Favicon Hosting: How to Add a Favicon to Your Site Free

Back in 2006, favicon hosting was a real problem for bloggers on free platforms, and services like MyFavatar stepped in to host your icon for free. This guide explains what favicons and favatars are, what happened to those hosting services, and the easy ways to add a favicon to your site today.

Quick answer: You no longer need a separate favicon hosting service. WordPress, Blogger and most site builders let you upload a site icon in their settings, and on your own hosting you can upload the file and link it in your page header. MyFavatar, the free favicon host we covered in 2006, is no longer online.

Why a favicon matters

A favicon is an essential add-on to your blog or website. It highlights your brand in all the right places: browser tabs, bookmarks, favourites, home screen and desktop shortcuts, and feed readers. Google also shows favicons next to your site in search results, so a clear icon helps people spot your pages.

I designed and created my own favicon with the Microangelo icon editor. Today there are many free online generators that make one in minutes.

Favicon hosting in 2006: MyFavatar

If you had your own web hosting, favicon hosting was not a problem. But if you were on a free blogging platform like Blogger, most free image hosts let you upload JPG, GIF or PNG files but not .ico icon files. MyFavatar filled that gap with free hosting of favatars and favicons.

• A favatar was your favicon displayed on another website, a small visual avatar for the person behind the site, for example next to your blog comments.
• A favatarZ was a social blogroll that showed each linked blog with its favicon.
• MyFavatar hosted 32×32 PNG and ICO images that worked in almost all browsers.

Bloggers used plugins such as the Favatars WordPress plugin, which showed the commenter’s site favicon beside each comment, pingback and trackback, and a favicon plugin for Movable Type that did the same. Even Google AdSense once tested favicon ads.

MyFavatar no longer exists, and comment avatars today come from Gravatar, which WordPress supports out of the box.

How to add a favicon today (no favicon hosting needed)

• WordPress: use the built-in Site Icon setting and upload a square image. WordPress creates the sizes browsers and phones need.
• Blogger: upload a favicon image in your blog’s settings. Blogger hosts it for you.
• Your own hosting: upload favicon.ico or a PNG to your site, then add a tag like <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico"> to the head of your home page.

Favicon tips from Google

Google’s favicon guidelines say the icon must be square (1:1) and at least 8×8 pixels, and recommend going larger than 48×48 pixels so it looks good everywhere. Supported formats include ICO, PNG, GIF and JPEG, and the file doesn’t have to be hosted on your own site.

Need to make one first? See our guide to create a favicon online free, and keep it consistent with your blog brand.

FAQ

Do I need favicon hosting?

Usually not. WordPress, Blogger and most site builders host your favicon when you upload it in their settings.

What is a favatar?

A favatar was a website’s favicon shown as a small avatar for its owner on other sites, such as beside blog comments.

What size should a favicon be?

Google requires a square icon at least 8×8 pixels and recommends one larger than 48×48 pixels.

Is MyFavatar still available?

No. MyFavatar is no longer online. Upload your favicon through your site platform instead.