You may have never heard of favicons ( or ‘favorite icon’ ) but chances are you’ve seen them everywhere! Nearly all of the websites you visit have that nifty little icon that appears in the URL bar of your internet browser. So, what is a favicon and why should you care? They may seem like an inconsequential detail, afterall, they are only small icons ( 16×16 pixels to be exact ) depicting a logo or brand related image, but in actuality, they affect more than you might think.
Impact on SEO
There are rumours that favicons have an impact on your overall SEO success, but there isn’t actually much evidence of this. But that certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t important. As we previously mentioned, favicons appear in the URL bar of your browser but they also appear in places like your bookmarks, browser history, and most importantly, in your browser tabs right next to the page title.
Many people (especially us!) browse the internet with a plethora of tabs open and it’s very easy to get lost when clicking back and forth between multiple windows. This is one of the reasons why favicons are so essential – they help the user find and navigate to the exact web browser tab they are looking for with a quick glance! Our brains respond faster to images, so a little pop of color or a recognizable symbol will stand out much better than trying to read through twenty tabs of tiny text titles alone.
Scanning through folders and folders of bookmarks would also be more taxing if it weren’t for those easily recognizable favicons that draw our eyes right to them. It saves everyone time and also adds that touch of professionalism that, if missing, just leaves the whole website feeling a little incomplete.
If you Skip it, People will Notice
If your website does not have a designated favicon, you will get stuck with a generic, boring symbol supplied by the browser, or the default icon of the website’s hosting company or possibly the icon of the software used to build the website. To the seasoned end user, this sticks out like a sore thumb and can make your brand seem less professional.
We at Maven Web Design & Development (MavenDD) understand the importance of the little things. Our team ensures that all websites we design and build for our clients have a custom Favicon to match your logo and branding. Your very own little 16×16 pixel slice of the internet browser for all your online visitors! Now that you know what favicons are and why they are beneficial, you will be more likely to notice them on all of your favorite websites!
