Looking Professional with Your Favicon Brings Traffic
27-Apr-2010
Sometimes things look a whole lot more complicated than they are.
And when you find out how to do it, you have one of those great “aha” moments. You just couldn’t believe it could be that easy.
So let’s look at just a little thing that can make you look like a real professional, and even cause visitors to keep coming back because you will be more memorable to them.
Is there really anything that is that simple?
The answer is categorically yes!
First, look at the top of this web page. In your browser tab or your browser search window where you type in the web page address.
Do you see the little picture there?
Those little pictures are called favicons (which means favorite icon). The are used to put an image to your favorites tags, and they make your web page more identifiable with your viewers.
In general, visitors tend to think of a website as being more professional when they see a favicon. It’s a fact. And the image of professionalism plays a roll in keeping your visitors coming back. Particularly when they bookmark your site. Your image will be visible in the bookmark…
You will be more memorable than some site with the “blank page” favicon present.
This will increase your targeted traffic by increasing the number of return viewers.
I bet you think you have to know some super secret skill to get one. Well, it’s definitely not true and you can have one up in a matter of minutes on your website.
Here’s what you do…
Find the image you want to use. It can be a jpg, gif, png, bmp, or ico type file extension. The picture can be any picture you like.
Then go to …
… and upload you picture in the “Source image” bar in the center of the page. Be sure to select the “16×16” favicon size. That’s considered the standard for Web browsers and works the best. Then click the “Generate Favicon” button.
Now you have the Favicon.
How to install your Favicon
Installing it and making it present for Firefox browsers is very simple. Upload the file – be sure it is named favicon.ico — to the root directory of your website. That’s it. It will now be seen by any Firefox browser.
Go ahead, check it out. Load your page in Firefox. You may need to refresh the page to see the new favicon.
For Internet Explorer you have to do a little techy step. Just do this.
- Open your index.html or index.php file in your favorite html editor or notepad.
- Find the <head> and </head> tags (these are at the top of your web page)
- Insert the following between those tags <link rel=”shortcut icon” type=”image/x-icon” href=”/favicon.ico”>
Now it will work in your IE browser and some other browser types.
Yes it’s true, you don’t need things like this to get traffic to your site initially. But if you have a blog, or a site that continuously updates information (and you should), then having these simple little things actually make a difference in how memorable your site is, and how often your visitors return.
You do want them to come back and visit – right? I know I certainly want you to come back.
To your success.
– Wayne Sharer
International speaker, author, and entrepreneur. Retired navy officer, former commanding officer. Over 35 years of leading, coaching, mentoring, and speaking.