How to Add a Favicon to Your WordPress Site in 5 Steps

Favicons are the small icons that appear next to the website’s name in a browser tab or on a bookmark. They are an important part of branding and help to make your site stand out from the rest. In this article, we’ll show you how to add a favicon to your WordPress site in just a few simple steps.

Create a Favicon Image

The first step in adding a favicon to your WordPress site is to create the image itself. Favicons should be square and saved in the .ico file format. You can create a favicon using an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop or GIMP, or you can use an online favicon generator like Favicon.cc.

When creating your favicon, it’s important to keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Favicons should be simple and easy to recognize. Avoid using text or complex graphics, as they may be difficult to see at small sizes.
• Use high-contrast colors to ensure that your favicon is visible against different backgrounds.
• Make sure that your favicon looks good at different sizes. Favicons are displayed at 16×16 pixels, but may also be displayed at larger sizes on certain devices.

Once you’ve created your favicon, save it as a .ico file.

Upload the Favicon to Your WordPress Site

Next, you’ll need to upload your favicon to your WordPress site. To do this, you can use the built-in Media Library or a plugin like Real Favicon Generator.

To upload your favicon using the Media Library:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Media > Add New.
2. Click the “Select Files” button and select your favicon file from your computer.
3. Click the “Upload” button to upload the file to your site.
4. Once the file has finished uploading, click the “Edit” link next to the file.
5. In the Edit Media screen, copy the file’s URL. You’ll need this URL in the next step.

To upload your favicon using Real Favicon Generator:

1. Install and activate the Real Favicon Generator plugin.
2. Go to Settings > Favicon in your WordPress dashboard.
3. Click the “Add Favicon” button and select your favicon file from your computer.
4. Click the “Generate Favicon” button to generate the different sizes and file formats needed for different devices.
5. Click the “Download Favicon Package” button to download the package to your computer.
6. Extract the downloaded zip file and upload the favicon files to the root directory of your WordPress site using an FTP client like FileZilla.

Add the Favicon to Your WordPress Site

Once you’ve uploaded your favicon to your site, the next step is to add it to your site. There are two main ways to do this: using the WordPress customizer or by manually adding the code to your site’s header.

To add the favicon using the WordPress customizer:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Customize.
2. Click the “Site Identity” option.
3. Click the “Select Image” button under the “Site Icon” section.
4. Select your favicon image from the Media Library.
5. Click the “Publish” button to save your changes.

To add the favicon manually:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Theme Editor.
2. On the right side of the screen, select the “Theme Header” (header.php) file from the list of theme files.
3. Add the following code to the head section of the file, replacing “YOUR-FAVICON-URL” with the URL of your favicon image:

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="YOUR-FAVICON-URL" />

4. Click the “Update File” button to save your changes.

Test Your Favicon

Once you’ve added your favicon to your site, it’s a good idea to test it to make sure it’s working properly. To do this, simply refresh your website in a browser and check to see if the favicon appears next to the website’s name.

If you don’t see your favicon, there are a few things you can try:

• Make sure that you’ve uploaded the favicon to the correct location and that the URL is correct.
• Clear your browser’s cache and try again.
• If you’re using a caching plugin, try clearing the cache and then refreshing the page.

Keep Your Favicon Up to Date

Once you’ve added a favicon to your WordPress site, it’s important to keep it up to date as you make changes to your site. If you change your logo or branding, be sure to update your favicon to match.

You can update your favicon by repeating the steps above and uploading a new favicon image. Just be sure to delete the old favicon image from your site before uploading the new one to avoid confusion.

Conclusion

Adding a favicon to your WordPress site is a quick and easy way to improve your branding and make your site stand out from the rest. With just a few simple steps, you can have a professional-looking favicon up and running on your site in no time.