Blogussion » favicon

Branding Battle: Favicon to the Rescue

Seth — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:41:30 +0000

Branding is an essential part of blogging and includes developing a recognizable product, service or blog.

Most good companies not only have a product that you can recognize as a customer but also a logo or icon. For instance, if I told you to tell me what the logo for Google was you could probably draw it. Same goes with Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook, and Digg logos. Their logos are easy to remember and are as important to their brand as the product itself.

An important and easy way to build a stronger brand around your blog is by creating a favicon.

Branding: Favicon to the Rescue

To learn about Branding be sure to start with SEOBook’s article two best articles on the subject [#1 and #2] and some of their suggested reading.

On Blogussion we have talked a lot about marketing but building a brand is a bit more than that. So far you can learn about ways to build your brand through WordPress back-end branding, brand building over instant messaging or through guest posting. This post is one more step to building a successful and long-term brand: the Favicon.

What is a Favicon?

So far the only time we have mentioned favicons at Blogussion is to discuss Google’s favicon. What a favicon is will be easiest to understand if you see it. For example here is Blogussion’s favicon:

It can be seen at the top of your browser’s screen or tab next to the title of your current open screen. Right now you should see our red and white favicon at the top of your screen.

To be clear then, a favicon is a small image or icon [16 pixels by 16 pixels] that automatically loads with each page or post on your blog or website. If you do not have a custom favicon for your site your web browser (Firefox [recommended], Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer [not recommended]) will create one.

In summary I am writing an entire post about a 16px by 16px image. Read why they matter though…

Why Do Favicons Matter?

Brands are built around awesome images no matter the size. Every time someone lands on a page or post of your blog they will see the favicon you have installed. Your brand is one more step clearer to them and they not only get the benefit of seeing it and connecting the image with your other products and pages but also never get confused about where they are.

Your job as a blogger is to make the reader of the best experience possible. I know for myself that I never have just one tab opened in my web browser but sometimes up to a dozen. The sites with favicons always are faster to locate, better bookmarked, and clicked on more. For example, in my bookmarks only the blogs with favicons are easily recognizable in my toolbars and drop down menus.

You see I am a visual person and I associate images instantly with everything I read or see. A favicon for me goes a long way and helping me remember your site. Many other people are just like me and having images associated with your blog really helps.

What Do Good Favicons Look Like?

I found a nice collage of favicons from many of the bigger blogs and websites. Some of these are not that special and others are very nice looking. To help you understand what is nice be sure to check out Remarkable Favicons [broken down into symbols and typography] and also a Favicon Review [includes commentary]. Which ones below do you like?

How Do I Make Favicons?

This part is less difficult than you may have ever realized. There are dozens of favicon generators where you can either draw the favicon yourself using their pixel art applications or turn an image into a 16px icon file. Here’s some quick resources to get started.

How to Create a Favicon

Create a favicon (Use one of the generators listed below)
Upload favicon.ico to root directory
Copy and Paste the code to header (head) section:
Reload your sites and finish! (note: it may take a few hours for the favicon to appear)

Favicon.cc [Recommended]

Favicon Tool

WebScriptLab – Favicon Generator

Once you have installed your favicon on your blog you are finished. Your brand is better and your blog is more recognizable. By the way, your favicon will look especially nice with Blogussion’s new Thesis Skin as its home. Check it out!

What do you think about favicons? Is there anything you would add? How about any other branding tools to improve your blogging?

Why Google’s new favicon gets more attention than your blog

Alex — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:00:28 +0000

As I’m sure you have noticed, Google has gotten a new favicon. It has gotten a lot of attention on the web, and even TechCrunch wrote a post about it. How is it that a stupid little thing such as a new favicon can spark so much discussion throughout the web? And why isn’t it that your blog is getting talked about on big blogs like TechCrunch?

The answer I’m going to give you for that question is not because Google is the most visited site on the internet because that would be really boring and wouldn’t make much of a great blog post (no matter how true it is).

Google has helped people in the past. It continues to do so now, just like it will be doing tomorrow

Bottom Line: Google isn’t going anywhere. If I asked you when Google will shut down, you would tell me “Never”. If I asked you when a starting blogger will close their blog, you would probably tell me “Within its first month”. But what does any of that have to do with Google’s new favicon?

Google provides users with consistent and accurate information

Every time you search on Google, you get search results. Google provides you with 3rd party content, and it is by far the most accurate search engine to date. You can’t just leave a company who gives like that alone. Everything they do has to be written about and criticized.

They’re always working to give their users more: New Services, Upgrades to current services, etc.

They’re like a giant blog (excluding their “official” blog), they’re always updating and improving how their readers learn and use their system. If your blog can do that, then success can (not always) come. Obviously I’m not talking about creating web tools like they do, and I’m definitely not saying your site will grow as big as Google.

Because Google always keeps their user base updated with current web standards, and setting them, they got where they are now. That’s what you should be doing in your blog: setting a standard on how content should be reached across to different readers.

Like all news stories, you want to be the first one to report it

News spreads like wildfire on the Internet. They say that you should always try to be the first one to report on a potentially top story. Being the first to blog about it could result in sending pings/trackbacks to other blogs (which can bring you traffic, and other things), getting linked to from other blogs, and plenty of other scenarios.

So with that information, you want to be the one to tell the web about this story. A story about that humongous web beast called Google will surely do great as Google is a resource that everyone uses, and will be something you will undoubtedly go back to when they have a question.

An example of being the first one to write about a news, take the release of WordPress 2.7. Before Janith and I merged our blogs, I had written a post about the WordPress 2.7. My blog (kolakube.com) was the first one to send the WordPress Development blog a pingback. As a result, I got some decent traffic.

So imagine getting a link to an article on the Official Google Blog and all the traffic that could come your way.

How can I apply all of that information to my blog?

We all know in reality that Google getting a new favicon isn’t anything special. It’s just how people react to it, making it a bigger deal than it should truly be.

The point I have been trying to get across in this whole post is this: if you want your blog to get talked about on the web, just be a great blogger. Use the information I highlighted above and apply it to your blog. Just to sum up what was covered:

Provide users with consistent and accurate information.
Simply enough, keep writing up to date, useful information.
Always work for more.
Keep messing with your design until it’s perfect. Always write new posts, build a strong social media profile. Work like you’ve never worked before, and don’t live in another bloggers shadow.
Break the news.
Blog your way to the top of the trackback lists. Always report on topics in your niche, and you could get noticed if you provide the most useful information in your story.

If the web isn’t talking about your blog, then go out there and get them talking! Even if it’s about you having the best designed favicon, when the web talks about you, you will certainly feel the impact!

Official GOOGLE SEO Guide Released!