The footer credit: how a small studio earns its next client
Scroll to the bottom of almost any website and you will find a small line crediting whoever built it. It is one of the oldest habits in web design, and one of the least examined. Who benefits from it, and by how much?
At ARTH the line reads “Designed & developed by ARTH” and links to this site. This post covers what we think that line does, what it does not do, and what a business should settle before agreeing to one.
What a credit link is for
For the studio, it is a way to be found by people who already like the work. A visitor who admires a site can see who made it and click through, which is the same logic as a painter signing a canvas. For the client it costs a few words in the footer, provided the line is small and does not pull attention from the page.
It also acts as proof of delivery. Anyone can claim to build websites. A link from a live, working site shows that one exists and that its owner was content to have the studio's name on it.
What it does not do for search
It is tempting to treat footer credits as an SEO tactic, but they are a weak one. The same link repeated on every page of a site is a sitewide link, and search engines generally give repeated footer links much less weight than a link someone chose to place inside an article. A credit can help a search engine discover a studio's site, but it will not carry rankings on its own.
The honest value is referral traffic and credibility, not link equity. A studio that plans to rank on the strength of footer links is likely to be disappointed.
How we do it at ARTH
The credit appears in the footer of sites we have shipped recently, including Gishnu DriveTrain, Murvi FlowTech, Tapqode and Kitefolio, and it points to designedbyarth.com. The word ARTH cycles through six scripts: Latin, Devanagari, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Bengali. The word अर्थ, meaning purpose or worth, is shared by many Indian languages, so the animation shows it in several of them.
The animation is light CSS and respects the reduced-motion setting on a visitor's device, so it never gets in the way of reading the page.
What to agree before launch
If a studio asks for a credit, settle the terms before the project starts and put them in writing. Four questions cover most of it: where does the line sit and how large is it; does it link, and with what wording; can the client remove it later, and on what terms; and is it excluded from pages such as checkout and legal notices.
None of this is unreasonable to ask. Branded wording, such as the studio's name, is normal. Keyword-stuffed link text is what to avoid.
Make the destination worth the click
A credit only helps if the page behind it deserves the visit. Someone who has just used a fast, clear website and clicks the credit lands on the studio's own site, and if that site is slower or messier than the one they left, the credit works against the studio.
That is why this site is held to the same standard as the ones we build for clients, and why we measure it. See our notes on page speed for how.
Frequently asked questions
Is a footer credit good for SEO?
Not in a way that moves rankings. Repeated sitewide footer links carry little weight. The benefit is referral traffic and credibility.
Can I ask for the credit to be removed?
Ask before the project starts. Terms vary between studios, so agree them in writing rather than assuming.
Does a credit link slow my site?
No. It is a line of text and a link. Ours uses a small CSS animation that adds no meaningful load.
Should a credit link use nofollow?
Practice differs. A branded credit linking to the studio is common and accepted. The thing to avoid is keyword-stuffed anchor text across many sites.
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