Before explaining why there are so important, its important to know what a favicon is.

What is a favicon?

Look up in the URL field of your browser. Do you see a red circle with a white “m” inside that is to the left of the MaxwellSydney.com URL? The same red circle with a white “m” that matches our logo (but in a much smaller form)? That’s our favicon. Now bookmark this page. If you look back in your bookmark folder or toolbar, our logo will appear next to the link (in most browsers). That’s our favicon again.

That little graphic is stored on the MaxwellSydney.com webserver. A line of code in the website tells your browser (and other websites) that the image is the icon for our site. That is why it is displayed in the URL bar and your bookmark list (among other places).

Nine reasons why a Favicon is important.

1. Brand Identity. There is a saying that you have to get in front of an audience at least seven times before making a sale. Its not an exact science, but common sense dictates that the more your products, company name, or logo are in front of someone the more familiar they become with your company and services. Unless they have some reason to associate negativity with your company or product, generally with an increase in familiarity comes an increase in perceived quality. Since your website is on the front line of bringing in new prospects it is as important as any other piece of marketing collateral to promote your brand. You wouldn’t hand out business cards or type on letter head without your logo would you? Why should your website’s URL bar be any different?
2. Boomarking. As I showed you with the Maxwell Sydney Design Group logo , your favicon will also represent your website on bookmark lists and bookmark toolbars in most browsers. Obviously this is a good way to build familiarity with your company and brand as every time someone looks at their bookmark list they will see your logo. But it also makes it more likely they will come back. There is no hard evidence of this, but anecdotally we see greater bookmark traffic from sites with favicons. While there are no hard numbers to support this, think about it and look back at your bookmark list. Certainly if you have quite a few bookmarks, many of them do not have icons. Which ones stand out more, the ones with unique, identifiable favicons or the ones with nothing beside them, or the graphic of a simple blank page?
3. Searching & Tabs. Many browsers today offer tabbed-browsing. This is where you can have multiple websites open in one window, and you can jump from site to site by clicking on the different tabs. The more tabs you have open the smaller the tabs become, and fewer letters in the website title are visible. But the first thing displayed, and what should always be displayed, is the favicon. The icon might also be displayed in the browser’s built in search bar if you have added your site there. Don’t you recognize the Google “G” logo  or Yahoo’s Y!  as soon as you see it? The same could be applied for your company logo and website.
4. RSS Feeds. I’ve already written about the importance of RSS feeds for gaining traffic. RSS feeds are an important place to display your favicon. Most RSS feed readers will display your favicon (company logo or graphic) next to your feed, again creating brand recognition and awareness. RSS feeds are quickly becoming more popular online with many internet users opting for RSS feed subscriptions over traditional web surfing. While these prospective and current customers may not see your fancy website, its graphics or animations… they still can see your corporate logo and brand with a favicon.
5. Comments Sections – Especially for Bloggers. Ever seen avatars (an icon representing a person) in a comment section of a website or blog? Those can be favicons too. Not all websites and blogs do this, but quite a few do and more are adding this functionality all the time. So if you have a blog through blogger or typepad, or run your own blog or website and comment on other sites… make sure you have an eye-catching favicon. It will be an additional point of brand exposure and quite possibly give more credence to your comments (and thus generate a few more click-thrus).
6. Other Sites & Search Engines display them too. There is a nifty little plugin (Google Icon) for Mozilla Firefox that displays a favicons beside Google search results. While its not common or part of the standard application, this functionality could become the default search through browsers or other search engines at any time. Be prepared with a strong, eye-catching favicon that will separate your site from the rest.
7. Guard your secrets. Many web developers and site owners spend countless hours and resources creating and customizing sites. Often this includes using CMS software, bulletin board software, blogging software and other components. Some are paid for and some are Open Source, but virtually all have their own favicon installed by default. And while you may not want to deny the applications and scripts you use to accomplish your goals, you probably don’t want to advertise them either. What if a security vulnerability is discovered in one of the software programs you use? Even though you may have patched the problem, do you want to advertise what’s running on the backend? And after you have spent countless hours customizing something to fit your own needs and brand, do you want to have that effort hindered by displaying the logo of the software you started with? Besides, the purpose of your website is to advertise you and your company’s products and services, you aren’t paying for hosting space and a web developer to advertise for someone else.
8. Distinguish Yourself From the Pack. Favicons have been around for years. Support for them in older browsers was less than stellar, but over the past few years, virtually all modern browsers have handled favicons well. Still, many websites don’t have a favicon. The average Joe may not know how to create them or even what they are called, but even so-called “professional” web designers complete sites without giving them proper favicons. Why? They are not difficult to add, and the possible benefits are great. The name of the game on the internet is traffic… why wouldn’t you do everything in your power to increase your traffic? With that being said… if you ever look at a Search Engine Optimization firm (SEO) or other company claiming they are will help you generate more business through your website… and they don’t have a brand-recognizable favicon, run.
9. They are cool. OK, so this may not be a tangible reason, but come on… that little icon is cool. So many websites have something generic if they have anything at all. But that little icon gives you a way to express yourself and your brand. Besides, its a challenge to put something meaningful and identifiable in a 16×16 pixel square. You don’t back down from a challenge, do you? Any marketing expert will tell you an opportunity not taken is a sale potentially lost. If you are in this to succeed, don’t miss an opportunity to build on your brand and increase your traffic.

The term “blog” is short for “web log” and didn’t join the popular lexicon until “bloggers” debunked a Dan Rather/60 Minutes story on President Bush’s National Guard Service. Bloggers found many holes and impossibilities in the story, and within hours the internet and the national media was a buzz. These pseduo-journalists in their pajamas (as Dan Rather begrudgingly referred to them) had destroyed Rather’s story and with it his credibility. Within days, RatherGate had led to firings at CBS, an apology by Dan Rather himself, and eventually his retirement. This moment in history propelled the “blogosphere” to national prominence and solidified blogging as a tool for political activists, prospective journalists, and businesses alike.

Now it seems like everyone has a blog, and there is good reason for that. From Hollywood celebrities to news personalities and captains of industry; anyone who is anyone has a blog or online journal. Far from “Dear Diary” musings, blogs are a tool where otherwise unheard voices can be expressed, experts can be discovered, and businesses can expand their markets. Those who have a targeted focus and blog consistently find that they often build an audience of regulars and develop a reputation online. With these regular readers and increased visibility comes increased traffic to your website and the ability to increase sales.

Blogs are important for other reasons as well; the largest being Search Engine placement and relevance. Partly because Google owns the most widely used blogging platform (blogger) and partly because blogs by their very nature are more likely to be topical; many search engines (Google included) place greater relevance on content from blogs than they do more traditional static web pages. This means that targeted blogging can help you build a larger audience faster than deploying a business website by itself. Traffic is the key to online sales and accessibility, and one of the keys to building traffic is with a good blog.

As a business manager or entrepreneur, chances are you have acquired vast knowledge and are somewhat of an expert in your field. You probably read trade magazines or articles online focused on your everyday business. You probably pay attention to pending legislation or economic factors that will affect your customer base and your operations. You are already gathering this information and disseminating it within your organization; why not blog about it and pick up some extra web traffic? Along the way you will likely also build your own reputation and trust amongst your potential customers and colleagues alike, which can only lead to increased opportunities for success.

If you are a real estate agent, we can help you create a real estate blog. Focus on your market and the factors that effect home sales. Write about how to improve a home’s value or how to have a successful open house. Discuss when the best times are to buy and sell and what mortgage programs are available to first time buyers. Chances are you will gain greater understanding of the subjects yourself, influence the purchasing decisions of others, and likely improve your own credibility and client base along the way.

Maybe instead of being a service professional you are an inventor that created a new product. Talk about your product and why you thought there was a need for that great new widget you devised. Discuss the trials and errors you made along they way. Showcase real life testimonials of people who you’ve helped. You’ll develop additional exposure for your product and increase traffic to your website.

Blogging in and of itself isn’t enough. We can show you how to get the most of of your blog. From social networking links, tags, blog rolls, comments and RSS feeds, we can help you generate the most buzz and traffic with your blog which should translate into increased market penetration and sales.

Why RSS Feeds? Why Syndication?

Ultimately, the purpose behind every website is to make a sale. Whether you maintain a site for a Fortune 500 company a small real estate site, or write in a blog, your goal is the same. It doesn’t matter whether you are selling real estate, t-shirts, a political candidate, or your own ideas; every website is a vehicle to market a product, tangible or not. In order for someone to buy that product from your site, they must first know it exists and have some reason to read or view your content.

Getting visitors to a website has always been a challenge. Rather than being able to push your content onto your audience, you have to pull them in. The presents many challenges in and of itself, but as the amount of websites and content online grows exponentially, two additional challenges have popped up for website owners and developers alike.

1. Make your voice heard among the thousands of pages competing for search engine placement and ad revenue… some of which are worthless to your audience but nonetheless compete for their attention.
2. Get your information to your audience as quickly and efficiently as possible, before they move on. This will also likely keep them coming back.

RSS is a good tool to combat both and is an important step in separating your site from at least some of the masses.

Make Your Voice Head

There is a saying that you have to get your message in front of your audience at least seven times before you can make a sale. That is a bit of a generalization, as it greatly depends on what your product is and how receptive your audience is to buying, but the idea holds true. In order to make a sale, a potential purchaser must know you exist and how to buy your product. Online this means that someone must be able to find you. While purchasing Google Ads, targeted banner ad placement, and search engine optimization will all help increase the likelihood of traffic, developers who rely solely on these methods will have sites which never reach their full potential.

RSS Feeds will literally multiply the accessibility of your website content and drastically increase the ways in which it can be received. Before RSS, the only way for someone to read your content was to visit your site, but since its adoption, people can subscribe to your website content through your own website, or through a number of other feed aggregators and syndication lists. In fact, your website content can be published automatically to countless other websites at once just by updating your content that is part of an RSS Feed. Imagine updating a news article on your main corporate site that would instantly also update the news on various other department sites (internal and external) and be available to employees and customers by free subscription, sent out to various feed aggregators, and received by major search engines. Imagine writing an article for your site or posting to your blog that could be spread like an e-mail or news flash without any additional work on your part. If you can see the benefits of a system like that, than you are starting to understand the importance of RSS feeds.

Value Their Time and Keep Them Coming Back

Much of the beauty of an RSS feed lies in its efficiency. Various programs, e-mail readers, web browers, and other websites can all be used to subscribe to and view RSS syndicated content. Which means a subscriber or previous website visitor can easily see when your website content has been updated and what the new content is about. And they can subscribe to the entire content of your site, or just the portion that interests them. So without having to type in your website address, or traverse through three layers or links and ads and visitor can quickly read about your latest product, newest services, or the most recent commentary and news. And while you might think that would hurt your traffic, in practical experience the opposite is true, because what is fed to your RSS feed will likely be a headline and either a summary or introductory paragraph… to see the rest of the article a subscriber will have to click on an embedding link which will take them directly to the specific content item on your site. This allows you to tailor your information to each specific user without any real additional work. It also enables you to easily track how popular your site and subscriptions are and determine which information is more important to your customer base.

If you value a customer’s time, they will value yours… you’d be surprised how much greater repeat traffic is just by making it easier for someone to find what they are looking for.

Implementing RSS is Relatively Easy

I hate broad generalizations because invariably they don’t apply to the most important scenario, your own. However, in the case of RSS syndication, implementation really is easy in most cases, although the more complex a website becomes the more challenging adding RSS will be. Still, unless your site is hand coded, written by some outdated WYSIWYG HTML Editor, or utilizes some proprietary software, chances are tools already exists to make use of RSS for your content.

Most blog and CMS software have RSS feeds by default. Blogger, WordPress, and Movable Type all include RSS functionality or plugins. And larger CMS (Content Management System) Software such as Joomla, Mamba, and Drupal either have RSS syndication on by default or it can be easily added by extension or component. Even programs like DreamWeaver and NetObjects Fusion have addon products to handle RSS syndication, and some other HTML Editors like RapidWeaver include it by default in the program.

Subscribing to RSS is Even Easier

Once you have enabled RSS feeds of your content, you will want to subscribe and see how it looks. Subscribing to RSS Feeds is easy. Many browers such as Mozilla FireFox and Internet Explorer will let you create live bookmarks of RSS Sites that will display the latest content in the RSS feed. If you prefer to use a third party aggregator or service, you will want to check out FeedBurner or NewsGator. There are even programs that will send RSS feeds directly to your e-mail, like RSSFWD or FeedBlitz.