If people are coming to your website and immediately hitting the back button (known as “a bounce”), then the use of a tagline is something to consider.
In 2012, The Guardian (News) reported on the ever-decreasing attention span of the modern Internet user with the headline, “Say it quick, say it well.“ In that article a pew study reported the following:
… The current generation of Internet consumers live in a world of “instant gratification and quick fixes” which leads to a “loss of patience and a lack of deep thinking.” In a world of instant gratification and where an alternative website is just a mouse click away, website owners need to find ways to first grab the attention of a user, and then keep it…
So, when visitors arrive at sites via search engines, they don’t stay for long because they have short attention spans. So how do we keep them on the site? First, we need to uncover why they leave in the first place.
While the initial page title and description that displayed in Google’s search results was attractive enough for them to click, they quickly returned back to Google to search for another webpage because they didn’t think the content was relevant.
Perceived relevancy is the problem.
One solution is to use a tagline.
Visitors need something that quickly emphasizes the benefit of further exploring the page they just landed on. A tagline answers the first questions they may have in their minds which are:
- What is this site mainly about?
- Is this page and website going to help me?
- How does it benefit me?
Your tagline should be visible on every page where it can’t be missed—usually at the top of the page in the header.
- Your tagline must be short and emphasis the benefit to the visitor.
- Your tagline doesn’t have to be your company’s slogan.
A good tagline can lead your ideal visitor to continue exploring your page because they know they’re in the right place.
Is a tagline for everyone?
Not necessarily. The website’s design, its headline, and the website’s name could be good indicators to the visitor that the content on the page is relevant to them and worthy of further exploration.
If people are coming to your website and immediately hitting the back button (known as “a bounce”), then the use of a tagline is something you will need to test to see if it will encourage visitors to stay on your webpage.
Of course, there are many other factors that lead visitors to quickly abandon your website, like bad design, no images, and the lack of scan-ability.