Favicon Image and Proper Code

October 2nd, 2008 by Scott Hendison

Having a favicon makes your site stand out in someone’s web browser when they’re using tabbed browsing, making it easier for them to return. The favicon also shows up in the address bar next to your URL, and it will show up in their favorites when they bookmark your site.

Here are a couple of easy Favicon generators here and here that use your logo, and if you haven’t got a logo, you can be creative with this one. Once you have your favicon.ico file, upload it to the root, and you’re done.

Just having the favicon present isn’t enough though, and you need to add a little bit of code too.

Before the top <head> tag, place this in your code so that you’re telling the entire world that you have the favicon.ico and exactly where you’ve located it.

While I can offer no scientific proof, or qualified testing results that having a favicon.ico will improve your rankings, that is my belief. Why?

Because these extra steps that are helpful for your site visitor, and show that you’re making more of an effort than just slapping up a domain.

Would I rather have a favicon than a well anchored inbound link? Of course not. But as time marches on, I believe that the little things are going to make more of a difference, and showing that you care about your visitors is going to distinguish better quality sites.

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http://www.actualcures.com Roger

Websites using the rel= code should run faster since a search for the favicon isn’t needed. That should save some time, especially if the server is busy. One less task is always faster.
http://www.webcosmoforums.com/ Friendly webmaster forums

I believe facicon will be help in SEO. But it is a symbol of professionalism. Visitors will be more impressed seeing your logo in browser’s address bar.
It takes little time to implement this. So everyone should implement this.
http://www.gifteveryone.com GiftEveryOne

I think I should put it into my gifteveryone website..If it works I’ll continue it..One more que but..will I put it on the home page only or on every page of the site???

Scott

a single favicon usually would appear on every page…

http://www.articlesstop.info Dan

Am not sure if Favicon does help in SEO but I do believe that without a favicon a site would load faster.

Scott

That’s a valid point, but its a pretty tiny file. I still do think its s credibility signal, and if it’s your company logo, it might be a slightly stronger signal. No, i have nothing to back that up – just my gut. One of the most valuable things I heard at Pubcon this year over and over is something I’ve been thinking for years, which is “What would you do if you you were Google?”

http://SJTRUST.com Justin

Thank you for providing this excellent resource and instruction regarding favicon implementation. I did notice however, that when I use a domain name that is forwarded to my main website, the favicon does not appear when I arrive. Is this a masking issue?

http://seoautomatic.com Scott Hendison

That’s right – Not a “masking” issue, but no, you can’t use a domain name that’s forwarded… Just use that same domain and upload the favicon there too…

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Favicon Image and Proper Code