Taglines are perhaps the most underrated and underused elements of personal and business blogs, yet they serve a huge function.
The social web has conditioned us to move through content-based sites quickly, and if we reach a site with an unclear thesis we’re likely to click to the next thing. You also can’t count on visitors to read your “about” page. In a world that increasingly moves at 140 characters or less, having a hook such as a clever tagline can make all the difference.
Taglines are your brand’s elevator pitch and help people get a quick snapshot of who you are. It’s your opportunity to be descriptive, catchy, memorable and create a unique brand for your blog. They also present a great opportunity for keyword inclusion, but not at the sacrifice of stickiness. Ideally you can combine something catchy and SEO friendly.
To help inspire you the next time you launch a blog – or any type of web publication – I pulled together what I think are some of the more creative, clever and effective taglines from around the blogosphere:
1. How To Change The World: A practical blog for impractical people
2. Successful Blog: You’re only a stranger once
3. Conversation Agent: Connecting ideas and people – how talk can change our lives
4. Sugarrae: Never mess with a woman who can pull rank
5. Boing Boing: A directory of wonderful things
6. PR Squared: It may be the future but you still gotta eat
7. The Consumerist: Shoppers bite back
8. Zen Habits: Simple Productivity
9. Yoast: Tweaking Websites
10. PR 2.0: The future of communication starts here
11. CopyBlogger: Copywriting tips for online marketing success
12. /Film: Blogging the reel world
13. Broadcasting Brain: Harvesting cognitive surplus for uncanny content
14. Psyblog: Understand your mind
15. Lifehacker: Tips and downloads for getting things done
16. Think Simple Now: Creativity, Clarity, Happiness
17. Violent Acres: Like you, but with poor impulse control
18. Bacon Today: Daily updates on the world of sweet, sweet bacon
19. Shoemoney: Skills to pay the bills
20. Techno Theory: Technical…Practical…Theoretically Interesting
21. Publishing 2.0: The (r)Evolution of media
22. Geek Sugar: Geek is chic.
23. Smashing Magazine: We smash you with the information that will make your life easier. Really.
24. A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC
25. Steve Pavlina: Personal development for smart people
26. Simply Fired: If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
27. So Good: An absurd look at the world of food
28. Get Rich Slowly: Personal finance that makes cents
29. Personal Branding Blog: Navigating YOU to future success
30. SEO Book: Learn. Rank. Dominate.
31. The Impulsive Buy: Putting the “ew” in product reviews
32. PluginID: Plugin to your identity
33. Kottke: Home of fine hypertext products
34. Freakonomics: The hidden side of everything (also a book, but a great tagline none-the-less)
35. Web Worker Daily: Rebooting the workforce
36. Online Marketer Blog: If Copyblogger and JaffeJuice had a bad-ass baby
37. Auto Blog: We obsessively cover the auto industry
38. Advergirl: …yeah, I have an opinion about that
39. TwiTip: Twitter tips in 140 characters or more
40. Duct Tape Marketing: Simple, effective and affordable small business marketing
41. Apartment Therapy: Saving the world, one room at a time
42. TechCult: Technology, Twisted
43. Illuminated Mind: The less boring side of personal development
44. Don’t Drink The Kool-aid: Join the conversations. Just don’t drink the Kool-aid.
45. Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters
A few quick observations noted while compiling this:
- It was easy to get quite a few of these as the catchier taglines are sticky enough to recall without even visiting the site
- Only a few of these taglines are conscious of SEO, but it is an opportunity
- Many taglines were part of the image instead of as HTML text on the page, so if you’re going to include keywords be sure that they are text-based or at a minimum, include them as alt text to the image
- Many blogs have no tagline at all, relying purely on their name to tell the story
- Strong taglines make a great first impression
- Descriptive taglines work just fine too if they match the content
- Taglines can work in conjunction with the name of the blog itself – the two support each other
- Simply reading the taglines of sites you already know can provide a mental image of the site
- For blogs with non-descriptive names, taglines become even more important
This is of course an incomplete list, so we’ll turn it over you. Share your favorite blog taglines in the comments that you think are creative, clever or effective.
How about “The business of writing for business?” Does that draw a clear picture? I spent more time on that tagline than I’d care to admit.
Thanks Adam! Now I’ll have to create some more “uncanny content”..
Good point! The importance of the tagline should never be underestimated.
Some of them are entertaining though not too clearly describing 😀
My blog, Get Fresh Minds, tagline is “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped!”
I think it’s a fun one.
haha the last point “For blogs with non-descriptive names, taglines become even more important” is true – my blog (my name) had the tagline The Dialogue Is The Content in 2005. But recently I changed it to The Business of Being Social.It is on online communities.
Interestingly, I advise clients to name their microbranded network for the Purpose but use the Tagline for value systems. e.g. The Harley Davison Community (Purpose) with the tagline Medice, cura te ipsum! – will attract doctors with bikes for recreation rather than bikers with hoggers for serious.
I guess what I am saying is, think about using the name of your blog for your Purpose, keywords, subject and the tagline for your tone, position, values. 😛
Nice list. For my blog, I chose:
“A blog about good business writing and bad. Especially the bad. Because there’s so much more of the bad.”
It’s a bit long, but pretty much sums it up.
Recently I’ve been getting particularly snooty and obnoxious about bad writing in my posts. To reflect that, I am thinking of changing the tagline to “Did I mention that I had a PhD from Cambridge?”.
Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of people wouldn’t realise that such a tagline is just me being snootily obnoxious towards my own self-important writing!
Well, it is really a must to have taglines that are catchy and striking. Taglines allow us to be searched and at the same time to be noticed. In business and for e-marketers, taglines shows their uniqueness from others. Hence, it is important to work on something that is striking and unusual.
Something new always catches others’ attention.
Tyrone Shum
Internet Business Path dot com
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Need help with understanding ecommerce? Visit my blog and learn how to profit from ecommerce.
I had a great tagline writer. My dad wrote it for his saloon (blog is it’s legacy) which opened on the day Prohibition was repealed… in 1931, I think.
Nice 1 buddy !
Good work
You have got me thinking now. My tagline is very boring in comparison.
I am going to brainstorm some new tagline ideas.
Great work,
Rob
What about my blog’s tag line?
“Mark 2100, World Dictator: Sooner or Later”
😉
catchy and funny, but I am not sure I would personally ready something that sounded so egotistical. What would it be about exactly, just you?
That was a great list. Taglines should never be underestimated. I think they’re the ones that really define your blog, don’t you think? I personally think that the taglines can make or break you. People know just by the sound of it if it’s interesting enough to them.
Great mix of headlines…
I’d say that the headline/tagline is the number one most important piece to draw in an audience.
I personally use bizzarre and almost controversial headlines, but you have a list of very catchy and clever and tasteful headlines that I can learn from…
which is the key for everyone here, read and learn how to do this on your own blog.
These are some really good taglines, thanks for sharing. Taglines are a great way to attract peoples attention so you need to make sure it is catchy.
I’m a fan of taglines – but it’s tough to come up with one. Sometimes they come from what someone else says about you. I got mine from a mention of my blog in a magazine. Newspapergrl: the Lois Lane of the World Wide Web
The only problem? I’m not just a reporter of the web, I’m a marketer. The tagline doesn’t reflect that.
Janet
That is a good one, but I see what you mean about not incorporating the other aspect (marketing). Maybe start another blog that focuses on marketing too?
Great post! One way to write a great tagline is to read others. Writing a tagline is not the easiest thing to do so hopefully hearing some other creative lines will spark an idea.
I think the tagline, although it should be descriptive and capture the spirit of the blog, does not matter much. The most important thing is your actual content. Write about stuff that you are passionate about and that can potentially help other people and you will be moderately successful. Get some big bloggers to link back to you and you will be crazy successful 🙂
Bottom line, don’t worry too much about the tagline. Worry about the content.
Fun romp through a part of marketing that few pay enough attention to!
Not from a blog, but the one I’ve always enjoyed the most is from a locksmith friend of mine who uses this tagline: “Pick me before they pick you.”
Thanks for an enjoyable read.
Gwen McCauley
Great post!
I clearly have my work cut out for me 🙂
Thanks
Paul Castain
Feel really pity because I have underrated the taglines. Thanks for changing my mind.
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Wow. I'm impressed by the number of links there. I have a blog that is running a series on Marketing Blogs. Perhaps your readers may also be interested.
Wow. I'm impressed by the number of links there. I have a blog that is running a series on Marketing Blogs. Perhaps your readers may also be interested.