An interesting question is brought up on a new blog, regarding footer links on websites.
Should a web design agency place a link at the bottom of a site? Is it simply a “dark self serving” ad for the design agency? Or are there real business reasons to do it that only experience in the industry will prove out?
I can imagine how those relatively new to the web development industry may not have experienced the value that it adds to the end user, who we should all be focused on. Having been focused on the web development business for over 15 years being involved in the development and support of hundreds of sites, we have found this practice to be very useful for the visitors of our clients’ sites.
I can’t tell you how many times TKG has been contacted over the years by users seeking support that they are not able to obtain from our clients, because they do not have the infrastructure to provide 24/7 support. As a result of the nature of our industry, we have that infrastructure in place, and are able to become an extension of our clients’ customer support teams. For example; imagine a non profit who has an event coming up and announced it on their site. Of course, being a non-profit, and all that comes with that (low budgets, understaffed and over-worked work force) there are times that mis-information makes it’s way to a website via the content management system. It’s great to be a backup for our clients when they are unavailable to respond to consumers’ needs.
Is there a self serving aspect to it? Sure. Can it be a promotional tool? Yes. But if you are proud of your work, and your clients are proud of the work you have done for them, 99% of the time, they are happy to have it there. It is not all that different than building a portfolio, asking for a client referral, or including PR contact info in a professional press release for that matter.
Is it a shady link building tactic for search engine rankings? If you really understand link building, you’ll realize that the search engine ranking impact of these links would be nominal at best due to the lack of context.
These links should be appropriately positioned, and secondary to utility navigation, not the core focus of any page or part of main nav. I do agree that these links should not be placed without permission, and should always be removed at the first hint of a request by a client. It is after all their website, as Dennis Warner (Internet Director for WRL Advertising Agency) suggests. Read his point of view here.
However, if you have the resources to serve your clients to this degree, you have happy clients and you expect to be in web design business for the long term; my advice is to offer them this service.
