Slogan and Tagline Ideas for a Business: How to Find One

The advice on writing and using a line is our view from writing websites and brand material for small businesses. The facts about copyright and trademarks come from the U.S. Copyright Office's Circular 33, Works Not Protected by Copyright and the USPTO pages What is a trademark? and Comprehensive clearance search for similar trademarks, checked on 13 November 2026. All example lines below are made up for fictional businesses.

Slogan or tagline: the difference

People use the two words loosely, and nobody will mind if you mix them up. A useful working split:

• Tagline: one line that sits with your name or logo for years, on the website header, signs and business cards. It describes the business as a whole.
• Slogan: a line for a campaign, a season or one product. It can change every few months without confusing anyone.

Most small businesses need a tagline first. Slogans come later, when you run a promotion that needs its own headline.

Neither is your value proposition. The value proposition is the plain sentence that tells a visitor what you do, for whom and why you rather than someone else; the tagline can be a shorter, catchier echo of it. If you have not written one yet, start with our guide to the value proposition, because the tagline is much easier to write once you know what it should point at.

What makes one work

• Short: something a customer can repeat after hearing it once. In our experience three to eight words is plenty, and it should fit on one line on a phone screen under your logo.
• Specific: it says something only you, or few others, could say. Lines like Quality you can trust fit every business in every town, so they tell the reader nothing.
• True: everything it promises, you deliver every day, not just on a good day. More on this below.
• In your voice: a playful bakery and a tax adviser should not sound alike. If you have brand voice guidelines, write the line to match them.
• Easy to say and spell: people will repeat it on the phone and type it into search, so avoid made-up spellings unless they are already part of your name.

Five ways to find ideas

Write ten to twenty lines quickly using the angles below, without judging them yet. Each made-up example is for an imaginary business.

• The benefit: what the customer gets, not what you do. A fictional plumber: Hot water by tonight. A fictional bookkeeper: Your evenings back.
• The place: where you are and who you serve, which works well for local businesses. A fictional bakery: Baked on Elm Street since sunrise.
• The promise: one thing you always do, stated plainly. A fictional dog groomer: Every dog home by five. Only use a promise you keep without exception.
• Name play: a rhyme or pun on your business name. A fictional café called Bean There: Bean There, loved that. Fun when it lands, but test it on strangers, because a pun that needs explaining has failed.
• The plain description: simply what you are, said well. A fictional accountant: Tax returns for freelancers. It is rarely clever, but it is clear, and clear beats clever on a website.

Raw material helps more than inspiration. Read your reviews and write down the words customers use about you; the best lines often come from a phrase a customer already said.

Choosing from a shortlist

Cut the list to three, then test them:

• Read each one aloud. If you stumble, customers will too.
• Put each one under your logo on a phone-sized mock-up of the header and see which still reads at a glance.
• Ask five people who do not know the business what each line makes them expect. Keep the line whose answers match what you actually do.
• Run the competitor test from the value proposition guide: if a rival could use your line unchanged, keep working on it.

Where the line goes

Once you have chosen, use it the same way everywhere:

• Your website: next to the logo in the header, or as the line under the main heading on the home page. It does not replace a clear heading that says what you do; our guide to website copywriting covers what the first screen needs.
• Print and premises: business cards, signs, vans, packaging and receipts.
• Profiles and email: social media bios, the about section of your Facebook Page and your email signature.
• Your brand style guide: write down the exact wording, capitals and punctuation, and whether it ever appears without the logo, so everyone uses the same version. Our brand style guide page has a one-page template to put it in.

Checking it is not someone else's

Copyright does not help you here. The Copyright Office says "Words and short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans, are uncopyrightable because they contain an insufficient amount of authorship", and it lists "Mottos, slogans, or other short expressions" among its examples.

Trademark law is what applies. The USPTO explains that "A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services." That cuts both ways: a line you use can be your trademark, and someone else's line can already be theirs. The rights are narrower than many people think: "you don't have rights to the word or phrase in general, only to how that word or phrase is used with your specific goods or services."

So before the line goes on signs and a new website, search for it. The USPTO advises that you "search for trademarks that are confusingly similar to yours when used with goods and services that are the same as or related to yours", and its short version is: "At a minimum, be sure to check our database and the TMOG for federal applications and registrations, and also search the internet for common-law use." The database is the free USPTO trademark search; the TMOG is its weekly Trademark Official Gazette. A plain web search of the line in quotation marks is the quickest first check.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a deeper search, the same USPTO page suggests "a trademark screening service" or an "experienced U.S.-licensed attorney". When to show TM or SM next to the line is covered in our brand style guide page.

Only claims you can back up

A tagline is advertising, and the same care applies to it as to any other ad. Our rule of thumb: do not put a fact in it that you could not show evidence for if a customer asked. That rules out The best in town, Number one in the county or Guaranteed results unless you can prove them, and it rules out a time promise you sometimes miss. A specific, true line is also the more persuasive one, so you lose nothing by keeping it honest.

Frequently asked questions

Does a small business need a slogan or tagline?

No, but a short, specific tagline under the logo helps people place you quickly. If you cannot find a line that is better than a plain description of what you do, use the plain description.

Can I trademark my tagline?

The USPTO says a trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies your goods or services, so a tagline can be one. Registration is optional but gives broader rights than use alone; for advice on your own line, talk to a trademark attorney.

How often should I change my tagline?

Rarely. A tagline works by repetition, so keep it for years and change it only when the business itself changes. Use slogans for campaigns that come and go.

Want help with the words on your website, from the tagline to the home page? See our services.