WordPress taxonomies are a way to bring order to your content and make it more accessible, using them also automatically creates archive pages that will show up in search engines.
Below we’ll discuss the difference between categories and tags, their impact on SEO, and best practices for using them.
Contents
- 1 The difference between catagories and tags
- 2 How to Create WordPress Categories and Tags
- 3 What Should You Use WordPress Taxonomies For?
- 4 Why are categories and tags important for WordPress SEO?
- 5 Prevent page competition
- 6 URLs and breadcrumbs
- 7 Best Practices for Using WordPress Categories and Tags for SEO
- 8 2.Limit the number of categories
- 9 3.Add unique content to your category pages
- 10 4.Add SEO title and description
- 11 5.Optimize your URL structure
- 12 6.Add breadcrumbs
- 13 Summary: WordPress Taxonomies and SEO
When we check the wordpress website dashboard,we can find the post,portfolio and products,it includeds catagories and tags at least.
How to Create WordPress Categories and Tags
There’s two ways to create catagories and tags.
First,when you add new post,portfolio or product,You can create and configure them in the sidebar of the WordPress editor.
For categories, just check the boxes where you want your content to appear. If you select multiple, WordPress may ask for a primary category, or you can create a new category on the fly via the Add New Category link. Just add a name, select a parent category (if applicable), and click the button to create it.
On the other hand, you need to enter tags manually, as many as you want. The editor will also suggest existing tags when you start writing. You can remove them by clicking the little x icon.
Second,you can manage it via wordpress dedicated menus.
WordPress has dedicated menus to manage both. You can find them under Posts /Portfolio/Product> Categories or Tags respectively.
What Should You Use WordPress Taxonomies For?
The purpose of both is the same: to help users find content and to help search engines understand your site structure. However, they work differently.
One of the main differences is that every post you publish must be assigned to a category. If you don’t, it will automatically be saved in the default category – Uncategorized in WordPress. Content, on the other hand, doesn’t have to have tags.
Part of the reason is that each taxonomy has a different purpose:
Categories – are used for broad groupings of posts. They usually describe the main topic of your blog, like Blogging, WordPress, Social Media, etc. They can also have subcategories, so you can have safe categories that belong to WordPress.
Tags – their purpose is to add information specific to the content of the post to better describe it. Tags are like a table of contents at the end of a book. Examples of the article you are reading right now are Categories vs Tags or WordPress SEO. When reading an article, you should have an idea of what the article is about. Tags also don’t have a hierarchy, so there is no such thing as subtags
Archive as landing page
For every category or tag that is actually used on your site (meaning assigned to at least one piece of content), WordPress automatically creates an archive. Archive pages are simply lists of blog posts. However, unlike your main blog, they only list the content assigned to that category or tag.
Unless you specifically disable this using a WordPress SEO plugin or some other means, search engines will index them. This means there’s a chance they’ll show up in people’s search results and could be the reason someone clicked through to your site — or not.
This is often more important for sites with content that changes frequently. Archives can provide a constant that ranks well when the rest of your pages are constantly changing and therefore unstable in the search index. For example, products, news, and job listings on an e-commerce site.
Prevent page competition
When you have different pages that all target parts of the same topic, they automatically compete at least a little in the search results. For example, when you write several articles about different areas of WordPress SEO, they may all contain the term “wordpress seo”.
So if you optimize a single page for your own keyword and then assign them all to a “wordpress seo” category page, that page can rank for that term, while the pages under it can all be used for more specific keywords.
This is especially true for online stores. Here, you usually sell a large number of products in the same category. However, you rarely want them to rank under a common umbrella term.
Categories, and to a lesser extent tags, will also appear in other parts of your site. Most notably the URL structure and breadcrumbs, if you have them set up. In automatically created archives, they will be part of the slug.
This tells search engines about your site’s structure and the important topics you want to build authority for. With this information, your site can appear in relevant searches. The same goes for breadcrumbs, which are a great tool for improving the usability of your e-commerce site.
Best Practices for Using WordPress Categories and Tags for SEO
It should be obvious from the above that taxonomies can improve your SEO if used properly. On the other hand, they can also backfire if used improperly.
So, if they’re so important, how do you ensure that categories and tags help, rather than hurt, your ranking efforts? Let’s review some best practices.
1.Rename the Unclassified category
The default WordPress category is called Uncategorized, and every post you create is automatically assigned to it if you don’t choose another category. As you can imagine, this particular category name means nothing to both your human visitors and search spiders. It doesn’t add any value or clarification.
Therefore, the first task to improve your WordPress SEO category and tag usage is to rename it. This is easy, just go to Posts > Categories and use the Quick Edit feature or click on a category to edit its name and slug.
2.Limit the number of categories
Categories and tags are designed to make content more accessible, understandable, and searchable. However, if you use too many of them, it can backfire.
Ideally, you should have eight to ten main categories on your blog at most. If you have more, your blog may lack focus, which can leave a bad impression on visitors and search engines. If you feel the need for further differentiation, consider using subcategories instead of opening more main topics. This will also improve your URL structure, as subcategories also appear in the slug.
What’s true for your site in general also applies to individual content pieces. Try to limit each article to one to three categories. If you need more, your article may not be focused enough.
You should also limit the number of tags. Many sites end up with a large number of tags because they assign too many tags to their articles. This isn’t a problem in itself, since that’s their purpose. However, from a technical perspective, this often leads to duplicate or thin content.
3.Add unique content to your category pages
To make category and tag pages more attractive to search engines, it helps to add unique content to them. The usual choice here is to include introductory content that explains their subject. This will also make these pages more appealing to visit
4.Add SEO title and description
If you want to take it a step further and really turn your category pages into landing pages, you can also add custom SEO titles and descriptions to them. An SEO plugin like Yoast SEO allows you to do this easily, so you can actually target specific keywords with your category and tag archive pages.
5.Optimize your URL structure
In WordPress, you can easily set up your URL structure under Settings > Permalinks.
The recommended permalink structure is /%postname%/, which would produce a link like yourwebsite.com/your-post-title. Alternatively, you could change it to /%category%/%postname%/, which would make your post links look like yourwebsite.com/your-category/your-post-title.
In most cases, the first option is the most ideal and you should leave it as is. Only use the second if you are in the habit of keeping your article slugs down to three to five words, otherwise the entire link will become too long.
If you run an online store, it would make more sense to include the category as well, to help clarify your page content for visitors and search spiders. News sites that write about a limited number of topics might also benefit from using the category.
The bottom line, however, is that you should almost never change an existing structure on an established site. If you do, you’ll need to set up redirects, which usually costs more in terms of SEO than it benefits you.
If using categories in the URL isn’t an option you want or should pursue, a good alternative is to use breadcrumbs. As mentioned above, this is a trail of links at the top of your page that shows visitors where they are on your site and helps them go back a few steps if necessary.
Not only is this great for your visitors, but search engines will also pick it up and display it if implemented.
Summary: WordPress Taxonomies and SEO
WordPress categories and tags can be a boon to your website SEO if used properly. They make your website’s theme and structure clearer and improve usability.