TL;DR
- Favicons are not direct ranking factors for SEO.
- However, they can indirectly impact your website’s SEO through user experience, branding, and click-through rate (CTR).
- A well-designed favicon enhances professionalism and makes your site more recognizable.
- Improved CTR from having a favicon could boost your rankings indirectly.
- Creating and uploading a favicon is simple and should be part of your branding strategy.
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When optimizing your website for search engines, small details often play big roles.
Favicons, the tiny icons displayed next to your website’s name in browser tabs, bookmarks, and search results, are often overlooked. While favicons don’t directly influence your website’s SEO rankings, their indirect benefits can contribute to your site’s overall success.
So, does a favicon affect SEO? No. But let’s explore how we can use them to our advantage.
Is a Favicon a Ranking Factor for SEO?
Nope! You don’t have to worry about favicons when it comes to ranking within search engines.
HOWEVER, having a favicon is highly recommended as a branding, visualization, and professionalism factor.
AND having one COULD increase your CLICK-THROUGH RATE (CTR), which IS a ranking factor!
Just because it differentiates you from your competition should be reason enough to always make sure you have one.
Benefits of Favicons
Even though favicons aren’t direct ranking factors, they can indirectly influence SEO by improving various aspects of your website.
- Enhanced User Experience: A well-designed favicon makes your website easily recognizable. This can help users quickly find your site among open tabs or in their browser history. Familiarity with your favicon strengthens brand recognition, which can lead to more return visits.
- Increased Professionalism: Favicons add a touch of professionalism. They make your website appear polished and credible, which can influence user perception and trust when they see your site in bookmarks or search results.
- Improved Click-Through Rate (CTR): When search engines display favicons alongside title tags in results, a well-designed favicon can catch the user’s eye. This boost in CTR can contribute to higher rankings over time.
- Better Website Usability: Favicons make bookmarking your website easier and improve usability by visually identifying your site. Good usability often translates to better engagement metrics, which search engines value.
- Avoiding Crawl Errors: Google automatically looks for a favicon at https://www.yoursite.com/favicon.ico when it crawls your website. If the favicon is missing, it generates 404 errors for every page, which could clutter your site’s crawl report.
- Boosted Branding and Credibility: Favicons are integral to website branding. They help users remember your site and differentiate it from competitors. Strong branding increases user trust, and trust influences how users interact with your site.
Uses of Favicons
Favicons have practical applications:
- Browser Tabs: Help users identify and switch between tabs easily.
- Bookmarks: Allow users to quickly recognize your site in their saved links.
- Search Results: Displayed beside your site name, they can catch a potential visitor’s attention.
- Mobile Devices: Favicons appear as icons when users save your site to their home screen.
How To Create a Favicon
Creating a favicon is easier than you think! You can use free or paid tools to design one that aligns with your branding.
Through Canva
- Open Canva and create a custom design with dimensions of 512×512 pixels.
- Add your logo or create a new design.
- Download the design as a .png.
Through Photoshop
- Open Photoshop and create a new document with dimensions 512×512 pixels.
- Design your favicon.
- Save the file as .ico.
What Size Should a Favicon Be?
The standard size for a favicon is 16×16 pixels, but you should design it at 512×512 pixels for better quality and scalability. Some platforms, like WordPress, want it to be larger.
When uploaded, platforms will resize it appropriately.
How To Upload a Favicon
Uploading a favicon varies depending on the platform you use.
WordPress
- Go to Appearance > Customize > Site Identity.
- Upload your favicon under “Site Icon.”
Squarespace
- Navigate to Settings > Website > Favicon.
- Upload your favicons.
Showit
- In the Site Settings, go to the Site Info section.
- Upload your favicon file and save your changes.
Wix
- Go to the Website Settings menu in your site’s dashboard.
- Upload your favicon and click save.
Shopify
- Navigate to Online Store > Themes in the admin dashboard.
- Click Customize next to your active theme.
- Go to the Theme Settings tab and locate the “Favicon” section.
- Upload your favicon and save your changes.
Drupal
- Go to Appearance > Settings for your active theme.
- Scroll to the “Shortcut Icon Settings” section.
- Upload your favicon file and save the configuration.
Webflow
- In your Project Settings, go to the General tab.
- Find the Favicon section.
- Upload your favicon file and save your settings.
Branding is Important Despite Not Being a Ranking Factor
Even though favicons aren’t direct ranking factors, their influence on branding and user behavior makes them a vital part of your website strategy. They enhance your site’s credibility, improve user experience, and can even indirectly impact your rankings through higher engagement and CTR.
Creating and uploading a favicon is a small step that can have a big impact on your site’s professionalism and performance.
So just do it! Make sure your site has a favicon! Go. Go get one uploaded right now. Seriously, GO!!!
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