Getting Started with a Tagline
In one line, can you sum up what the entire foucs of your blog is? If not, then it is a great time to think about a catchy, innovative line that grabs a reader’s attention and brands your blog or company. Definition of a tagline:
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product (like a film), or to reinforce the audience’s memory of a product. Some taglines are successful enough to warrant inclusion in popular culture, often becoming snowclones.
Taglines are easy to create, yet there is a severe lack of them seen across the millions of blogs. Many poeple simply create adaptations of other bloggers’ taglines, or have one that has little real meaning in relation to what they are posting about. Taglines are essentially the “Welcome to my blog! This is what my main topic is!” (in a creative form). The key to creating a tagline, or slogan, is to be as unique and memorable as possible.
History of Taglines and Slogans
During the 60s and continuing into the 70s, the popularization of television was at its height, and many large companies needed to present advertising that appealed to mainstream consumers. To do this, they began to invest heavily in designing the slogans that are still recognized today. The use of taglines, or those that are still recognized in 2008 diminished between 1980 and the mid-1990s until the age of the Internet began. A new focus on community-oriented taglines and slogans that would allow people to recognize the brand both online and offline rose.
Designing the Tagline
To create an effective tagline, begin by brainstorming a list of possible slogans. While there are several tools (shown below in the ‘Other Resources’ area to generate random taglines and slogans, they do what they are supposed to do, create extremely random slogans. In the beginning, don’t even think about editing them, as editing may decrease the value of ones that would normally have been considered great.
It isn’t a bad idea to look at what other companies or bloggers (your competition) are doing to help set their blog apart in the form of taglines or slogans.
Your tagline should say what you are all about: your focus, what makes you unique, and draw new visitors in.
Remember that taglines should be easily remembered, so keep the one you are designing between six to ten words or less. When you think about creating a new blog, you are essentially creating a modified version of a tagline – designating a focus with a targeted visitor base.
There are several distinct areas for showcasing your tagline/slogan, including in your header/search engine title, description/title physically on blog page, and as a blog description – both on site and in search engines. Don’t worry if you can’t come up with a tagline that fits your entire blog, as any different areas of your blog – pages, etc. can be distinguished with a different locution. By allowing your readers to distinguish and characterize between the different areas of your blog will not only add visual appeal but may add emotion as visitors travel around.
Developing a Great Tagline
Your blog is yours. You own all the content that you produce on it. Don’t let the initial experience that readers receive when visiting your blog to cause them to stray from your content. In most cases, your tagline/slogan/title are shown before you are even able to present any form of content or services. This is where the tagline comes especially in handy.
General Rules:
- Each tagline should be clear in what you are trying to deliver. Readers don’t want to have an impression in their mind that you deliver more than you promise when they read the “fine print”/blog content. [Wikipedia Tagline Case Study]
- Your tagline can make or break the amount of success that your blog has. Spend the time in creating one that will allow growth, even if you don’t see it catch on immediately. Even small blogs will benefit from an ingeniously designed tagline.
- Taglines do not need to have any particular expressions incorporated, including puns, but not limited to other types of rhetorical devices.
- People who see the tagline should immediately be presented with the thought “Wow, they sure know what they are talking about.” Carefully integrate the fact that your business is experienced in what it does. For a blog, you could start by defining yourself as an authority in your field.
- Target the line to your audience. For example, if you run a blog that targets to a certain class of people, you won’t want to express disrespect towards your most valuable visitors.
- Connection – Can readers and potential customers feel any kind of emotion or energy after reading the tagline?
Finalizing the Integration
A general rule of thumb is to keep the same tagline for a majority of your blog’s lifespan. Taglines are similar to advertising campaigns. You must first discover what works best for you in your mind, then begin testing it to see how the market likes/dislikes it. From there, you can refine or scrap the idea for that particular tagline.
In most blog software, or through the use of plugins, a tagline/title can be added to your blog easily. In WordPress, this option can be found under Settings > General Settings. Even if you simply publish from a regular website, simply edit the title into the format of either: “Blog Title - Tagline”; “Blog Title | Tagline”, and so on.
To deliver better results, it may be better to explain how/why you created that particular tagline or add it to your signatures, pages, etc. across your blog.
Each and every blogger will see different results, even if the same tagline is used or with different methods for implementing it on your blog. Again, taglines are an extremely important part of any blog, especially if blogging in a field others are unfamiliar in or if you need setting yourself apart from your competition.
