A Guide To Favicons: Importance for SEO Strategies
By priyanaidu
Search Engine Optimization(SEO) and Favicons need to work together to make complete SEO successful for making any business website successful. So what is Favicons? We need to be clear about it.
What are Favicons?
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Favicons are 16X16 pixel images that help to represent or serve any company’s website or brand. It would be easy for the users to open your website by looking at Favicons of a company when multiple tabs are open in your web browser parallel. Favicons are not always logos, but they can be logos. They are usually acting as an identifier for any website. They are included in history results, tabs, toolbar, website, bookmark, and more.
Importance of Favicon for SEO:
Talking about the benefits of Favicons, it has enormous importance in a digital world where it acts as brand representation. Favicons don’t directly impact the SEO ranking of any website, but indirectly, they do significantly. The main benefit it gives is sudden accessibility of the website when multiple website tabs are open simultaneously, and this accessibility is directly linked with search engine ranking.
Whenever users want to identify any website quickly from history, bookmarks, browser tabs, etc., favicons help mainly on which user’s eye falls instantly even though it has less impact on SEO ranking but is still an essential aspect for SEO. Favicons mainly help in saving and bookmarking any website on the browser web.
It is also a simple and inexpensive way of promoting any company website. Users easily remember favicons of any brand because it becomes like photogenic memory to users. It also helps in creating website traffic. Its recall and recognition feasibility provide its much extent of SEO success.
What are other names of a favicon?
Some of the other names of Favicon are browser icon, shortcut icon, tab icon, URL icon, and bookmark icon. The favicon word is originated from “favorite icon” and emerged from Internet Explorer’s feature named “Favorites,” which maximum new upcoming browsers called “bookmarks.”
Favicon common sizes:
Favicon is designed to be square, whose ICO format recommended size can be 16X16,32X32 and 48X48 pixels. The possible recommended sizes are of two forms in PNG format, 16X16 and 32X32. And also, browsers have the property of accepting square PNG images of any kind.
History of Favicon:
As we know “favicon” word comprises two separate words, favorite and icon. It is named such because of one of the concepts put together by Microsoft Internet Explorer. One of the internet explorers, Internet Explorer 5, released in 1999, mainly uses files in shortcut icons in the rel element. During this time, Microsoft Internet Explorer competition with Netscape Navigator to get the market in control; meanwhile, Favicon provided the backbone to internet explorer and led Microsoft to catch the market.
The Microsoft company permitted its user to build websites in their favorites list by using favicons in their website so that users can navigate through many of the websites. The Favicon is provided the standard by W3C(World Wide Web Consortium). It is one of the identifying features of the browser. Favicons design involves creativity and fun to some extent.
How to design a favicon?
Favicon is indirectly an image that needs to be designed well according to use. Along with the design, the size of favicons is also vital through which it can be identified easily on seeing only by users. The design and size need to be adjustable to look quite appreciable in both types of screens, large or small. They are also used as shortcut icons, bookmark icons, or tab icons, so their design needs to be adequate according to purposes.
Firstly, favicons must be easily recognizable. It’s your choice to make favicons, but you need to prioritize that users can easily see them. Adding color and design other than making simple texts are preferred nowadays. Whatever you design, it should be attractive to users. For creating a favicon for any business brand promotion, the logo and symbol of the Favicon should be symbolized like that only.
So your logo will become your brand symbol and Favicon for the website. And the last and most important thing that needs to keep in mind is the clarity and transparency of your Favicon. Favicons are considered a modern tool for SEO ranking. It is not treated as a banner of announcement or price tag in any brand.
There are two versions of favicons, first has transparent background whose primary use is the URL bar and bookmarks lists. Another is a solid background mainly to get a continuous appearance on the browsers and devices.
Specifications of Favicon:
Sizes of a favicon are important while designing icons. Some of the standard favicons below, along with their sizes.
- A standard size of Favicon used in the browser is 16X16
- Taskbar shortcut icon sizes are about 32X32
- A common size for desktop shortcut icons is 96X96
How are Favicons helping SEO?
- Adding favicons in Google SEO improves visibility for users.
- It acts basically as a reminder for users where they stopped their previous purchasing, and also it gives the company offering idea in glance view.
- Sometimes company name is forgetful by users even the company is prominent, but the chances of forgetting their name are straightforward. Thus, favicons help SEO by offering users an instant reminder of the company.
How to make good Favicons?
Favicon is an image that is small but plays a vital role as we know. A good Favicon creates a long-lasting impression on users about your company and brand name.
Some of the crucial tips in making the best Favicon:
- Make Favicons that look pretty attractive and easily recognizable by users.
- Try to design your company or brand logo as your Favicon.
- Avoiding using text in Favicon, one need to make it a priority
- Please don’t use the photos in making favicons: it won’t be visible.
- Making favicons and designing them in a dark theme looks quite attractive, so choose a dark background.
How does Favicon show on search results?
For any Favicons to appear in search results, some of the Google recommended steps to the website owners are.
- First, create a favicon.
- The second step involves adding the tag to the header on the home page of your website by using the following syntax:
Making URL of Favicon, whether it is a relative or absolute path, the domain must be the same as the home page.
Conclusion:
Favicons are one of the essential tools, Adding along the side of the title of any website. It would be easy for users to identify the brand quickly. Their importance also lies in their capability of adding merits to the SEO ranking of any website.
