A favicon (short for favourite icon) is a colourful little symbol that is the branding that’s associated with a particular website. Although the name ‘favicon’ might not be familiar, most people will recognise what it is once it’s been pointed out to them.

Where can I see a favicon?

Depending on the browser you use, favicons will be seen in the following places:-

  • Next to the URL (website address) in the browser
  • Next to the website page title in browsers with multiple tabs showing
  • Next to the website’s name in a list of bookmarked sites (also known as ‘Favourites’)

Of course you don’t have to have a favicon for your website, but it’s that extra attention to detail that makes your site stand out above others.

Example of a favicon.

Example of the BBC’s favicon.

Examples of favicons in Bookmarks and Favourites lists.

Colourful favicons in a ‘Favourites’ list. All the sites shown here have their own favicons.

As you can see, it saves visitors a lot of time and effort if they can easily find your brand in their Favourites folder. Having your own favicon makes it much easier than scrolling through sites that have a blank icon next to them.

What happens if my site doesn’t have a favicon?

If a site doesn’t have its own favicon, a drab, universal blank icon will show up instead:

Standard favicon blank icon.

Check out the image (below) showing websites that do have favicons and you’ll spot the difference. You’ll see that I’ve thrown in some interesting links here, just to keep everyone awake!

Website favicons -v- default blank favicons.

WordPress site without a favicon? You’ve been rebranded!

Do you have a WordPress website? If so, the latest release of WordPress (April 2020) has given sites without their own favicons the default WordPress favicon instead. The ‘W’ stands for WordPress of course.

Default WordPress favicon.

Now this is something you really don’t want – someone else’s favicon and branding. It also tells everyone, hackers included, how your site has been built. I know anyone can easily find this out if they want to, but why would you want to spell it out to the world?

The bottom line is, if you love your website then you know it should have its own favicon.

Want a favicon for your website?

We are favicon designers based in Poole, Dorset. It doesn’t matter where you are based, we can still design a unique favicon for your website.

Please get in touch to see how we can help.

Favicon designers Poole, Dorset

 
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