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Your footer is where people look for proof of life.

Field Note #071
🟢 Beginner ⏱ 5 Minutes ✓ Industry Best Practice
When someone lands on your website for the first time, they might start at the top. But when they’re deciding whether to trust you, they scroll all the way to the bottom.
Your footer is where people look for proof of life.
If a potential customer scrolls down and sees © 2021, social icons that go nowhere, or a Privacy Policy link that leads to a 404 error — their brain immediately asks: “Is this business still operating?”
An outdated footer signals neglect. If you’re not maintaining the basic details of your own website, a customer starts wondering if you’ll be just as careless with their project or order.
Here’s a 60-second Footer Audit worth running today:
Check your copyright year. It should say 2026. Better yet, add a simple script that updates it automatically every January 1st so you never have to remember.
Click every social icon in your footer. Does it actually open your active profile in a new tab? If you stopped using a platform, remove that icon entirely — a dead link is worse than no link.
Click your Privacy Policy and Terms links. Do they actually load? A broken legal link at the bottom of your site is one of the most common trust signals that nobody catches until a customer mentions it.
A clean, current footer sends one clear signal: this business is here, paying attention, and ready.
What year is your footer living in? Drop it in the comments.

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