Favicons, guide to the site’s thumbnail images

By now we are used to seeing them appear in browser tabs and also in Google SERPs, where they have a prominent place in the classic preview snippet, appearing next to the name of the positioned site: we are talking about favicons, the small images representative of the site that help the brand communicate better with users and become a little more visible and memorable. Provided, of course, that we do not make mistakes and correctly perform all the steps to add a favicon to our site, as also required by Google’s new guidelines on the subject.

What is a favicon

The term favicon comes from the contraction of the English words favorite icon and therefore literally means favorite icon: it is precisely the thumbnail icon associated with a site or a specific web page, and it is usually a small image or logo that should be relevant to the content of the related website, helping to reinforce brand consistency.

Sometimes, it is also referred to as a shortcut icon, website icon, tab icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, and can be created and added directly by web designers, site managers or owners, or inposted through specific software.

Many recent user programs (such as browsers and newsreaders) use them and display them as a visual reminder of Web site identity in the address bar or tabs.

Un esempio di favicon