Categories and tags are things that WordPress uses to organize your content. Both of these systems help users find similar content on your website. However, they are not exactly interchangeable. In fact, categories and tags should be viewed as separate entities.
The one thing to keep in mind is that it’s possible to overuse categories and tags in your blog. This can create confusion not only for your human visitors but could be problematic for search engine optimization.
The fewer categories you use, the more focused the content. This, in turn, can help you improve expertise and authority as your content is more concentrated on specific information.
Of course, that depends on the purpose of the blog and the type of content you create.
What Are Categories in WordPress?
Categories in WordPress are primary sections where you organize content. All articles that are similar in topic should be categorized in a way that makes it easier for visitors to find more information.
However, categories don’t just keep your content organized. They are also used by WordPress and many plugins to share information in a variety of ways.
For example, the “Latest Posts” block in WordPress lets you show the most recent content in a specific category to visitors.
In this case, I could show the most recent “Blogging” content published on the site:
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Think of categories as the primary topics of which you’d like to cover. WriterSanctuary has 10 total primary categories, but most content goes into Blogging, Freelance Writing, or Self-Publishing.
The idea is to keep all of the relevant content isolated to specific categories. So, someone looking for blogging information wouldn’t browse through self-publishing posts.
What About Subcategories?
Subcategories are those that fit under the primary but have enough content and interest to warrant a secondary list.
For instance, I have a “WordPress” subcategory under Blogging because WordPress is a blogging platform and is exceptionally popular. I also have a subcategory of “Marketing” under Self-Publishing that I will use for blog posts specific to marketing self-published books.
You can drill down as far as you’d like, but keep in mind that the more you add, the more diluted each will become. You don’t necessarily need to create a category for every single topic you cover. Most should fall into a primary blanket category.
What Are Tags in WordPress?
Tags are another way WordPress organizes content, but they’re not as stringent as a category. In fact, it’s possible for multiple pieces of content to have the same tag despite being in different categories on your blog.
It’s kind of like how you use hashtags on social media. It’s a way to connect similar topics together that go deeper than merely a category.
For example, this post is about using categories and tags in WordPress. I’m using the tag “Content Strategies” because knowing how they work will help you create content.
I’m also using “Blogging Tips” because, in a moment, I’m going to show you the best practices for using categories and tags.
Tags shouldn’t be very long, maybe three words at the very most. They’re kind of like keywords for your post that will connect similar pieces of content together.
Like categories, WordPress and many plugins will use tags in their overall function. Contextual Related Posts is a good example as it will analyze categories and tags to help show the best posts that are relevant to the current.
Tags, like categories, should be used sparingly and only connect precise pieces of content. You wouldn’t have a tag for “Televisions” if all you’re writing about is dog food.
What Are the Best Practices for Categories and Tags?
As I said earlier, you don’t want to over-indulge when it comes to categories and tags. Too many can create a huge mess that could take you a long time to clean up.
Categories and tags are very useful elements to keep content organized and easy to find for both human and search engine visitors.
Let’s take a look at some of the best practices for your blog.
Label with Intent
When creating categories or tags, make sure you’re naming them with a specific intent.
For instance, if you plan on reviewing various microphones, a category could be “Microphones” and tags would relate to the brand name or the device’s model if you plan on producing more content about those specific elements.
Perhaps you’ll write a few tutorials using that model of microphone at a later date. Using the model as the tag connects all those articles together.
On this blog, I have a category of “Blogging” where I put all blogging-related content. Then, I have a tag for “AdSense” when I write specific articles relating to AdSense in a blog. I also have a tag for “Blog Marketing” when I write about marketing a blog.
My point is that you should be clear with the intent of how you’re going to use these taxonomies.
Don’t Duplicate Categories or Tags
There are a couple of ways you can duplicate tags and categories. One is to use the same term for both. That is nonsensical as that is why a category or a tag exists. So, I wouldn’t use a tag for “Blogging” as I already have a category that covers that topic.
Another way to duplicate content is when developers use plurals. If you have a category for “Microphone,” you don’t want to create one for “Microphones.” It’s a redundancy that can cause confusion for both yourself and your visitors.
Don’t Use a Tag for a Single Post
One common problem I see from a lot of clients is how they’ll create a tag for a single piece of content. Meaning, they’ll make a tag without ever using it again in the future. This creates a confusing mess when trying to organize content.
Remember, tags are supposed to link similar content together. If you create a new tag for a topic, make sure it’s a tag that you intend on expanding on at a later date.
Keeping an eye on how many posts you have per tag can also help you with content strategies. Take the image above, for example. I can see that I need more content for “Book Formatting,” which I can then research for a new blog post.
Perhaps I’ll review a formatting tool, or maybe provide tips for the best ways to format a book. Both of those ideas will use the same tag.
Only Add Subcategories if Absolutely Necessary
When it comes to subcategories, only add them when it’s absolutely necessary. This is when you want to dive deeper into the overall context of the category to keep it organized.
Let’s take my category of “Blogging,” for example. I created a subcategory called “Blogging Tools” where I store posts centering around tools that are specific to blogging, such as keyword research apps and graphic design programs for images.
However, let’s take a look at my “WordPress” subcategory. I don’t bother creating a subcategory under WordPress for plugins because that’s not entirely the focal point of this blog. Instead, I use the “WordPress Plugins” tag if I write about a plugin.
The bottom line is that you don’t want to overburden yourself and your visitors with a slew of categories and subcategories. Try to make everything fit into a primary topic unless you plan on really fleshing it out with several articles.
Keep Categories and Tags to a Minimum
As I said a moment ago, it’s always good to keep your use of categories and tags to a minimum. Don’t forget – the idea is to organize your content, not make a mess of your taxonomies.
A good rule of thumb is to have a maximum of 5 to 10 primary categories for your blog. Then, try to keep a maximum of 5 to 10 subcategories under each.
When it comes to tags, you should only use about five or so per post at the very most. Some experts say that an ideal number of tags is 10 per post, but I think that is extremely excessive, especially if you’re organizing your content correctly.
I usually try to use 0 to 3 tags per post depending on the topic. Some things just don’t need to connect to other pieces of content outside of their categories.
Besides, I have internal links and contextually relevant lists that appear in most blog posts for sharing similar topics.
Set Noindex On Tag and Category Archives
The last thing you want is for Google and other search engines to index your tag and category pages. For one thing, it can throw a lot of errors if you decide to stop using a specific tag and delete it.
Not to mention that tags often have a lot of duplicate content due to the nature of how they are used. Duplicate content is often viewed dimly by search engines.
So, there are several reasons why you want to set tag and category pages to noindex.
Setting these to noindex is relatively easy. You can either add a snippet of code to your robots.txt file or use plugins like Yoast SEO that enables or disables noindex with a switch.
Does Every Post Need a Category and Tag?
Not every post requires a tag. Remember, tags are used to connect similar content. Sometimes, you’ll write what I call a one-off. This is a blog post that is relevant to the niche of your blog but doesn’t really have internal connections.
It’s kind of like a standalone piece of content.
That’s why I have a “Journal” category. A lot of the articles in that category don’t have tags because they are more of my thoughts and opinions regarding writing in general.
You don’t want to try to force an internal connection if one doesn’t exist.
Although tags are not required, it’s always a good idea to save every post into a category. You don’t want to use the default “Uncategorized” that is in WordPress.
All of your content should serve a purpose as it is relevant to your niche. And no article should ever be without a category.
Think of your blog as like a filing cabinet. All of your articles need to be filed away under the proper folders (categories) so that they’re easier to find later. You wouldn’t want some random piece of paper sitting in a drawer without knowing where it belongs.
That just makes for a messy filing cabinet.
Taxonomies Matter
The way you structure taxonomies like categories and tags makes it easier for you, your visitors, and search engines to find certain content. The more organized you are, the better life is for all involved.
How you label and name all of these is completely up to you. But you want to make sure you’re using terms that are relevant to the topic.
One of the most important facets of polishing up a good website is the user experience. And knowing how to find your content is part of that.
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