How Important Favicons are for SEO
In case you don’t know, favicons are those tiny images that you can see on the browser tabs, bookmarks, history, ads and even on search results. It might just be a teeny tiny piece of graphic but it holds a very important role in your site’s SEO. Yes, a favicon is more than just a tiny logo. More than just a web design trend, favicons have utterly influenced online branding in a low-key, but powerful way.
What are Favicons
Favicons are a 16×16 pixel small icon that is usually made up of your logo, your site’s first letter, or something that represents what your site is all about. The image file is then renamed into “favicon.ico” and is placed on your site’s root directory.
The favicon was specially made for bookmarked URLs only. However, it was deemed as a very helpful tool, especially in branding your site. That is why it has already been incorporated directly into the search result, and right beside the website’s name on the tabs while browsing.
Uses of Favicons
Site recognition
Favicons play a very important role in making your website and your brand recognisable. It helps users remember your website by just simply remembering the most recognizable image they found on your site, exploiting the fact that graphics can be perceived by our brains better than text.
Credibility of site
Web browsers usually show a default image or a blank document on websites that don’t have a favicon. Your site will also be skipped if your competitors on the search results page have one. That is because users usually go for websites that are professionally-built, hence part of that is having a favicon.
Easier to access
Since graphics can be more easily perceived that text, users tend to just remember a website based on its favicon. Much like a useful paperclip stamped with your own branding.
The usefulness of Favicons in SEO
Truth be told, there are no direct effects on your site’s SEO or ranking if you have favicons. However, some indirect benefits can be garnered from favicons.
Having a very user-friendly site makes your SEO ranking go up a notch. SO, if your website has a favicon next to it, then users can easily access and open your site on browser tabs, bookmarks, history, and many more. This way, users can save time in identifying and browsing your site without any hassle, thus increasing your site’s SEO and search ranking.
Frequently bookmarked websites earn more SEO points than those that aren’t. If your site is frequently accessed through bookmarks, and if your site can be easily identified through its favicons, then your SEO will surely increase.
How to create a favicon for your site
There’s a lot of tools online for you to create a favicon for your site. In just minutes, you and your site visitors will love the new favicon on your site. If you want an even better favicon for your website, then you might also want an animated favicon and favicons with transparent backgrounds.
Favicons might just comprise only a small part of your site’s overall design and branding, but it has a very big contribution to your site’s ranking in the search results. Having a favicon on your site is like having a signal beacon, a Bat signal if you may, and this leads many users to click on the browser tab to where your site is.
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