By Mehdi HassanWhat should a SaaS website footer include?
A SaaS website footer should include grouped navigation links to your main sections, a set of trust links such as security, status, privacy and terms, a way to contact sales or support, and the primary call to action. Optional additions include a newsletter signup, social links, a language selector and a short company description.
The footer does two jobs the header can't. It's secondary navigation for the pages that don't earn a header slot, and it's the trust layer that security, legal and procurement reviewers check before a deal moves forward. Both jobs follow from your site structure, explained in our website information architecture guide.
Footer element | Who uses it | Include it? |
|---|---|---|
Product, solutions and resources columns | Buyers browsing further | Yes |
Trust column: security, status, privacy, terms | Security, legal and procurement reviewers | Yes |
Company: about, careers, press, contact | Candidates, press, partners | Yes |
Primary CTA repeated | Buyers who reached the end ready to act | Yes, once |
Newsletter signup | Readers of your blog or guides | If you publish regularly |
Language or region selector | International visitors | If you have localized versions |
Social links | Some buyers and candidates | Optional, keep them small |
How does the footer work as secondary navigation?
The footer works as secondary navigation by listing the pages that matter to specific readers but not to most visitors: individual features, integrations, comparison pages, careers, partners and docs. Visitors who scroll to the bottom are usually looking for something specific, and a well-organized footer gets them there in one click.
- Mirror your site sections. If the header says Product, Solutions and Resources, use the same headings for footer columns, so the structure feels consistent.
- List more than the header, not everything. Include key feature, segment and resource pages; leave the long tail to hubs and search.
- Keep headings short and plain. Product, Solutions, Resources, Company and Trust are clearer than clever names.
- Use a stable order. Visitors who come back expect the same columns in the same place.
Deciding what goes in the header and what goes in the footer is a sitemap decision; our SaaS website sitemap template assigns a placement to every page. For the header side, see our website navigation best practices.
Why should the footer carry trust links?
The footer should carry trust links because that's where security, legal and procurement reviewers look first. They rarely care about your hero section; they want the security page, the privacy policy, the subprocessor list and the status page, and the footer is the conventional place to find them on almost any site.
Give these links their own column, headed Trust, Security or Legal, rather than scattering them across Company and Resources. A typical trust column holds security, trust center, status, privacy, terms, the data processing agreement, subprocessors and an accessibility statement. Our checklist of trust pages every B2B website needs explains what each page should contain.
What do good SaaS footer examples get right?
Good SaaS footers are organized, complete for the reader looking for something specific, and quiet enough not to compete with the page above. The patterns below are publicly visible on well-known sites; footers change, so check the live versions. We describe patterns, not results.
- Stripe uses a large, multi-column footer that works almost like a sitemap, grouping products, solutions, developer resources and company pages, which suits a company with a wide product range.
- GitHub includes links to its status page, terms and privacy in the footer, a clear example of the footer as a trust and support layer for a platform people depend on.
- Vercel has shown a live system status indicator in its footer, which turns a plain status link into an at-a-glance signal for developers.
- HubSpot runs an extensive footer with many grouped columns, suited to a large site with many products, resources and audiences.
- Linear keeps its footer visually quiet and tidy, with plain grouped columns, showing that a focused product's footer can stay calm rather than sprawling.
Example | Footer pattern | What to borrow |
|---|---|---|
Stripe | Sitemap-style, many columns | Clear groupings for a broad product range |
GitHub | Trust and support links prominent | Status, terms and privacy always one click away |
Vercel | Live status indicator | Show status, don't just link to it |
HubSpot | Extensive, many audiences | Columns per audience on a large site |
Linear | Compact and focused | Restraint for a smaller site |
For more sites worth studying, see our collection of B2B startup website examples.
How do you design a website footer step by step?
Design the footer from your sitemap: decide which pages need a sitewide link, group them into columns that mirror your sections, add the trust column and the CTA, then design the layout and the mobile version. Starting from the layout instead leads to columns filled to look balanced rather than to help readers.
- List every page that should be reachable from anywhere but isn't in the header.
- Group them into four to six columns with plain headings that match your site sections.
- Add a Trust or Legal column with security, status, privacy, terms and related pages.
- Place the primary CTA above the link columns, or in a short band just before the footer.
- Add optional items, such as a newsletter, social links or a language selector, only if they serve real readers.
- Design the mobile version with collapsible columns or a single stacked list, keeping trust links visible.
- Check contrast, link spacing and keyboard focus so the footer is easy to use for everyone.
For example, suppose a Series A SaaS site is redesigning its footer
For example, suppose a Series A SaaS company has a footer with three columns: Company, Product and Social, plus privacy and terms in a tiny line at the bottom. Sales keeps getting emails asking where the security information is.
A redesigned footer might have five columns. Product lists the overview and four main features. Solutions lists the three segments they sell to. Resources lists the blog, guides and docs. Company lists about, careers and contact. Trust lists security, status, privacy, terms, DPA and subprocessors.
Above the columns, a short band repeats the main offer with a Book a demo button. On mobile, Product, Solutions, Resources and Company collapse into accordions, while Trust stays expanded. Nothing new had to be written except the security page; the footer just made it findable.
Do footer links affect SEO?
Footer links do affect SEO, modestly. Because they appear on every page, they tell search engines which pages you consider important across the site, and they help crawlers reach pages that might otherwise sit deep in the structure. Overloading the footer with dozens of keyword-rich links has the opposite effect, so keep it focused and readable.
- Use descriptive, natural link text such as Security or Pricing, not stuffed phrases like "best SaaS security software".
- Link to pages you genuinely want reachable sitewide, and leave the long tail to hubs and in-page links.
- Make sure footer links are plain HTML anchors in the rendered page, not added only by scripts after load.
- Keep URLs consistent with your main structure; our URL structure best practices explain the rules.
If you publish a blog, the footer is a natural place for a link to it and to your main guides; our guide to blog setup for a startup website covers how to structure the blog itself.
