What is a favicon and why it matters for your brand

A favicon is the tiny icon that shows up in the browser tab, next to the page title. It's basically your logo in miniature: you see it on the Chrome or Safari tab, in the bookmarks list, in browsing history and, increasingly, right next to your results in Google search on mobile. It sounds small, but it's the first visual trace your brand leaves outside your own website.

Why a favicon matters for your brand

Picture a user with 12 tabs open. With no favicon, your tab is a generic blank page, impossible to spot. With a favicon, it's recognized at a glance. The same logic applies to bookmarks: someone who saved you finds you again by the icon, not by the text.

There's another concrete reason: in Google's mobile results, the favicon appears next to the site name. A site without one looks sloppy there, while one with a clear icon feels more serious and trustworthy. It guarantees you no ranking (nobody can promise that), but it adds to the impression of professionalism at the exact moment someone decides which link to click. If you care about how you look in search, our guide on local SEO is worth a read too.

Where exactly the favicon appears

• Browser tab — next to the page title, on desktop and mobile.
• Bookmarks bar and favorites list — identifies you without words.
• Browsing history — helps with quick recognition.
• Google results on mobile — next to the domain name.
• Phone screen — if someone adds the site to their Home Screen (especially on iPhone), the icon becomes an "app".
• Shortcuts and web apps — on Android, when the site is saved as a shortcut.

How to make a favicon from your logo

The golden rule: a favicon is not your whole logo shrunk down. At 16 pixels, a logo with text turns into an unreadable blur. What works is a simple element — the brand initial, a symbol, a recognizable shape — on a well-contrasted background.

The practical steps:

1. Start from the logo, but isolate the simplest part (a letter, a pictogram).

2. Make it square and leave a little breathing room so it doesn't feel cramped.

3. Test it small — shrink the image to 16×16 px on screen. If you still recognize it, it works.

4. Generate the files with a free "favicon generator" tool: upload a square image of at least 512×512 px and get the whole set.

5. Put it on the site: on WordPress you add it under Customize → Site Identity; on a site we build, we integrate it directly in the code.

If you don't have a clean logo, that's exactly the kind of thing we sort out when we build the site.

What sizes and formats you need

You don't have to make them all by hand — a generator produces them from the single image you upload. But it helps to know what each one covers:

A few practical rules, confirmed by Google's documentation and the Evil Martians guide (2026): start from an image of at least 512×512 px; Google recommends a favicon larger than 48×48 px so it looks good everywhere; and for iPhone, avoid a transparent background, since iOS fills it with white anyway. SVG is ideal for sharpness, but keep a .ico as a fallback, since not all older browsers understand SVG.

Is it worth the effort?

Yes, and it's among the cheapest brand investments you can make. A favicon doesn't cost what a new logo does, and it's done once. If we build you a site (Landing €290–490, Presentation €490–890, Store from €690), the favicon is part of the package — we generate it from your logo and install it correctly, with all the sizes above, so you never have to wrestle with the files yourself.

If you'd like to see how your tab would look with a favicon done right, message us on WhatsApp and we'll make you a free demo: wa.me/40750257140.