Mobile Site Footer Location

Question

I am developing a full on RWD with a very small footer. Footer contains only couple links which are orphan pages (FAQs, etc).

Our main target users will be accessing the site using iPhones (mostly), and we are optimizing for them. All pages are longer than iPhone 4/4S, but one of the sub-pages on the website has a very little content, which is less than 380 x 480 (iphone). See attached image.

My question is, for this unique case, should I show the footer so the users know that it's consistently there? or place the footer below the viewport so it's not interfering with the main content/info? My instinct says B.

Answer 1

Option B is a good choice if you have no important information. Copyright, trademark, etc. are needed things, but not necessary.

I have seen quite a few websites follow the B pattern. They get some additional space for the main content.

The disadvantage/advantage of this design is, the first time the user will end up scrolling (for regular people it's a habit to scroll on mobile pages) and once their mental model is fixed that there is no additional content below the fold they can use the site more effectively. Just make sure your design is consistent across pages.