Create a better tagline

Choosing a tagline for your law firm or medical practice is an exciting moment. It can even be a fun moment! As fun as it can be, though, don’t lose sight of the importance of what you’re trying to create. Once it’s in place on your website and in your marketing, your tagline plays a big part in how visitors see and think about your brand. 

As we design new websites for lawyers and podiatrists, we often see clients struggling to come up with taglines that really do all they need to do. Are you struggling with the same issue? If so, here’s a little advice from our experts for creating a tagline that works. 

What Is a Tagline?

At its most basic, a tagline is a phrase or short statement that represents your business on your website and in your marketing materials. You’ve probably already heard popular taglines from big companies, like Nike’s “Just Do It” or Apple’s “Think Different.” When it really works, the tagline is almost synonymous with the brand name!

When you design a website with FWM, the tagline appears in the main header of your site, along with your header photo and main calls to action. This is such prime real estate on the page that we encourage each of our clients to make the most of it. The text, placement, and size of your tagline all play a big part in letting your visitors and potential clients know that they’ve come to the right place.

 

What's the Difference Between a Tagline and a Slogan?

This is a question we hear a lot, and with good reason! Taglines and slogans are very similar in construction. The difference, though, is really in what you use them for. A tagline is used consistently for your business as a whole. Your tagline only changes rarely, usually when you redefine your business's purpose or core philosophy.

Slogans, on the other hand, can be thought of as taglines for a single product or part of your business. Slogans often use trendier language than taglines, and they don’t necessarily have to stand the test of time in the same way taglines do. Slogans may be changed often, or they may fade away entirely when the campaign, event, or service is no longer available. 

The good news is that, if you can write a great tagline, then you can use those same techniques to write a great slogan, too. 

How Can I Write a More Compelling Tagline? 

Your goal in writing a tagline is to come up with a short and powerful phrase that represents the overall tone and feeling of your business, while encouraging people to act. That can be a lot to pack into a few words—or even a short sentence! 

So, where do you start? As you start brainstorming ideas, keep in mind that the biggest difference between a mediocre tagline and a great tagline is that a great tagline will hit all the following notes:

  • It’s specific. A tagline should be specific to your business and the services you offer. It should include a mention of your main practice areas or an in-a-nutshell idea of what makes your business different from your competitors. 
  • It’s memorable. A tagline should always be memorable or “catchy,” and it should sum up what you want your visitors to remember about what you do. The real trick is that it needs to be memorable in the right way, to the right people. For example, if you’re an estate planning attorney, a cheesy or joke-y tagline might be memorable, but it’s probably for all the wrong reasons. Similarly, a memorable tagline won’t help you if it doesn’t really help people remember who you are or what you do. 
  • It’s cohesive. As we design our clients’ websites, we guide them toward creating a relationship between the tagline and the main headline that appears lower down on the page. We may even recommend that they use prominent language from their best reviews or media mentions in their taglines. When the language in these different elements harmonize, your homepage automatically feels more cohesive—and you want a cohesive message because confused consumers don't buy!
  • It’s motivating. Taglines work best when you can also incorporate a “call to action” in the text. However, since your tagline needs to be short, you don’t have a lot of room to make your point. Think about how you can give your tagline a sense of action or urgency in a few words. For example, you might use more commanding verbs (like “get” or “start”), direct-to-the reader language (like “your” or “you”), or other words that create enthusiasm and demand attention.  

Of course, even with these kinds of guidelines, it’s still tough to develop a tagline that does it all. If you’re still stumped, we believe that there is no better way to learn than by seeing some awesome taglines in action. 

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3 Examples of Law Firm Taglines That Rock

We can tell you what goes into a great tagline and explain the theory behind it, but sometimes it’s easiest to just see examples of what other businesses have already done well. 

Here are a few of our favorite examples of great taglines from our clients:

  1. “Your Estate Planner for Life.” We love this tagline from Monteforte Law, P.C. because it’s so short, direct, and memorable. It perfectly represents the “feel” of the law firm’s brand, and it also ties in nicely with the main headline further down the page, “Ready to Talk About a Plan to Protect Your Assets? Discover the Monteforte Estate Planning Difference.”
  2. “Employment Law. Disability Law. It's All We Do.” This tagline from Gibbons Leis, PLLC is in big, bold type at the top of the page, and it packs a punch. We love this one because it immediately lets visitors know what the firm does, and that specificity builds trust right from the start. It’s another one that works well with the headline that follows further down the page, “Discrimination, Wage & Hour, and Long-Term Disability Lawyers Protecting the Rights of Employees in North Carolina,” which gets even more specific about their services.  
  3. “Big Firm Experience. Small Firm Attention.” This tagline for Foster Wallace, LLC works especially well with the light, relaxed color scheme of their website. It gives visitors a taste of the kind of experience the law firm offers, and it connects to the headline further down the page, “Looking for Counsel With Deep Roots in the Kansas City Legal Community? Our Experienced Attorneys Will Relentlessly Pursue Justice on Your Behalf.”  

In each of these examples, the tagline anchors the tone of the website and gives visitors a memorable first impression of each firm. They’re great examples of taglines that do everything they should do and more! 

Are you ready to put a fresh face on your marketing? Do you need a “re-branding” that will show potential clients who you are and what you do best? Let’s start talking about your design ideas—or re-design ideas! Call us at 888.886.0939 or request a website design consultation with our award-winning experts.   

Are You Wondering If Your Law Firm Or Medical Practice Website Is Standing Up To The Competition? It's Likely Time For A Website Redesign.

If you're convinced your website is outdated, chances are it is. Help is available, however. Please contact us online or call our office directly at 888.866.0939 to schedule your free website redesign consultation with our experienced marketing team. We have been helping clients throughout the United States and internationally since 1998 and are confident we can help you not only reach, but exceed your goals.

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