What are WordPress Tags? What do they do?
These little tags that you add to your blog posts are used by All in One SEO and the search engines as the keyword phrases of your post. They basically say what your post is about. They also help search engines to find your posts.
Does this mean the more tags I have the better?
No, you don’t want to put any irrelevant tags on your posts. In fact, Google will lower your rating if you put irrelevant tags on your posts. I would recommend about 5 targeted tags that have to do with that particular post.
You’ll want to include the obvious keywords that pertain to your post as a tag. Also include other keywords that people might use when looking for a post like the one you are writing. For instance, this post is about “tags” and “categories” and one might look for “keyword phrases” as well. Be sure to use synonyms for your tags as well. Using 5 tags for each post should be plenty.
Keep in mind who your target audience is. If it’s geographically specific, you could potentially corner the market in terms of having a top search result for that topic. For instance, “small business owners” or “small business owners in Las Vegas, NV” would attract a different set of readers.
How do I pick my categories?
Categories are the broad topics that you would use to classify your posts. Several posts should fit in each category. Find the highest searched related keywords to give you a start on your categories. You can see the highest searched keywords by looking at your Google Analytics reports.
Since the categories are broad topics, it is possible to have one post that fits in several categories. You don’t have to have a post for each category; however, you can have several categories for each post. It is acceptable to have only one post for a single category.
Your categories should be 2-3 words long at the most.
How many categories should I have on a blog?
I would recommend about 5 – 10 categories depending on how many sub-topics you can go into on your blog that still fit with your main blog phrase.
In general, tags can be specific and categories are designed to be general yet relevant to your post.
Here’s a tip: Since I use both tags and All In One SEO on my blog posts, I had to find an easier way to include my keywords without typing everything twice. The tag area likes to put an “X” between each entry. So I use Notepad ++ to do a search and replace to turn the X’s into commas and then copy and paste into All In One SEO. It’s just a small task but it does cut down on some time as I’m not always the best typist in the world. By the way, Notepad++ is a free application. I love free, don’t you?
SoftwareGirl says
Tags and Categories are both free.
discount kitchens says
Does anyone know how much this costs?
SoftwareGirl says
Hi, Thanks for stopping by. No, actually I don’t make these posts up as I go along. I have been in the IT field for well over 2 decades. My posts are based on experience and research. Thanks for your comment. Warmly, Joan
SoftwareGirl says
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for sharing! Warmly, Joan
website optimalisatie says
You know what , your posts are usually a nice read but this one (%BLOGTITLE%) I feel
like it is put together a little hasty.
I might be wrong about that but it just doesn’t flow like other posts. Sorry about that.
Joanne
Willia Bloss says
Are you making this up as you go along?