What is a Footer Link?
A footer link is any link placed in a website’s footer, the strip that repeats at the bottom of every page. Footers typically link to contact pages, legal policies, sitemaps, and key sections of the site. Because footers appear site-wide, every footer link exists on every page.
More About Footer Links
The footer is the most predictable part of a website: visitors scroll to the bottom expecting contact details, policies, and shortcuts. That predictability is its job. A footer that surfaces the pages people look for, like the one in the diagram above, improves navigation on every page.
Do footer links help SEO?
They help, but not the way most people assume. Internal footer links give crawlers a reliable path to important pages and help search engines understand how a site is organized. Ranking-wise, Google has said it treats a link as a link wherever it sits on the page, footer included. A footer link is a floor, not a boost: it keeps pages from being orphaned but earns no extra weight for its position.
When do footer links hurt?
When they’re external, site-wide, and keyword-stuffed. Cramming exact-match anchor text into a footer that appears on thousands of pages is a pattern Google’s link spam policies call out. It shows up in agency credits, widget links, and “partner” link exchanges. Internal links carry no such risk; the danger is external.
What belongs in a footer?
The pages people expect to find there: contact information, privacy policy and terms, an about page, and shortcuts to your most-used sections. Ecommerce sites add shipping and returns. Keep the list short enough to scan; a footer with a hundred links helps no one and dilutes the few that matter. Anchor text should name the page plainly, like “Contact us.” Avoid keyword phrases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are footer links bad for SEO?
Internal footer links are safe and good for navigation. Trouble comes from site-wide links to other sites with keyword-rich anchors, especially paid or exchanged ones. Those match Google's link spam patterns and can trigger action against the linking or linked site.
Do footer links pass PageRank?
Yes. Footer links are real links and pass value like any other. Repetition adds nothing, though: Google has said links don't add up into a site-wide authority score, so a footer link on every page is worth no more than the link itself.
Should footer links be nofollow?
Internal footer links, no; let crawlers follow your own navigation. External ones depend on why they exist: a paid credit or widget link should carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", while an ordinary unpaid reference needs nothing special.
How many links should a footer have?
There's no limit from Google, so it's a usability call. A useful benchmark is whether a visitor can scan the footer in a few seconds. Group links under short headings, and cut anything that exists only for search engines.
