Adding widget area

Hi,

I would like to add an extra widget area (with a call to action) before the footer widgets in my child theme?

What would be the best way to do that?

As in, should I simply use "register_sidebar" in functions.php and then add_action hooking it to "generate_before_footer" or is there a better way to do that (specifically, it would be really cool to have the possibility to add a "section" sitewide and not only page by page)?

Thanks,
Luca