Your website tagline is an important piece of your branding and brand identity. Your tagline is a succinct message which clearly conveys what you do and who you serve. It usually lives below your logo and/or as the headline on your homepage.
So even though most website taglines consist of just 5 to 7 words, those words have a lot of work to do—those words are responsible for whether a website visitor “bounces” (leaves your website without exploring more) or whether they stay … and convert.
Your website tagline has one purpose—to convince your most likely buyers to stay
Your site tagline has one purpose: to keep the prospects who are landing on your website on your website. That’s it. Sure, a great tagline can provide more clarity and even hint towards your overall business mission, but the main purpose is so your website visitors will STAY on your site.
What a Tagline is Not…
A business tagline is not (or should not) be:
- impressive
- clever
- catchy
- funny
Remember, your tagline has ONE purpose: to keep your most likely buyer on your website. That’s it. If it does that, it’s a good tagline.
So, let’s talk about three simple ways you can craft your business tagline.
3 Website Tagline Formulas
#1: A no-frills statement directed right to your target audience
Here’s the tagline formula: “I do {this thing} for {these people}.”
Here are some tagline examples which follow this formula:
- Emotional therapy for married couples.
- Content strategy for small business owners.
- Art therapy for moms
- Leadership coaching for exhausted executives
Copywriting tip: This tagline is effective because it says just as much about what you don’t do, as it says about what you actually do. Remember, the purpose of your website slogan is to convince your most likely buyers, your ideal prospects to stay. It’s completely fine if it also convinces those who are unlikely to buy from you to leave your website—because those aren’t people in your target audience.
The genius of this formula is that it speaks to your specialization.
#2: A very strong claim for the purpose of influencing the purchasing decision
Here’s the tagline formula: {Name of Company} – {“We are the best.”}
Many well-known household brands use this tagline formula, for example:
- Wal-Mart – “Always Low Prices”
- Amazon – “Earth’s Biggest Book Store”
- Target – “Expect more. Pay less.”
- Mercedes-Benz – “The Best or Nothing”
- Ford – “Built to Last”
Copywriting tip: This type of tagline is mainly used by large brands who set the bar very high and won’t have to dispute their claims. If you’re a small business owner without this kind of brand recognition, use this tagline formula with caution.
#3: A to-the-point tagline that features your delivery method of the product or service you offer
This website tagline formula works like this: “I do {this thing} in {this way}.”
Examples:
- Fresh groceries right to your doorstep.
- Website design done in two weeks.
Copywriting tip: This type of tagline highlights your competitive advantage over the “other guys.”
Lots of people will give you advice about how to make a catchy tagline—focusing less on what your tagline must do (convince the right people to stay) and focusing more on being clever or memorable. Sure, an unforgettable tagline (like M&M’s “It melts in your mouth, not in your hands”) is nice, but if you’re just struggling to write a tagline for your website you should always pick something that conveys one clear message over something that confuses your reader.
So, seriously rethink the “it must be memorable” advice, because in the end, your tagline serves one purpose: To get your most likely buyer to STAY.
Of course once you’ve written your website tagline, you’ll have to write … the rest of your content. But it does not have to be draining! We’ve created a Joyful Content Creation Framework which will guide you in how to create 6 types of content … and cuts your content creation time in half. Get your free copy of the framework here.
