Today I was checking out some themes on the Wordpress theme viewer, and I kept noticing some interesting design elements on different pages: super headers and fat footers.
Both can be viable tools to enhance your user interface, but both have pitfalls to consider. I started to think about the possible applications of these elements from a design and marketing standpoint, and I came up with a few pros and cons for each.
Super Headers
Traditional page layouts include a header, a main body, one or two sub columns, and a footer. A super header is an extra strip of information, advertisements, or navigation above the header. Examples include FeedBurner, Technorati, and Daily Kos.
Pros:
1. Prime Real Estate. This is the very top of your page. The first place a lot of people look when they’re discovering your site and trying to figure out what it’s all about. As such, it can be a great place to put ads, like Daily Kos has done. There’s a wide banner ad above the header on their front page. It’s also a good place to put your “About” and “Contact” links.
2. Super headers are unobtrusive. If you’ve got some links that you need to publish like terms of service or affiliate information, you’ll want them to be out of the way yet accessible. A super header is a great tool for accomplishing this. Mashable uses their super header for this purpose.
3. Meta navigation. A super header is a great place to put links for logging in to a service or managing user accounts. Google has been using their super header in this way for quite a while. Between the super header on all Blogspot blogs and their placement of their login links, I actually think Google is responsible for the growing use of this design element.
Cons:
1. Easy to ignore. The only real problem I have with super headers is that they have a tendency to blend in with my browser’s toolbars. For example, when I signed up to use Feedburner to publish my RSS feed, I had very little trouble navigating their site. But when I returned to check my stats a few days later, it took me a good minute or two to find the very tiny, very gray super header with the login link. I passed right over it because it blended in with my browser. A good rule of thumb for super header backgrounds is to go bright or go white. Avoid patterns and muted colors.
Fat Footers
While I don’t have any plans to add a super header to One Thing New any time soon, I am strongly considering developing a fat footer. I’ve seen these used on sites like lifehack.org, Bokardo, digg and others to add lists of links, tag clouds, and other data to the bottom of their pages.
Pros:
1. Where am I, again? If your blog front page is super long, having a fat footer with your logo repeated and some basic navigational links makes sense. By the time someone gets to the end of your 10th post, it’s nice to remind them where they are and reinforce your brand.
2. Come back again. Your fat footer is an excellent place to put subscription options for your readers. Besides having a big RSS link at the top of your sidebar or somewhere equally prominent, you can add a ton of subscription chicklets to other services in your footer. That way, your sidebar stays uncluttered, but you’re still offering the option to your readers.
3. Recommended surfing. Let’s say your blog isn’t the only Web site you are affiliated with. Your fat footer is the perfect place to promote your other ventures. If someone has read your blog to the end, they’ll see your links to other offerings and might continue their infatuation with your content.
Cons:
1. No really, where am I? If you don’t reiterate your brand in your footer, your readers won’t know or care what they’re looking at, and they’ll gloss right over it. Also, using your footer to display ads is a bad idea. That’s not the last image you want your readers to take away from your site.
2. Location, location, location. In case you’ve forgotten, the footer is at the dead bottom of your page. Eight times in 10 your readers won’t scroll that far down — especially if you have your blog set up to post multiple stories on the front page. So, make sure you don’t put any vital information in your fat footer. Things you put down there should be semi-redundant, meaning the things you link to in your footer can be found in more prominent places on your page. Or as I mentioned with the subscription links, offer one option up top and put add ons in the footer.
Again, both super headers and fat footers can be beneficial if used properly. Keep your eyes peeled for a fatter footer on this site in the next couple of weeks.
