, or irrelevant.
Take a look at yours, review some of the footers on major sites within your niche (and even completely outside your niche), and see what you can do to make yours server a better purpose.
Include calls-to-action, provide more content to your reader, offer them a subscription to your list, connect with them on social media, etc.
The point is, make something happen in your footer so people don’t reach the end of your page and bounce.
