Favicon: size. Creating a favicon. Favicon-generator

When creating a website it is extremely important to pay attention to trifles that play a role not only in terms of design, but also in the promotion of this site in search engines. One such trifle is favicon for the site. About how to create it and what size it should be we will talk.

What is favicon for a site?

It is a small image that will be displayed in the browser tab. The size of the favicon is 16x16 pixels. Also this picture is displayed in the results of the search engines, and if the favicon on the site is absent, then next to the site in the issuance will be empty. It is worth noting that the Favicon helps the user to find your site specifically among hundreds of others, so his presence on the site though is not mandatory, but is strictly recommended. And yes, the size of the favicon does not need to be 16x16. Some webmasters make favicon 32x32 and even 64x64. But in their recommendations, Google and Yandex search engines write that the ideal favicon size is 16x16. Therefore, it is better to follow these tips of search engines.

How to create a favicon?

There are several different ways to create this picture. The very first and easiest way to create a favicon is to steal it, for example, from an English site.

Let's say you created a blog on home appliances and completely customized it, but there was the final touch - the Favicon. Write in the Google search for appliances and see the first 10 sites. Favicon of these sites is ideal for your new blog. If you liked any picture, open the source code of the page and look for the entry favicon.ico. The address of the Favicon's locations will be indicated there. Open it and download to the computer, then download to the site and connect (about the connection below).

The second way to create a favicon with a size of 16x16 pixels is to use a special service for generating favicons. It works by the following principle: you load an image (of any size and extension) that is suitable for the title of the site, and click on the button on the Create Favicon button. A second later you get a ready-made favicon, which you can download, download to your site and connect. The most popular service is Favicon Generator.

Note that this service only slightly simplifies the process of creating icons. The same can be done on your own. Just find the picture that suits you, change its size to 16x16 pixels and save with the ico extension. All this is done within one minute in the Paint program.

There are other online search services for favicons. There you need to write a keyword, and after that the service will display various thematic icons of the required size. In principle, this method also involves theft, like the first. But there is nothing wrong with that.

Connectivity

In order for the picture to be displayed in the browser in the tab and in the search engines, it is necessary to connect it correctly. To do this, the file must have the name favicon.ico and be located in the root directory, that is, where the main files of the site lie.

Most often, these actions are sufficient to display the favicons. Search engines (for example, "Yandex") automatically recognize the presence of a favicon in the root directory and use it in its output. However, there are sometimes misunderstandings with Yandex. Many webmasters complain that faviconks disappear from the index, and then appear again. To prevent this from happening, you need to connect it.

To connect favicon, "Yandex" recommends using the meta tag with specific attributes. This tag should be placed in the section of the site.

All connection code should look like this:

This code works for search engines and all browsers. There may be problems with the display in Internet Explorer, but in all other browsers the display will be accurate.

Notice the location of the image /favicon.ico. It can be made so: /favicon.gif. Then you need to place an image with the extension .gif at the root of the site, otherwise the favicon will not be displayed. As you know, pictures in the .gif format can be sliders. This is used by webmasters and at the same time they make animated favicon for their sites. It looks interesting, but no more.

Favicon as a tool for website promotion

Given the fact that this icon will be displayed in the search results of "Yandex", it is highly desirable to use it. This is one of the main tools for increasing the clickability, because users are likely to click on a site near which there is an attractive image, rather than an empty space.

Therefore, it is important not just to use any favicon, but a beautiful icon that users want to click on. Also it should be replaced depending on the situation. For example, on the eve of the New Year, it is advisable to make your Favicon a New Year, which will ensure a better clickability.

How does the search engine "Yandex" understand favikonki?

The search engine has a special robot that is responsible for updating the favicons. This robot visits sites using a specific schedule, requesting the main page and looking for the path in the code with the location of favicon.ico. If this path does not find it, then it tries to load the icon from the parent directory, so most often simply a file with the name favicon.ico is placed in the parent directory. Then the received icon is downloaded to the "Yandex" server and displayed in the search. If its size is larger, it is pre-converted to 16x16, and the extension changes to png. The robot periodically recheck sites for changing the favicon. Usually he visits updated sites once a month. This is seen experimentally: change the favicon of your site, and in about a month it will appear in the indexes of the search engine "Yandex".

Conflict of icons

It is worth noting that sometimes webmasters encounter favicons conflict, because of what appears in the index is one, then another icon. This is possible if you upload one image to the parent directory, and specify the path to the other favicon in the page code template. Therefore, make sure that you do not have a conflict between the addresses of the phonics.

Now you know what a favicon is and how to connect it properly. Of course, doing this is not necessary, because the site will work with him, albeit without it. But for the purposes of search engine optimization and improved clickability from the issuance of search engines, its connection is recommended.