When you register your blog, you set its address. My two WordPress blogs have an address of jimmiekepler.com and keplersreviews.wordpress.com. The address tells people where to find me ob the Internet. After they find you, the title is the first thing most readers will see.
The title and tagline reach out to grab the rear’s attention. They shout, I’m here. It’s me. This is who I am. This is why you want to stop and spend some time here. They give your visitors context. They help the reader decide if they’ll stick around.
One title is Kepler’s Book Reviews. The tagline is “Promoting books I’ve read and recommend.” The blog gets a lot of visitors. My main blog in jimmiekepler.com. The title is Kepler’s Coffee House. The tagline is “My journey from day job to an enterperneual author.” The title should reflect you. A title is typically only a few words, so consider adding a tagline as well — a phrase that appears under your title and helps flesh it out.
To come up with a tagline try listing adjectives that describe your personality, and play around with the words until you can tweak them into a name that’s catchy but uniquely “you.” Puns always work well. Start with certain familiar phrases, songs, and literary titles, and then mix the words up. Or use your name in a clever way. I’m still tweaking mine.
You should avoid repeating your site title in the tagline. Your tagline is a space to share some context about the content of your site. Take advantage of it.
Keep it short and sweet. Be original. As WordPress says – don’t let your blog’s tagline become another in the sea of “musings about thoughts” — make sure it tells us something about you.
I look forward to seeing tomorrow’s assignment.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs in 2010. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.
