A favicon is the small icon that shows up in a browser tab next to a page's title — usually a miniature version of a site's logo, sized around 16x16 or 32x32 pixels. It's a tiny detail, but it does real work: helping a site look finished and helping visitors spot the right tab among dozens of others.
Where a Favicon Actually Appears
- Browser tabs, next to the page title
- Bookmarks and browser favourites lists
- Browser history entries
- Mobile home-screen icons, when a site is saved or added as an app
- Search results, on some mobile search interfaces
Setting One Up in WordPress
WordPress makes this fairly painless: under Appearance → Customize → Site Identity, there's a dedicated "Site Icon" upload field. WordPress automatically generates the different sizes needed across browsers and devices from that single uploaded image.
A Few Practical Notes
- Keep the design simple — fine detail disappears at such a small size
- A square image, ideally at least 512x512 pixels, gives WordPress the best source to resize from
- PNG format with a transparent background usually looks cleanest
It's a small piece of branding, but a missing or generic favicon is one of those subtle details that makes a site feel unfinished, even if the visitor can't quite articulate why.
« Back to Index