Site titles and taglines can make or break a site. Let’s just say you have a blog page and that it shows up in search results, now what? You probably want people to pick your site from the list right?

Well it’s not as easy as just hoping it automatically finds readers who like it and waves them over to tell them a story. The image displayed below is a screenshot of the ClarkWP site title and tagline displayed when searched via the web.

tag and tagline The title itself is simple and the tagline is descriptive and interesting. It makes readers curious about what the students are saying. In short– it works.

Titles are Important

Your site title most likely will be the first thing that catches a reader’s eye; why come to your site and not a different one? Patrick Sexton at feedthebot says this about the importance of website titles:

Titles are the first thing that a person sees about your site in Google search results. Your titles should be accurate and descriptive (and compelling too).

Sexton goes on to say that being descriptive and concise when choosing your title is important. It helps search engines and people to decide what the site is about. This title is also necessary for improving the user’s experience with your blog or brand.

Some things to remember about website titles:

Titles are displayed in search engine results
Titles are displayed in the tabs of your web browser
Titles tell a story about your site or page
Titles are like a brick and mortar business’ neon sign
Titles are your one chance to explain your page

What is a Tagline?

Quite simply, a tagline is a short phrase of about 8-15 words that explains key features or benefits of your site. Be careful when being clever, you could cost yourself potential visitors if they don’t understand or appreciate your humor.

Additionally, you must consider that in today’s culture most people just scan through websites. And they respond to things that they understand. If the site title says who you are, the tagline says what you are about. It helps to complete the picture for potential visitors at just a glance.

Why Taglines are Essential

Taglines are an important, but all too often overlooked part of a successful blog site. Long time blogging/web writing professional and instructor to many a wayward bloggers, Lorelle VanFossen writes in her article, “Blog Exercises: What’s Your Site’s Tagline?“:

By default, all WordPress sites have the tagline “Just another WordPress site,” or, if you are on WordPress.com, it says, “Just another WordPress.com weblog.” It used to be “Just another WordPress blog.” A search for that on Google turns up over 276 million results including some famous and popular sites that should know better.

Think of your site’s tagline as a hook, a compelling message the user sees right at the top of the page. Making that user feel confident that they made the right choice in coming to your site– that is it’s job.

Taking the time to construct a great tagline could be the most important part of your main pages content. Consider this right at the start of your earliest planning sessions when building a new blog or website.

Conclusion

Yes, there are many ways to construct creative site titles and taglines. The statements that will engage your audience and bring them willingly into your world are yours to fabricate.

I challenge you to go deeper as you write for your site. Ask yourself what would grab your attention and draw you in. Write to you and in turn, write to your audience.