I'm working on a website redesign. I have suggested that we should add a tagline to the logo to make clear what this page is all about.
The client argument is that most people already know what this site is all about when they land on the home page and therefore a tagline will have no benefit.
Any thoughts about adding a tagline to a logo? What are the pros and cons?
(For context, the website is www.pipl.com - The suggested tag line would be 'Pipl - People Search')
Having the company tagline on the homepage is Jacob Neilson's guideline #1 for company homepages. It's also one of the most frequently broken guideline for the exact reasons you and other answers have stated.
Even well-known companies presumably hope to attract new customers and should tell first-time visitors about the site's purpose. It is especially important to have a good tagline if your company's general marketing slogan is bland and fails to tell users what they'll gain from visiting the site.
Tagline, strapline, make mantra - they all put a definition or a label on the service or product that people will use to talk about and share with others using the same words and terminology.
They add a personality to the brand (so make sure you use a suitable font!)
They engage at first sight.
They help you remember the experience that bit extra.
So, what's not to like?
Sounds like some user research is required, the only way you will find out for sure. Also consider new users, what knowledge do they come to the site with?
Personally I don't see the problem with a tagline. If it is designed correctly and fits with the product/brand guidelines it can be of great help. It can give extra context to the product.
You could try doing some A-B testing, with and without the tagline?
This may be more effort than it's worth, but you could find a site out there that your client doesn't know about, with a suitably obscure name which does have a tagline. Grab a screenshot, and edit out the tagline, then show them that for a couple of seconds (literally, show and hide for maybe 2-3 seconds) and see if they know what the site is about. Then do the same, only this time with the tagline intact.
Get them to think about their own behaviour when they're looking for something, and get to a site they've never been to before and quickly decide it's not for them. And you might want to show them the basketball gorilla video just to highlight how little people really see of what's in front of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/
Once they understand their own behaviour they may be more willing to understand other people's behaviour with respect to their site, and more willing to understand that they need to be generous in helping people understand what they're about. The "but they ought to..." arguments will hurt their bottom line. What people should do is irrelevant - it's what people actually do that matters.
Adding the tag line would be all gain in my view.
If the site is found on a search engine search then you've often got about a matter of a few seconds to get over what the site is for, before users hit the back button and go off to look at the next search result.
Clients always think things are obvious - but that's because they've been living with their project for months.
That's the value of a 'fresh pair of eyes'.
Skip the tagline if the logo, the brand name, the web design or pictures and headlines could clearly explain what the site is about. This applies to all pages on the whole web site i 2 seconds. Not just the home page. It isn't uncommon that maybe 70% of the visitors arrive on other pages than the home page. If that isn't enough add a tagline.
Also, it is a difference between recognizing a brand name and knowing what type of different services och products it provides. The tag name could explain this.
