A Great Newcomer Tutorial to Favicons
TechsPlace | Everyone should be aware of those little icons that appear next to a website’s URL. While they might not seem like that big of a deal on the surface, the reality is quite different. Stemming from the term “favorite icons”, favicons play a much bigger role in your overall brand, business, and all that.
If you have not had an opportunity to give that one a serious thought, this article should provide you with more than enough information and really show just how much of a difference it can mean to have not just any, but a very good favicon.
Creating a Favicon
It is no secret that most brands simply resize their current logo and use that as a favicon. This one is definitely a good choice, even more so if your logo is already recognizable by people all over the internet. Being consistent helps immensely in this regard.
However, not everyone is on the same boat, so it is natural that designing a favicon from scratch is also one of the options.
You can create a website icon with a favicon generator. This one is extra great for those who are not that great when it comes to graphic design in general. Of course, you can always hire a freelancer to create something from scratch. It all comes down to your budget and whether you want to entrust this into someone else’s hands.
What Makes a Good Favicon?
In case you are going for something original, you should keep in mind that straying too far from your original logo is a bad idea. Like already mentioned, you want something that still reminds others of your already-existing logo.
Putting two different things that confuse your customers will only bring your overall score in the marketing game downwards. Things are different if you do not have a logo and want to start with a favicon.
As for designing, well, the first thing to note is that you are working with very little space, to begin with. This gives you very little room to make something that stands out, so most favicons happen to be on a minimalistic side of things.
“Simple is best”. These three words are always worth remembering. Instead of putting too much on the plate of your visitors, why not give them something easy to digest?
Color coordination and abbreviating letters are also a quite common practice. You do not need to look too far to see that this is the case. Facebook, Google, NBC, BBC, Twitter, etc.
Uploading a Favicon
When you have a favicon up and ready to upload, you should go for it without waiting. As most people have a WordPress website, it is worth telling how to get your favicon on that. And even if you are using a different CMS, things should be more or less similar.
You will have to go to the dashboard and locate “Appearances”. After clicking on it, there should be something along the lines of “Website’s Look”, “Site’s Identity”, “Site’s Logo”, etc.
When you select that, you will notice an option to upload a favicon, except that instead of favicons it might be called the website’s logo. Once you are finished uploading, click to save the changes and refresh your website. The favicon should be visible. If it is not, clear the cache and try again.
Using a dashboard is not the only method. If you have a theme or a plugin that allows uploading a favicon directly, use that. Ultimately, it all comes down to personal preference.
The Importance of a Favicon
All that trouble for nothing, right? These are the thoughts that some people have. But the reality is quite different.
Adding a favicon might seem like a small step, but it still leads to a lot of positives. A visual marker, no matter how insignificant it may appear, still holds value.
SEO
While not directly, favicons still have an impact on search engine optimization. How? To begin with, a favicon is something that an average person on the internet expects to see. Not meeting these expectations will lead to less frequent visits.
The time your customers spend on a website influences SEO. It is quite an important indicator.
Bookmarks
Whenever someone bookmarks a website, he or she has a much easier time finding the said website by looking at a favicon instead of reading through all the URLs. That is because people have a much easier time with visuals rather than text.
Brand Awareness
Finally, one has to understand how important raising brand awareness is nowadays. Every inch matters when you are against tough competition. Not having a favicon on your website will simply look too weird. At the same time, it helps others recognize you for who you are and spread the word, raising brand awareness this way.
This article is contributed by guest author on techsplace.com.
