# What is Favicon?

> A favicon is the tiny icon that represents your website in browser tabs, bookmarks, phone home screens and sometimes beside your listing in Google results.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/glossary/favicon
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-26

Also called: site icon, browser icon, touch icon, app icon.

The favicon is the small square image you see on a browser tab next to the page title. It usually shows a simplified version of a logo, because a full logo is unreadable at that size.

Google also shows favicons next to results on mobile, and phones use a larger version if someone saves your site to their home screen.

Without one, browsers show a generic blank or globe icon, or the default icon of whatever platform the site was built on.

## Why it matters for a small business

It is small, but it is one of the details that separates a site that looks finished from one that looks thrown together. In search results on a phone, a clear icon helps your listing stand out and look like a real business.

**Example:** A tree surgeon's favicon is a simple green oak leaf from their logo, which shows beside their name in mobile search results instead of a generic globe.