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January 29, 2022How to Optimize Your Favicon for SEO
There are a lot of different factors that influence an SEO campaign.
Some are major and some are minute.
The point is that all of these factors work together in ensuring the success of your SEO.
With that said, one of the most overlooked characteristics of a website is the favicon.
In fact, people barely notice it on their browser, believing that it’s irrelevant to its success.
In reality, a favicon is very important for a website.
In this article, you’re going to learn exactly what a favicon is and why it’s beneficial to your website & SEO success.
Table of Contents
What is a Favicon?
A favicon is a small graphic image that appears next to the website’s title in your browser tab. It can be any number of different sizes, but usually, it’s 16×16 pixels and shown on the left side with no background color.
The history of favicons is very interesting. The first favicon was for the internet browser called Safari. It looked like a book and had no background color because it was made out of paper.
The Purpose of Favicons
A favicons’ purpose is to quickly identify your site in tabs as well as on bookmarking sites, such as Delicious or Google Bookmarks, to make them easier to find later by looking at the images rather than scrolling through long lists of titles that are hard to remember.
Do Favicons Impact a Website’s Ranking?
Many people think that favicons do not impact a website’s ranking, but in reality when you look at it from the perspective of an SEO campaign there are many factors. With that said, they don’t have any direct effect on your rankings and they’re only for aesthetic purposes.
The bottom line is that favicons are important for SEO because if properly designed, will present your site as more professional to consumers looking through tabs or bookmarking sites.
From time to time, Google has actually included favicons to the left of the title tag in search results. In such instances, a quality favicon can help increase click-throughs, but this has not always been the case.
Should You Create a Favicon for Your Website?
If you don’t currently have a favicon for your site, then the answer is yes. It’s an easy and cheap way to make your website stand out from others that are just stock photography or another type of design with a focus on SEO.
One important thing about designing your own favicons (in conjunction with your web design): they should be unique and high quality because they actually do impact people’s opinion on what sites look professional. You want them to think “wow this looks really good” when looking at yours in contrast with some generic pictures or clipart that everyone has used before.
How to Design the Right Favicon for Your Business
Now that you know what a favicon is and how important it is for your website and SEO campaign, the next phase is creating one. Luckily, there are a lot of online tools for creating favicons and the process is pretty simple.
Here are all of the things you should know when designing the right favicon for your business:
Make Your Favicon Instantly Recognizable
Develop an icon that is immediately recognizable. If you’re a dentist, don’t use a picture of someone’s teeth brushing their teeth – because people will associate it with toothpaste or mouthwash and not your website.
Keep It Simple
When designing your favicon, make sure to keep the design simple so that it can be read easily on all devices such as smartphones or tablets. The simpler the better!
Don’t Use Clipart Images
You want to have something original when creating your favicon instead of using clip art images from Google search results which everyone has already seen before. You want yours to stand out in contrast with other businesses. So, avoid any generic pictures like clouds or trees when creating a favicon.
Use Your Logo
If you already have a logo for your company then it might be best to use that in order to get the most out of this process.
Coloring Your Favicon
If you are designing an icon based on your own design, make sure not to forget about color because favicons can only display one or two colors maximum.
Create Multiple Versions
It’s always a good idea to create multiple versions of your favicon with different text and colors so that you can make sure it stands out and looks visually appealing in various contexts.
Use Online Resources
There are several tools you can use to create a favicon for your website. Tools like Canva and Paint are some examples of the resources you can use to create the perfect favicon.
Get Professional Help
If you’re unsure of what to even do when creating a favicon, then consider hiring a professional designer or use an online service.
When it comes down to it, the best thing about having a favicon for your website is that they don’t have any direct effect on your rankings and are only for aesthetics purposes.
With that said, designing one will present your site as more professional and trustworthy in comparison with generic stock photography or clipart images that everyone has seen before.
Will Internet Users Really Remember a Favicon?
The answer to this is definitely yes! People will remember a favicon more readily than they would a company logo. So, when designing your favicons, make them recognizable and memorable so that people see them – even if they don’t land on the URL directly.
How Much Does It Cost To Design or Create A Favicon?
A lot of times you can design your own favicon for free using online tools like Paint or Canva but if you need professional help then expect to pay around $200-$300 depending on where you get the service from.
Do You Need Help With Developing a Website Favicon?
If you’re here, then chances are that you likely don’t have the time to create your website’s favicon. You may not even want to be involved with the process. If so, then we’d love to speak with you.
Do you want assistance in creating a favicon for your website? We’re the SEO company that can help! Contact us today to speak to a member of our team to learn more about how we can help. You’ll also receive a free proposal to kickstart your SEO campaign and start leading potential customers to your website.
Over the years he's written for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications. Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.
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