Increasing the number of PPC ads offered may result in more competition for those top positions. Google’s new design is a very nice improvement for organic (non-paid results). The redesign also incorporates favicons (icon/logo, already used for some time, for example, by Seznam.cz).
In order for a favicon to be displayed in search results, the following guidelines must be met, which have been set by Google itself:
- Google must be able to crawl both the favicon file and the home page (they must not be blocked).
- The favicon should be a visual representation of your site’s branding so that users can easily recognize your site when browsing search results.
- The size of the favicon should be multiples of a 48 px square, for example 48 × 48 px, 96 × 96 px, 144 × 144 px, etc. SVG files, of course, have no specific size. All valid favicon formats are supported. Google resizes the image to 16 × 16 px for use in search results. So make sure it looks good at this resolution. (Do not submit a favicon at 16 × 16 px. The image might be blurry in the results.)
- The favicon address should be stable (don’t change it too often).
- Google will not display favicons that it deems inappropriate (for example, displaying pornography or hate symbols). If Google detects this type of content in a favicon, it will replace it with the default icon.
And the work doesn’t stop there. To implement the new feature, you need to do the following:
- Create a favicon that matches the instructions below.
- Add a <link> tag to the homepage header with the following syntax:
- <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”/path/k/favicons.ico”>
- rel can have any of the following values:
- “shortcut icon”
- “icon”
- “apple-touch-icon”
- “apple-touch-icon-precomposed”
- href
- Favicon URL. It can be a relative path (/smajlik.ico) or an absolute path (https://example.com/smajlik.ico), but it must be in the same domain as the homepage.
- Google will search and update the favicon every time you crawl your homepage. If you change the favicon and want to notify Google, ask for the site’s homepage to be indexed. Updates may not appear in search results until a few days or later.
The latest Google search engine remodel can be a great means of advertising for your site and product if implemented correctly. Don’t let this opportunity slip through your fingers and don’t hesitate to contact us. We will handle your request quickly and accurately.