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How to add a favicon and touch icons

SEO1 min readFixes 2 checks apple-touch-icon, favicon

Google shows your favicon next to search results; phones use touch icons for bookmarks. Both take a couple of link tags.

Step by step, with screenshots: Favicon and touch icons: sizes and formats that work everywhere →

Check your own site

Runs these 2 checks and the other 185, free, in about 45 seconds.

What a passing site looks like

  • An apple-touch-icon is declaredwarning · −0.5 ptseffort S
  • A favicon is declaredwarning · −0.5 ptseffort S

1. No apple-touch-icon is declared

Why it matters. iPhones and iPads use this icon when someone adds your site to their home screen or shares it in Messages. Without it, they show a blurry screenshot.

How to fix it.
  1. Add <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png"> with a 180×180 px PNG.

In a report the technical detail reads: Detected 0 <link rel="apple-touch-icon"> elements.

2. No favicon is declared

Why it matters. Google shows the favicon next to your search result, and browsers show it in tabs and bookmarks. Without one, the result gets a generic globe icon.

How to fix it.
  1. Add <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="48x48"> (or an SVG/PNG of at least 48×48 px) in <head>.
  2. In WordPress, upload a Site Icon under Appearance → Customize → Site Identity.

In a report the technical detail reads: Detected 0 <link rel="icon"> elements; /favicon.ico was not probed.

Filed under Technical SEO. Copy is generated from the same catalogue that scores every report, so what you read here is what the report says.