WordPress Categories, Keywords and Tags; Oh My!
Categories vs. tags. Tags vs. keywords. Aren’t they all the same or at least similar enough to use the same terms for all three? Sorta, kinda, a little bit, not really.
Tags are not categories. Keywords are not tags. At least to the extent that when you think of “keywords” you are thinking of SEO and keywords. And in almost every case, when new users are left to their own devices, their SEO obsession kicks in and categories, tags and keywords are one in the same. Making for a site that is not intuitively organized or navigable — and clearly keyword stuffed to the gills.
Categories, keywords and tags serve different purposes none of which dictates they all be the same phrases repeated ad nauseam to “increase SEO.”
Let’s Talk Keywords First…
When it comes to SEO, “keywords” applies to the keyword phrases you have investigated and determined your target audience uses to find what you have to offer. Let’s face it, the chance that you’ll be above the fold on Google for a one-word “keyword” is slim at best. So let’s just wash that right out of our hair right now!
So, we look for 2-3 word keyword phrases that we are going to pepper throughout our content, in our post titles, descriptions and alt tags. Over time the consistent and targeted use of these phrases can assist us in gaining relevant rankings over time.
What confuses many is that SEO Plugins have a keyword field. Why is that field even there if, as we know to be true, for years Google has ignored the meta keyword tag that the SEO field creates? Well, just because the almighty Google (Bing and Yahoo too) ignores a tag doesn’t mean it is totally useless. Just pretty much useless.
I use that field to type in the 2 or 3 phrases that are specific to the post I am writing and use that as a reminder/guide to be sure those phrases are incorporated. The take-away here is that “keywords” are what are integrated throughout your site — not just in this one field that the important crawlers disregard. So now we know how to use keywords. Categories coming up!
How to Setup Your WordPress Categories
WordPress themes only have so much width for your category nav bar to display. So we need to use this space most efficiently. That means categories are not sentences — short, sweet and intuitive. Use the terms that what will speak to your site visitors and what they are looking for.
Then when filing posts in your categories, don’t file them in every possible category that could possibly apply. Choose the top category and only add a category or two if it really, really applies. This helps site visitors navigate to their category of interest and find only posts that do in fact apply directly to that category.
Let’s move on to Tags.
How to Use WordPress Tags…
WordPress is a Content Management system, right? Let’s try this analogy:
- Visualize your WordPress site as a file cabinet.
- Your WordPress Categories are the drawers in that file cabinet.
- Your WordPress Tags are the tabbed manila folders that are filed within that drawer (Remember how little that tab was on those folders to write on? Here again, short and sweet!)
- Your Keywords are the informative papers filed within those folders.
How helpful is it to your site visitors or even search engines if you file every post in every category and tag it with every tag imaginable — just so we don’t miss anything? Think of a filing cabinet where every drawer you open has the same folders and content within — that means no organization at all, right?
This means we do not have singular and plural versions of tags, capped and lower case tags and tags with just the first letter capped. Don’t create tags in all caps — hard to read. Instead, use all lower case or the first word capped and stick with that for all your tags.
Tags should be viewed as another way of tightly organizing the data/content on your site. And yes, while some tags may be the same as your SEO “keywords”, you are creating tags for organizational purposes. What you do not do is create tags for the sole purpose of trying to cover all your SEO keyword bases.
Here are some tips to properly use your tags:
- Before you launch your site, take that list you created when doing keyword due diligence. Narrow it down to 25 keywords or phrases that you just know, without a doubt that you will have at least 5 posts about in the very near future.
- Tag each post with just two or three tags — no more than a handful — from that existing list.
- Do not create new tags on the fly — stick to your list!
- If you think of a new tag, fine, but if it doesn’t pass the 5 post rule — don’t add it!
The bottom line? Categories and tags should be viewed as ways to better organize your site content first. By being focused and using restraint you’ll have a site that is user friendly while also being SEO’d organically — that my friends is how you cover all the bases!
At your service,
Your WordPress Consultant
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