I think we can all agree at this point that your website is important. It should serve as your most valuable employee and advance your goals, right? Since it represents your organization to the entire online world, you must pay attention to every detail. One of those details that users ignore way too often is the website tagline.

What is a Website Tagline?

A website tagline is much like a slogan. In many cases, it shows in the tab at the top of the browser when someone visits your homepage. Even more importantly, however, is that it shows in search results. When a potential site visitor performs a search, this can be their very first impression of your organization. You don’t want to get this wrong. In fact, changing the tagline for your site is one of the first things you should do for SEO.

Your WordPress Tagline

If you use WordPress like much of the rest of the online world, changing your tagline is super easy. When you click on “Settings” in the left menu, the site’s title and tagline show right away. All you have to do is delete what’s there and type what you want.

When you first install WordPress, you want to change this right away. WordPress nicely fills it in for you with the words “Just another WordPress Site”. If you don’t change this immediately, you’ll likely forget as time goes on. I can’t think of many more things that look unprofessional than launching a website with those words. You’d be surprised how often I see this!! Every time I see it in search results, the southern woman in me wants to say “Bless their hearts”. It literally makes me cringe.

Website Tagline Best Practices

Now that you understand the importance of your website tagline, let’s talk about writing a good one.

Be Specific

Since this part of your site shows up in search results, you want users to know exactly what you offer. Don’t be vague. I remember seeing a car with a business name on it and the phrase “We get things done!” …what kinds of things? Are they legal? Should I be concerned? You don’t want there to be any questions about what you do or how you can help a potential site visitor.

Be Brief

You don’t want your website tagline to be too long. In general, Google displays between 50 and 60 characters of a website title. If your tagline is too long, some of that will be cut off. Since Google includes both the website title and tagline on that row, you must optimize accordingly. Look at the length of your website’s title (which is or should be your business name). If it’s short, you have room for a longer tagline. Longer business names, on the other hand, leave less room and need a shorter tagline. You get the idea. It’s ok if a little is cut off, as long as people get the right impression.

Think Beyond the Web

You want to choose a tagline for your website that works beyond the web. Will it work in print and other media? Think about that car I saw earlier. If you paid a lot of money to have it plastered on your car, would it translate well? Chances are good that this tagline will be your company’s slogan, so make it memorable. It’s about more than the web… this is your brand!

Your website serves as the online, universal face to your organization. Make sure people feel welcomed and invited by a unique, specific phrase. In other words, get to work on the perfect website tagline, and keep swimming along!