Writing a Good Tagline
by Hostway
A tagline is not a necessity for your business, but it is very useful in helping your potential customers know why they should do business with you instead of your competition. Find out what goes into a good tagline and how to write one.
Writing a Good Tagline
If all this seems like a tall order for a short phrase, don’t worry. It is doable by following these steps.
- Brainstorm keywords: This is just like doing keyword research for Web site content. Write down every word you can think of that is related to an aspect of your business, including synonyms and even homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently). At this point, the more words you have, the better, so don’t edit yourself.
- Brainstorm benefits and values: Now make a list of words that describe the benefits of your product or service, along with things a client might value about it. Is your product exclusive, contemporary, classic?
- Combine words: See if you can combine two or more keywords, or keywords plus benefits and values, to create a descriptive phrase. Write down any you think of, again without editing yourself.
- Pick your favorites: Now start editing. Go through your phrases, and consider how you can make them into a tagline, or if any work without modification. Narrow it down to two or three favorites.
- Test your favorites on others: It’s important to get opinions of people outside your industry. Make sure they both like it and actually understand it.
Your final tagline should be specific enough to actually say something meaningful, but general enough to remain relevant as your business grows and expands. If it applies only to one product, it might be a good tagline for that product, but not for your whole business.
Remember, a tagline is not strictly necessary for every business, and not having one is better than a bad one. So don’t rush the process. Take your time, test and refine to come up with the perfect descriptor for your business.
Hostway Corporation helps small- and medium-sized businesses increase sales with innovative Web hosting packages that include an easy-to-use Web site builder, a built-in mechanism for driving traffic and an email marketing platform. Founded in 1998, the company currently serves more than 600,000 customers across the globe and operates over 250,000 square feet of state-of-the-art data centers with a direct presence in 13 countries, 17 worldwide operation centers and more than 700 employees.