Currawong Web
Website guides for local business
Free website check →

The blank tab icon: adding a favicon in ten minutes

The favicon is the small square icon browsers show in the tab, in bookmarks — and, on mobile, sometimes right in Google results next to your name. Sites without one get a generic grey page symbol.

Why it costs you customers

It is a small polish signal, but it compounds: in a row of open tabs or a list of mobile results, you are the one without a face.

Google shows favicons in mobile search results, so the blank icon can literally appear inside your search listing.

Check it in 30 seconds

Look at your browser tab on your own site.

Our free check notes when no favicon is declared.

How to fix it

Make one

A simple mark on a solid colour works better at 16px than your full logo. Export a 512×512 PNG; favicon generators (search "favicon generator") will produce the sizes and code.

Platforms

Wix/Squarespace: Settings → Favicon, upload once. WordPress: Appearance → Customise → Site Identity → Site Icon.

Hand-built

Drop favicon.ico (or a PNG/SVG) in the site root and add <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico"> to the <head>.

From our own site checks

Check it against a dark browser theme as well as light — a black logo on transparent background disappears in dark mode tabs. A coloured rounded square behind the mark survives both.

Wondering what else your site is quietly costing you?

Run our free 20-point health check — it tests this and 19 other things in about ten seconds. No signup, nothing stored.

Run the free check See our work