Emojis for SEO: Do They Help or Hurt Your Google Rankings?
Have you ever heard of emoji SEO? It’s been quite a thing for a while now.
Everyone loves emojis — those cute tiny symbols that are used to convey all kinds of feelings. Well, almost everyone. Regardless of how you feel about emoticons, if you’re serious about your SEO, you have to consider what Google “thinks” of them.
Can they improve your rankings? Or are they hurting your SEO? How can you use SEO emojis to improve your online presence?
These are some of the great questions we’ll answer in this guide.
Contents
- What does Google think of emoji SEO?
- Do emojis impact your SEO?
- How to use emojis properly in your SEO content: 7 tactics
- Conclusion
What does Google think of emoji SEO?
Source: Google
We know what you might be thinking — using Google and emojis in the same sentence seems a bit unreal. Simply put, Google is a “robot,” so how can it care whether or not you use some emoticons?
Well, while it can’t feel them (duh), it can recognize them when they appear in the metadata and any other content. But it wasn’t always like that.
If you have been following the emojis Google drama since 2013, you would notice something. On more than one occasion, Google couldn’t seem to make up its mind if it was going to let it appear in SERPs or not.
But after a few years, it changed its “mind.” They decided to improve its algorithm so it’s actually able to understand the emoji meanings. So, for now, Google can and will allow you to use them.
Do emojis improve your Google rankings?
No. Emojis aren’t used as ranking signals, so they can’t directly impact your SERPs.
This makes them wildly different from actual SEO tactics. You know, the ones like getting quality backlinks from top guest posting sites, which is a direct ranking signal. In fact, this is exactly why people say there's no SEO advantage in using emoticons (more on this later).
Make no mistake, though: emojis can help you inject some personality into your blog posts. This, as a result, can help increase your click-through rate (CTR) simply because people will be more willing to click your link.
Yet, generally, Google doesn’t use emoticons to rank your site higher or lower.
Why might Google not display emojis?
Here is one little thing: Google doesn't always display every emoji. Here are some reasons why this might happen:
- The emojis are spammy. This can happen when someone gets a little carried away and starts adding emojis to every other meta title. Some businesses seem to think that a billion meta-emojis can help them stand out in search results. Spoiler alert — it doesn’t.
- It’s misleading or not relevant. In case you are ever tempted to add an eggplant emoji to a page about finance, don’t do it. It might sound like a funny idea that can help grab attention, but it’s both irrelevant and misleading.
It only takes one of these to get Google to remove the emoji. A better idea would be to use a pizza emoji on a page about pizza recipes and so on.
- Harmful emojis. This could be sexually suggestive emojis like the 18+ emoji or those that suggest violence like the bomb.
- Technical issues. If you’re using these in your meta title, keep in mind that anything above 60 characters can get that cool emoji cut off. Then there are cases where the emoji is just not encoded properly and so it won’t even render.
In cases where Google can’t recognize the emojis for one reason or another, it won’t display it. But in cases where it can tell what the emojis are and deem them irrelevant, it might just replace them with text instead.
Do emojis impact your SEO?
Remember when we said that emojis can add some personality to your brand messaging? The truth is that people, especially the younger generation, are used to emojis and love using them. This is not breaking news, as humans have always preferred visual messages.
In fact, 71% of Gen Z and 67% of millennials are more likely to buy from brand listings that use emojis. So, if you’re targeting the younger demographic, adding some emojis is a no-brainer.
Yet, there is more to this:
- First of all, according to some sources, adding relevant emojis to titles can improve CTR rates by up to 25%.
- Secondly, more and more people now do emoji searches. So, adding occasional emoticons to your content and meta descriptions may help, specifically with getting your relevant page featured in search results.
- Plus, these little symbols act like cool attention magnets. The link with an emoji is more likely to stand out in search results. So, since attention is the currency of the internet, it can make a big difference in whether someone clicks your link or not.
Besides, it’s all about how people perceive your business. In this Adobe survey, 73% of respondents say they think that people who use emojis are friendlier, funnier, and cooler. And this applies to brands as well.
In other words, you appear more approachable and relatable to your target audience.
Source: Adobe
This explains why emojis can act as such a good pick-me-up for your click-through rates. The results might be even better in some cases if you use location-specific emojis, as these improve your local SEO relevance.
Source: Google
In a test carried out by Semrush, adding a cocktail emoji to the meta title of an online retailer resulted in 11% more organic clicks.
Source: Semrush
In the same way, using emoji-like characters in the meta description of another online store resulted in 3% more organic clicks. Ordinary, this would read like definite proof that emojis work. But by the end of the test, there was no real change in the overall result.
Still, in some cases, adding emojis to your meta title can hurt your SEO. This happens, especially in niches where people are likely to interpret it as unprofessional. So, how do you use it in a way that benefits you? For that, let’s get to the next section.
How to use emojis properly in your SEO content: 7 tactics
Since the only way you get to enjoy the perks of emojis is to actually use them correctly, you want to know how to do it right. By learning how to put emojis on a website correctly, you can avoid wasting your time and only make the best moves for you and your brand.
To help you with that, here are our top tips:
#1 Don’t fall into the trap of more is better
We get it. A couple of emojis in your blog post can take it from drab to fab. Suddenly, it’s more visually appealing. So, more people will finally read that masterpiece you spent time crafting so carefully.
But here’s the thing — you don’t want to get overzealous and have the Google algorithm mistake it for spam.
So, stick to only using relevant emojis strategically. For example, you can use some to turn a wall of text in your blog post into smaller digestible bits.
Also, it means no randomness. So, “traditional soup (soup emoji) recipes” is okay since it makes a lot of sense, but something like “7 top tax secrets (unicorn and UFO emoji)” barely makes any. Just the same way emojis like tools would make sense for content in the manufacturing industry, but not clown emojis.
Even then, just one emoji here and there would do much better than a cluster of emojis at a time.
#2 Don’t use emoticons everywhere
Adding an occasional relevant meta description emoji? Cool. Adding emoticons in your body copy? Great. Adding them to URLs and domains? Not so fast.
Source: iDotz.Net
To be honest, having a domain address like pizza (in emoji sign).com sounds like a lot of fun. We get it. But there are some really, really good reasons why most people don’t do it.
Sure, it’s possible and can work. But only on the off chance that you:
- Know how to leverage Punycode since there’s no guarantee that everyone will have the same emojis on their keyboard.
- Ensure that the tools you use to get it to render in most browsers are secured.
- Can make your link look the same across browsers, so you can maintain a consistent brand image.
Since most popular domains don’t allow emoji domains, you will need to find a workaround.
Failing to do the above will only cause it to break your URL lines and make it look unprofessional.
Even search crawlers might (and probably will) find it difficult to handle the emojis in your URL, which can affect your search rankings. Plus, these domains are simply hard to type for users, as not everyone has an emoji keyboard all the time.
All in all, emojis are cool, but no one wants to see them everywhere. It ruins the vibe and creates problems.
#3 Check what works for your competitors
Emojis are one of those things where it either works or it doesn’t — no in-between. How do you know if it’s a good idea for your niche or even what kind of emoticons make sense for you? You can start by checking if any of the popular, high-traffic sites in your niche have them.
If they also use SEO emoji as one of their strategies, you’ll be able to see how they do it and learn from them. The best part? You now know that it’s going to work. You also get to avoid any costly mistakes they’ve made.
This way, there’s no need for you to guess whether you should put yours in the meta title, description, or snippets. That work is basically done for you. That is, of course, if your competition is actually using this tactic.
If so, check out their top-ranking pages. Do they have emojis in the content or meta titles? Then take what works and give it your own tweaks. This way, emojis might just be one of the best moves to promote your site in search results.
#4 Keep it contextually relevant so it matches the intent
Look, we get it — everyone likes cute cats and puppies. But using emojis or icons in meta descriptions that read like a toddler decided to add all their favorite emoticons on one page is not a smart move. Cute? Sure. But not SEO-friendly.
You want to help Google understand any emoji you choose to use. That’s why only use emoticons that match your content and focus keywords. This will help improve readability for both your target audience and search algorithm.
Plus, don’t try to replace words or even entire phrases with emojis. This definitely won’t improve your readability. Especially considering the fact that many people can ascribe different meanings to the same emoji.
If you are writing for an international audience, this can be a huge deal. So, it’s not just your marketing copy that needs TLC. Sure, it’s wise to brush up on your copywriting skills, but you should pay attention to the emojis and icons as well.
It’s important to check what they mean in other cultures, especially if your content will be translated into other languages. This will help you use the right emojis in the right context.
Source: LEaF Translations
As much as possible, try to stick to the generally accepted meanings of those symbols to avoid any confusion. If you aren’t sure, just avoid using that icon altogether because confusing the algorithm and your readers won’t win you any favors. That’s a good way to harm your SEO.
#5 Understand how emoji meta description works
A few emojis in a meta description can grab attention and nudge people to click your link. These are the emojis you throw in that part of your text that appears just below your link in search results. Often, they help your post stand out.
Source: Google
Though, to be honest, if everyone else has one, it’s not really going to make a big difference. Still, you will probably be eclipsed by the others who added some.
Yet, most of the time, even if a user googles with an emoji as their search query, search results will show pages that don’t have any emojis in them. As we’ve mentioned before, emoticons aren’t a real ranking factor.
Source: Google
If you do decide to use one, you will need to keep the characters within the acceptable limit. So, not more than 150 characters for your meta description or 60 characters for the meta title. And that includes the emoji since it counts and takes up more space than the copy.
Have a lot of juicy emoji options? Choose the one that captures the message of your page the best. This way, you will nail the relevance part.
#6 Use the right tools (if you do)
The good news is that if you are interested in emoji SEO, there are many tools that can make your work easier. Of course, you can do all this manually by copy-pasting your emoticons, but some plugins and other software can help simplify the process.
That’s where WordPress plugins like Native Emoji, AISEO, and Yoast SEO come in. The first option works for the comment section and for your body content. The other two can help you with meta tiles.
The point here is you can fiddle with all kinds of emoji plugins. For some of you, these might not even be necessary, so test them and decide after. Just make sure not to use too many plugins, as this can slow down your load speed, which is bad for the user experience.
That’s why learning about everything that can affect your SEO, whether that is your slug or alt text, is pretty important.
#7 A/B test your emojis
Since your SEO rankings are on the line here, it’s better not to gamble at all. Like most marketing calls you make, you need raw data to know if you are making the right decisions. But what would that look like with emojis?
That means carefully testing different versions of your webpage with emojis to see which ones get the most love. You can start with just one or two and then build up from there if your results are good.
If the search engines can read and display your emojis, that’s a good sign. It’s even better when you can see the organic traffic and click-through rates improve as well.
On the other hand, though, after all that work, you may notice little to no improvement in your web traffic. Kind of like what happened in the Semrush case study. In that case, you may decide to change up your ranking emoji approach.
Maybe try the same pages, but this time, choose a new emoji or create a version without emojis at all. You might just learn that the emojis are not the issue. Yet, if your traffic gets better after the addition of emojis, then clearly, you are doing something right.
Conclusion
SEO emojis are not a catch-all solution for improving your search ranking and organic traffic. It can certainly help, but even then, only when it is used right. That part can be pretty confusing, and that’s why we have shared all our best tips with you.
Use these recommendations and track everything to ensure you’re making your decisions based on real data. This way, both content and meta emojis are great for SEO.
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