Make better use of your footer

[kutar]

Footer can be useful, if you can make your visitor look information at here.

Here is the article showing how to make good use of the footer:

Geek Trends: 15 Footers with great usability
http://yample.com/popupon/?p=54

* I found some footers here may contain too much information, which make a footer doesn't like a footer, but some of them is a very good example (like the Biola University).

In my point of view, a footer should be 3 - 5 lines. The type of information not more than 3 type. footer should be short so that it doesn't destroy the content balancing (header and footer short + detail content)
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Sleepless Cat‧The one looking for her path...

[ClickFanatic]

The thing with footers is: you must have some content that is suitable for that location. Most websites don't have such content, so their footer stays simple. As it should, because moving content down there that doesn't belong there is a mistake.

As for the post: I disagree that the footer is an essential strategy to engage the visitor. It is more of a plan B. The visitor didn't find what he was looking for on the upper part of the page and is now at the bottom of the page.
It is always safe to place contact details down there, because many people expect them there (like in a formal letter), but I would still create a page dedicated to contact information. Some links that may keep the user on the site a little longer may also help. But other than that, the footer is not as essential as, for example, the header or the main content.
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Captain Jell-O Buster from the Future
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[marinaroz]

This trend of big large footers that contain random or general information seems very useless to me. Often, you don't even realize it's supposed to be a footer.

I think that for a small site, it's enough to have your credits and maybe bottom navigation in the footer. It's no place for the summaries and the promos. Those will look much better on a sidebar.
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Tarakana NET

[krt]

I agree with marinaroz. The footers in those examples seem to just be eye candy, they are not very practical and do not catch the user's attention. The footer is more for those wanting contact, copyright and other such information or for some quick links to related pages for pages with linearly read text such as articles and blog posts.

[tacpnehy]

I don't usually use footers on my websites. I think the only thing i've ever used a footer is for copyright

[martin]

I use footers for a short version of credits or contact information. I think that's the main purpose of them. When I visit a website, If I want to look for credits, I go to the bottom of the page. As a webmaster, I think the same thing. Thanks for the article, I'm going to read it now.
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[Rashy]

I think that if you have as much crap in your footer such as Biola or John Chow, then it isn't a footer but more of an extension of your content, just styled differently.

I am using a style kind of like that in a design, a large section below the main content to store extra peripheral type information, but in no means would I call it the footer... the footer (to me at least) is the very last line or two that says "(c) 2008 Blah Blah Blah. Link to legal | link to contact. Powered by some CMS, physical address, or other small information."
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Rashy!