Digital Taglines, Tagline Ads and Dot Slogans: The Language of Domains.

By Duane J. Higgins, ceo 

xtradot.com and tagline.tech 

There are the beginnings of a "buzz" around the Internet regarding a new domain name usage that has potential to be truly explosive. 

Digital taglines,  tagline ads and dot slogans are an innovative domain name application that offer an array of new advertising, promotional and marketing channels for the Internet marketer and individual alike.

The impetus for this development of the domain name taglines has been that the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is facilitating the ongoing release of upwards of 1000 new domain name extensions. First we had .com, .net, .org and a handful of other domain name extensions. We now have or will soon have .app, .blog, .buzz, .guru, .fun, .group, .fashion, .love, .music, .news, .deals, .play, .shop, .sport, .video, .web, .club, .design, .flowers, .cool, .tube and on and on.

From day one the Internet has been "aflutter" with methods and strategies that we all use for location, identification, promotion and linking. From the individual to the corporation.  With the evolution of the Internet and how that medium is integrated into all of our lives- many identification techniques have been created over time. To name a few we have real names, user names. handles, email, screen names. aliases, domain names, web pages, urls, blog names, phone numbers and on and on.

So with the expanded opportunities for Internet domain name extensions available I wanted to talk about these new alternative and expanded uses for domain names: Domain Name taglines.
  
The definition of the tagline from Wikipedia.org is here: In entertainment, a tagline (or tag line[1][2]) is a small amount of text which serves to clarify a thought for, or designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, social group, or product. As a variant of a branding slogan, taglines can be used in marketing materials and advertising.

Also from Wikipedia: A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose.

Digital taglines are nothing more than creative use of the existing domain name system. Domain name taglines utilize sub domains. Subdomains are extensions of your domain name that you can forward to URLs or point to IP addresses.  Sub-domains are nothing new. You will see many companies use them to indicate specialized sections of their website or for another purpose. Sub domains can easily be set up within the domain name administration panel. 

According to Wikipedia.org:

A subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain; the only domain that is not also a subdomain is the root domain.^[1] For example, west.example.com and east.example.com are subdomains of the example.com domain, which in turn is a subdomain of the com top-level domain (TLD).  

Following are a few examples of domain taglines for demonstration purposes only.  Note the dots between each word.

street.actor
skateboard.style
detroit.sexy
epic.rugby    
pocket.cash
davis.rocks
football.life    
gifted.one    
joseph.cool    
fearless.fashion    
bostons.best    
coding.guru
bostons.best
Digital taglines or dot slogans are not limited to two words. Here are a few examples or longer ones:

smash.mouth.rugby
your.country.cool
get.phone.cash
mary.baker.does.rock
seattle.bike.guru
not.your.fathers.sport 
only.the.best.deals

You get the idea. With upwards of 1000 new domain name extensions currently being launched the possibilities are literally endless.
 
Expanded uses far beyond traditional domain names. 
The best way to think of a domain tagline is much like a Twitter handle. 

Only more like a phone number or email address.

The digital tagline affords the user opportunities for identification, branding, self expression and linking to other locations around the Internet.

I should note that the domain tagline is always a domain name. For example: football.life and bostons.best can be domain name taglines. They are also domain names.
 

However, a domain name is not necessarily a digital tagline.

Digital taglines also have the following uses and more:

Embedding in websites for marketing and SEO purposes (search engine optimization)
Traditional advertising
Digital advertising
Text and SMS marketing 

We have begun experimentation with embedding digital taglines into our own websites. These taglines can serve as a stand alone entity (and be used for advertising purposes) or you can link from there to another location on your site or another site entirely.

Digital taglines can also be used as an advertisement unto themselves (i.e. tagline ads).


It is very possible that the advent of adblocker apps will drive a shift towards more native advertising or sponsored posts (i.e. tagline ads). Whereas websites place advertorial style content in editorial posts with disclosure regarding what is paid for. Yes, the ad blocker apps are a direct attack on Googles  revenue platform. However, tagline ads could be the beneficiary of the ad block apps. Adblock apps and browsers don't block domain names. Domain name are integral to every website and location on the Internet. Domain names represent the addressing system of the Internet. 


Tagline ads can be a form of native advertising that encompasses the various channels and methods of advertising along with utility of use and economy of  use. (easy to use and economical).


The digital tagline can be used anywhere that a domain name could be used and anywhere that a hashtag could be used and beyond. (We all know what hashtags are. They provide a way for social media users to tag their posts with keywords, which in turn make it easier for social networks to organize the information and for users to search.)

Think of digital taglines being attached to social media posts. (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) Remember that if you use the tagline you can then connect the tagline (string) to any other site or location that you want because the tagline is actually a domain name. Or you may just use the tagline as an identifier for you.

Digital taglines can be used in the body of any sms/text message. Allowing the user to include their tagline in the body of the text and consequently link to where you choose (or not).
Domain taglines can also be used for vanity email. For example: john@coding.guru

Digital Tagline vernacular can be integrated into everyday language just as the term "hashtag" is often used relating to social media posts. For example sleek.style would be pronounced sleek (dot) style. yoga.gal would be yoga (dot) gal and on and on. Further integrating the use of taglines into popular media and culture.

You could of course buy, sell and trade digital taglines. Much like what is done with domain names. Domain name marketplaces are numerous and already designed to trade and deal in virtual taglines and dot slogans.

Remember that every tagline is unique. This gives the tagline unique value. Unique to you. Your brand. Your online identity. However you wanted to look at it and use it.  No two would be the same.  (by the way, the uniqueness is what makes domain names so valuable to begin with). The value is in the differentiation. The uniqueness. The originality. The unique value that can not be replicated. For example. Capital.com is probably worth several million dollars. What do you think Captial.com is worth? (note the misspelling) Virtually nothing. Those value differentiations could apply to taglines as well.

There will soon be 1000 new domain name extensions. Certain domain extensions would certainly be "grooved" for virtual tagline marketing. Some of those were listed above such as: .app, .blog, .best, .buzz, .guru, .group, .fashion, .love, .music, .news, .one, .deals, .play, .shop, .sport, .video, .web, .club, .design, .flowers, .green, .cool, .tube and on and on.

So I did find it more than interesting that on (May 11, 2015) when news came out in various news channels that Facebook is testing its own in-app search engine. An application that will allow users to post links in their status updates. Without having to visit Google or another search engine.  The way it works is that users will see an "add a link" option next to buttons to add photos or other information.  I'm sure Facebook will be providing more information on this potential Google killer as we move forward. As I have mentioned domain taglines are nothing more than links. Links that either identify yourself with an Internet identity or brand or carry you to another location on the Internet. Just as most other domain names do.

There is also a very interesting recent article (by Barry Swartz) found in Search Engine Land.  According to the article:

"Google Confirms New Experiment with Twitter in Search Results."

According to this article Google is expected to begin showing Twitter content in search this month.

Google is apparently finally making use of the new deal it signed with Twitter to put tweets into Google’s search results. The company confirmed a “small experiment” that some are seeing in the search results.

Is this "small experiment" the beginning of something big and potentially the impetus for digital taglines, dot slogans and tagline ads to ingrain themselves into Twitter, social media and popular culture?


If you are interested you may visit our domain name tagline, virtual tagline tagline ad and dot slogan registry here:

tagline.tech