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Promotion Tip:
Explain Your Site With A Tagline
by Larisa Thomason,
Senior Web Analyst,
NetMechanic, Inc.
When visitors come to your site, can they immediately tell what it's about? If not, they may leave before realizing how valuable your information is. Keep them interested with a clear and specific tagline that clearly communicates your site's value.
It's easy to confuse a branding tagline with an advertising slogan because the two are closely related. Most advertising campaigns have a tagline like Burger King's famous "Have it your way," but we're going to focus on creating a clear and concise tagline for your Web site, not for a short advertising blitz.
Display Your Value Proposition
Marketing professionals often refer to a company's "value proposition." It's the unique service or knowledge you supply that makes your business stand out from your competitors.
The best way to clearly state your value proposition online is through a prominent tagline displayed on your homepage or even as a part of your company logo.
Here are some examples of taglines that convey a value statement:
Huntsville Land Trust - "Preserving the land, enhancing the community."
Econo Lodge hotel chain - "Spend a night, not a fortune."
Bed and Breakfast Network - "Over 17,000 Bed and Breakfasts in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean."
Search Engine Power Pack - "Your complete search engine ranking solution."
Each sentence is a clear statement of what the organization offers to consumers or the community.
Determining Your Site's Value
You should already have some idea of why your site is valuable to users, but that idea is often hard to translate into a single statement.
Begin by researching competitors' tagline - especially the top-ranked ones. Maybe you can learn something from their success. At least you'll have some idea of the value propositions you're competing against.
For even more ideas to get your creativity going, check out the AdSlogans Web site and browse through their Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame. Although most are geared towards advertising campaigns, you can get good ideas from them. Besides, they're fun to read!
Next, write a description of your site. Talk about its purpose and the unique benefits it offers visitors. Write 50 words or 500 words. Then read it carefully and rank the most important elements. Once you've identified the top three to five elements, you can begin drafting your tagline.
Key Elements Of A Good Tagline
Let's go back to your value proposition. What is the key benefit that distinguishes your site from others offering similar information or services? That's what you need to publicize in your tagline.
- Shorter is better. You only have one sentence to describe what your site is about, what it does, and how it adds value to the user. A good place to start is to review the META description tag and TITLE tag on your home page. The information contained both tags is vital to looking good in search results on some search engines. Your description, title, and tagline should all complement each other. In some cases, they may even match.
- Be clear and focused. Remember that you're selling the benefits of your site, not the features! Don't waste space with a list of your product names. Instead communicate how your products help solve problems.
- Include keywords. A good tagline should include the keywords you're targeting on your home page. If you find that you can't use your targeted keywords to describe your value proposition, then you may be using the wrong keywords!
Search Engine Power Pack has a keyword selection tool that will help you select the best keywords for your site.
- Boring is ok. Don't think that you have to dazzle the visitors with your brilliance and writing skill. Avoid superlatives and just describe your site. "Accountants for the stars!" is less informative than the more staid "Expert financial planning advice for actors, artists, and dance professionals."
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Of course, if you can come up with a pithy and creative value statement, then that's great. But it's a lot more important to clearly communicate with the statement than it is to sweep visitors away on a flight of clever wordplay.
Once You Have It, Use It
Now that you've spent all that time and effort to develop your tagline, use it!
Even though it was developed it for your Web site, a good tagline enhances all your business communications:
- Email signature lines
- Business cards
- Business stationery and letterhead
- Print advertisements
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Clever use of your tagline is yet another way to promote your site without going broke.
If you're looking for even more tips and techniques to help with site promotion, check out NetMechanic's online search engine promotion tool, Search Engine Power Pack. It will guide you through the bewildering process of selecting keywords, writing META tags, optimizing page content, and submitting to search engines.
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