When visitors add your web site to their Favorites or bookmark your site, what shows up in their list of sites? There are at least two things you can do to make sure your site stands out on anyone's list of Favorites, including a great idea that very few sites use. If you have a webmaster, he or she should be able to make these changes quickly, and those who maintain their own sites can easily handle these simple tasks.

First, make sure each page of your site has a good title. When you view your site in Internet Explorer or Netscape, what shows up at the very top of the screen? If it says "Home Page" or, even worse, "Untitled," that is what visitors will see when they include your site in their Favorites. Use "title" tags and add a title that describes the page.

And here's the thing very few sites do: Add a favicon file so that next to your site title in the Favorites list (and in the address bar when they go to your site) your logo appears instead of the ubiquitous Internet Explorer logo. (In Netscape, your logo will only appear in the address bar. The Netscape bookmark icon will be next to your site name in the bookmark file.) This is easy and quick and adds a real professional touch to your site. To see what I mean, take a look at my site. Go to http://www.IdeaLady.com/ and click on "Bookmark this page." (Netscape users, press Ctrl + D.) Then, open your favorites file and click on the IdeaLady link. You should see my lightbulb logo next to the title in your Favorites list (in IE) and next to the URL in the Address Bar (Netscape and IE).

For a good how-to article about creating your own favicon, go to http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/favicon.html. There is software called Irfanview that can easily create the favicon.ico file for you. Download it free (commercial users are asked to send $10) at http://www.irfanview.com/ It is easy to use, and can be used for a variety of graphics functions, in addition to creating your favicon.ico file.

Make your site stand out from the rest!