How to Add Scrollable Sticky Links to Your Blogger Website
A sticky scrollable link bar — a slim row of navigation links pinned to the bottom of the screen that stays visible while a visitor scrolls, and scrolls horizontally on mobile — makes it easier for readers to jump between key pages (Home, categories, About, Contact) without hunting through a menu. Here’s how to add one to a Blogger site, including the footer-overlap issue that trips up most people the first time.
The Short Version
- A small HTML/CSS/JavaScript snippet added before the closing body tag creates the sticky link bar
- Links are fully customizable — point them at your homepage, category pages, or any static page
- On mobile, the bar becomes horizontally scrollable so it doesn’t wrap awkwardly on a narrow screen
- The most common issue after adding it: the sticky bar overlaps your existing footer content, which is fixed with one padding adjustment
Step 1: Back Up Your Template
Go to Theme → Backup/Restore and download your current template before making any changes, so you can fully revert if something doesn’t look right afterward.
Step 2: Add the Sticky Link Bar Code
Go to Theme → Edit HTML, find the closing </body> tag, and paste this code just before it:
<style>
#sticky-link-bar {
position: fixed;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
display: flex;
overflow-x: auto;
white-space: nowrap;
background: #fff;
border-top: 1px solid #e0e0e0;
padding: 10px 12px;
z-index: 999;
}
#sticky-link-bar a {
margin-right: 18px;
text-decoration: none;
font-size: 14px;
flex-shrink: 0;
}
</style>
<div id="sticky-link-bar">
<a href="/">Home</a>
<a href="/search/label/blogging">Blogging</a>
<a href="/p/about-us.html">About</a>
<a href="/p/contact-us.html">Contact</a>
<a href="/p/privacy-policy.html">Privacy Policy</a>
</div>Step 3: Customize the Links
Replace each href value with your own page or category URL, and change the visible text between the tags to match. To add another link, duplicate one of the existing <a> lines; to remove one, delete its line entirely. On mobile, if the links don’t all fit on screen, the bar scrolls horizontally automatically thanks to the overflow-x: auto rule — no extra setup needed for that.
Step 4: Fix the Footer Overlap (Important)
Because the sticky bar is fixed to the bottom of the screen, it will sit on top of your site’s existing footer content, potentially hiding footer links or copyright text behind it. To fix this, add bottom padding to your footer wrapper so there’s clear space above it:
- Right-click your footer area and choose “Inspect” to find its wrapper element ID (commonly something like
#footer-wrapper) - In Theme → Edit HTML, search for that same ID in your CSS section
- Add a line like
padding-bottom: 60px;inside that rule - Save and check both desktop and mobile — the exact pixel value depends on your sticky bar’s height, so adjust until the footer is no longer covered
A Realistic Example
A recipe or how-to blog with a handful of core destinations — Home, Recipes, About, Contact — benefits from this more than a text menu buried in a hamburger icon, since the links stay one tap away no matter how far down the page a reader has scrolled.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Bar doesn’t appear at all | Confirm the code was pasted before the closing </body> tag, not inside a <head> section |
| Links overlap footer text | Increase the padding-bottom value on your footer wrapper (Step 4) |
| Bar looks fine on desktop but breaks on mobile | Confirm overflow-x: auto and white-space: nowrap are both present in the CSS — removing either breaks the horizontal scroll behavior |
| Bar covers a floating chat widget or other fixed element | Adjust the z-index values so both elements stack in the order you want |
Why Add a Sticky Link Bar
A sticky link bar keeps your most important actions — social profiles, a key landing page, a contact link, an affiliate offer — visible no matter how far a visitor scrolls, instead of buried in a header they have already scrolled past. On mobile especially, where screen space is limited and the header disappears on scroll on most Blogger themes, this is often the only persistent navigation a reader sees for the rest of their visit. Sites that rely on click-through to a specific destination (an email signup, a shop link, a social profile) tend to see more engagement with a persistent bar than with links buried only in the header or sidebar.
Choosing What Goes in the Bar
Resist the urge to add every link you have. A sticky bar works because it is short and scannable — three to five links maximum is the practical ceiling before it starts competing with itself for attention. Prioritize:
- The single action you most want a visitor to take (subscribe, shop, contact)
- Your most active social platform, not every platform you have an account on
- A search or “start here” link if your blog has enough archive depth that new visitors need orientation
Mobile-Specific Considerations
A sticky bar that works fine on desktop can behave differently on a small screen — test specifically on mobile rather than assuming desktop testing covers it:
- Thumb reach — position matters more on mobile; a bar pinned to the bottom of the screen is easier to tap one-handed than one pinned to the top, which is why many mobile app-style patterns default to bottom placement.
- Icon size — links that are comfortably clickable with a mouse cursor can be too small to tap reliably with a thumb. Aim for touch targets of at least 44 pixels, a common mobile accessibility guideline.
- Keyboard overlap — if your site has a comment form or search box, check that the sticky bar does not overlap the on-screen keyboard or an open input field when a visitor is typing on mobile.
Will a sticky link bar hurt my Core Web Vitals or page experience scores?
Not if implemented correctly — a lightweight CSS-based sticky bar has negligible performance cost. What can hurt scores is a bar that causes layout shift (content jumping as the page loads) or one that covers content in a way Google’s page-experience signals flag as an intrusive interstitial. Keep the bar’s height fixed and small, and avoid anything that blocks the main content area, and it should not register as a problem.
Can I show different links on different pages?
Yes — using Blogger’s conditional tags (the same `b:if` pattern used to target specific pages elsewhere on the site), you can swap which links appear based on page type. A common pattern is showing a “back to homepage” link on individual posts but omitting it on the homepage itself, or showing category-specific links only within that category’s archive pages.
How do I remove the bar later if I change my mind?
Since the setup only involves adding a CSS/HTML block to your template rather than modifying existing theme files, removal is simply deleting that same block you added — go back to Theme → Edit HTML, find the code you pasted in during Step 2, and delete it, then save. Because Step 1 has you back up the original template first, you also always have the option of restoring that backup if anything about the removal feels uncertain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the sticky bar cover my content while reading?
It sits in a thin strip at the very bottom of the screen, so it doesn’t cover the main reading area — just be sure to complete the footer-padding fix in Step 4 so it doesn’t overlap footer content specifically.
Can I change how many links appear?
Yes — add or remove <a> lines freely. On mobile, more links simply mean more horizontal scrolling within the bar rather than the layout breaking.
Does this work with every Blogger theme?
The HTML/CSS/JavaScript approach works independently of your specific theme, though the exact footer wrapper ID in Step 4 can vary — inspect your own footer’s HTML if the default selector doesn’t match.
Can I style the bar to match my site’s colors?
Yes — the background color, border, text size, and spacing in the CSS block can all be adjusted to match your existing design.
Is this the same as a bottom mobile app-style navigation bar?
Conceptually similar, yes — this is essentially a lightweight, code-based version of the bottom tab bars common in mobile apps, adapted for a Blogger website’s navigation needs.
The Bottom Line
A sticky, scrollable link bar is a small addition that noticeably improves navigation on a content-heavy Blogger site, especially on mobile. The one step people skip and regret is the footer-padding fix — without it, the bar will sit on top of your existing footer links and hide them from view.
