WordPress

WordPress Categories Vs. Tags: How To Sort Your Content For SEO

WordPress Categories Vs Tags: How To Sort Your Content For SEO

What is the Variance Between Tags and Categories? 

Categories are meant to group your posts broadly. Think of these as general topics or your site’s table of contents. Categories are organized in a hierarchy so that you can make subcategories. Tags help people understand what your posts are about. Think of these as the keywords for your site. They let you divide your content into smaller groups. Tags don’t have a set order. 

For example, this “Beginners Guide” blog post is in our “Beginners Guide” category. Go to Blog » Getting Started guide in our navigation menu to see all the posts in this category. This post has the following tags: categories, custom taxonomy, categories vs. tags, SEO best practices, SEO, sorting your content, and tags. 

These tags will not show up anywhere on our article. But they help people find this article when they search for things like it on our blog. One of the major differences between tags and categories is that every WordPress post has to be filed under a category, but they don’t have to have tags. 

If you don’t choose a category for your post, WordPress will put it in the default category. This is called “Uncategorized,” but it’s usually better to change it to something like “Other” or “Miscellaneous.” 

How can Categories and Tags be Added to WordPress? 

You can add categories and tags when you write or change a post in WordPress. You can find them on the right side of the screen under “Document.” 

You can add new categories and tags by going to Posts » Categories and Posts » Tags. 

Check out our interpretations of What is a category? And What is a tag? to learn more about how to add categories and tags. What is a tag? and How do I use tags? 

How Many Categories Does WordPress Need? 

You don’t have to have a certain number of categories. Most of the time, you’ll need between 5 and 10 categories to organize your posts well and make your site easy to navigate. 

Categories are intended to keep a lot of posts together. You can divide your posts into smaller groups by using subcategories and tags. Don’t worry about creating the perfect category list if you’re starting a blog. Just pick three to five big groups and add as more time goes on. 

Do I have to make subcategories? 

You don’t have to use subcategories, and many big blogs, like WPBeginner, don’t. But subcategories are helpful if you have a big category with many posts that could be split into smaller sections. 

For instance, you could have a “Recipes” section with more and more gluten-free recipes. You can give these posts their subcategory so that people can find them easily. You make a new ” Gluten-Free ” subcategory under “Recipes” and move these posts there. 

Using Categories in the URLs of Your Blog Posts 

Some sites use the Category name in their permalinks, which you can set up under Settings » Permalinks. 

WordPress will usually try to change the old URL to the fresh one. Checking to see if your links still work is a good idea. If necessary, you can fix up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. 

You can also keep the post in the parent category and assign it to the child category, but this cannot be good in some ways. Even though the URL of the WPBeginner website includes categories, we always suggest that users use a shorter URL structure that only includes “Post name.” 

This will give you the most freedom to move content around without worrying about setting up redirects. The modern Post name URL structure is used on all our new sites. WPBeginner has been around for over 10 years and has a legacy URL structure. Changing the URL structure isn’t good for SEO, so we haven’t changed it. 

Can I assign a post to better than one category? 

WordPress allows you to put a comment into multiple categories. This could be a parent category plus one or more subcategories or a parent category plus several subcategories. Having more than one category will not help your SEO. If it is most beneficial for your readers, you should only put a post in more than one category. 

If your post is in more than one category, it could hurt your SEO because the content is already out there. If you use more than one category, try not to put the same post in more than one main category. Every post should belong to one of the main categories. 

Does a post have a maximum number of tags? 

There is no limit on how multiple tags you can use on each post in WordPress. You might be able to tag a post with 1,000 or more tags. The point of tags is to help connect similar posts. Believe them enjoy the table of contents in a textbook. In the index, each tag is like a keyword.  

Tags help people who want to find your site. Tags help some plugins that show related posts figure out which posts have similar topics. We suggest that you utilize no more than 10 tags per post. 

What’s Better for SEO: Tags or Categories? 

Is it better for WordPress SEO to use tags or categories, or vice versa? Categories and tags are each used for different things. You must use categories, but you don’t get to use tags if you don’t want to. But we suggest using both to help people find their way around your site. 

Ultimately, you should make your site with the users in mind. All search engines want to show people the information that will help them the most. This means that putting your content in a way that makes it easy to use will also help your SEO. 

We desire this article to assist you in comprehending the difference between categories and tags and the best ways to sort your content for SEO. You might also like our article on monitoring WordPress classification and tag analytics and comparing the finest keyword research tools for SEO. 

You might not know what categories and tags are and how they differ in WordPress. If you know this, you can use them in the right way. This article will discuss the differences between categories and tags and how they can affect your SEO rankings. 

What is the Variance Between Tags and Categories? 

Categories are meant to group your posts broadly. Think of these as general topics or your site’s table of contents. Categories are organized in a hierarchy so that you can make subcategories. Tags help people understand what your posts are about. Think of these as the keywords for your site. They let you divide your content into smaller groups. Tags don’t have a set order. 

For example, this “Beginners Guide” blog post is in our “Beginners Guide” category. Go to Blog » Getting Started guide in our navigation menu to see all the posts in this category. This post has the following tags: categories, custom taxonomy, categories vs. tags, SEO best practices, SEO, sorting your content, and tags. 

These tags will not show up anywhere on our article. But they help people find this article when they search for things like it on our blog. One of the major differences between tags and categories is that every WordPress post has to be filed under a category, but they don’t have to have tags. 

If you don’t choose a category for your post, WordPress will put it in the default category. This is called “Uncategorized,” but it’s usually better to change it to something like “Other” or “Miscellaneous.” 

How can Categories and Tags be Added to WordPress? 

You can add categories and tags when you write or change a post in WordPress. You can find them on the right side of the screen under “Document.” 

You can add new categories and tags by going to Posts » Categories and Posts » Tags. 

Check out our interpretations of What is a category? And What is a tag? to learn more about how to add categories and tags. What is a tag? and How do I use tags? 

How Many Categories Does WordPress Need? 

You don’t have to have a certain number of categories. Most of the time, you’ll need between 5 and 10 categories to organize your posts well and make your site easy to navigate. 

Categories are intended to keep a lot of posts together. You can divide your posts into smaller groups by using subcategories and tags. Don’t worry about creating the perfect category list if you’re starting a blog. Just pick three to five big groups and add as more time goes on. 

Do I have to make subcategories? 

You don’t have to use subcategories, and many big blogs, like WPBeginner, don’t. But subcategories are helpful if you have a big category with many posts that could be split into smaller sections. 

For instance, you could have a “Recipes” section with more and more gluten-free recipes. You can give these posts their subcategory so that people can find them easily. You make a new ” Gluten-Free ” subcategory under “Recipes” and move these posts there. 

Using Categories in the URLs of Your Blog Posts 

Some sites use the Category name in their permalinks, which you can set up under Settings » Permalinks. 

WordPress will usually try to change the old URL to the fresh one. Checking to see if your links still work is a good idea. If necessary, you can fix up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. 

You can also keep the post in the parent category and assign it to the child category, but this cannot be good in some ways. Even though the URL of the WPBeginner website includes categories, we always suggest that users use a shorter URL structure that only includes “Post name.” 

This will give you the most freedom to move content around without worrying about setting up redirects. The modern Post name URL structure is used on all our new sites. WPBeginner has been around for over 10 years and has a legacy URL structure. Changing the URL structure isn’t good for SEO, so we haven’t changed it. 

Can I assign a post to better than one category? 

WordPress allows you to put a comment into multiple categories. This could be a parent category plus one or more subcategories or a parent category plus several subcategories. Having more than one category will not help your SEO. If it is most beneficial for your readers, you should only put a post in more than one category. 

If your post is in more than one category, it could hurt your SEO because the content is already out there. If you use more than one category, try not to put the same post in more than one main category. Every post should belong to one of the main categories. 

Does a post have a maximum number of tags? 

There is no limit on how multiple tags you can use on each post in WordPress. You might be able to tag a post with 1,000 or more tags. The point of tags is to help connect similar posts. Believe them enjoy the table of contents in a textbook. In the index, each tag is like a keyword.  

Tags help people who want to find your site. Tags help some plugins that show related posts figure out which posts have similar topics. We suggest that you utilize no more than 10 tags per post. 

What’s Better for SEO: Tags or Categories? 

Is it better for WordPress SEO to use tags or categories, or vice versa? Categories and tags are each used for different things. You must use categories, but you don’t get to use tags if you don’t want to. But we suggest using both to help people find their way around your site. 

Ultimately, you should make your site with the users in mind. All search engines want to show people the information that will help them the most. This means that putting your content in a way that makes it easy to use will also help your SEO. 

We desire this article to assist you in comprehending the difference between categories and tags and the best ways to sort your content for SEO. You might also like our article on monitoring WordPress classification and tag analytics and comparing the finest keyword research tools for SEO. 

Related Posts

Creating a Tabbed Settings Page in a WordPress Plugin Using WPPB 10 Essential WordPress Plugins for WordPressers: A Guide to Optimizing Your Website Installing a WordPress Plugin: A Step-by-Step Guide for Newbies How to Create a Custom Contact Form in WordPress What is the best way to delete all products in WooCommerce? How to fix WordPress There has been a critical error on this website The Best Places to Get Royalty-Free Images for Your WordPress Blog Articles  How To Prevent WordPress Blog Content Scraping For Beginners  How To Plan Your WordPress Posts  How To Place Captions On Images In WordPress  WordPress Blog Email Newsletters: What, Why, and How  Are you new to WordPress and curious about managed WordPress hosting?  What You Can Do To Participate In The WordPress Project  What Is A Web Blog, And How Does It Differ From A Website?  What Effect Do Your Web Host’s PHP Updates Have on WordPress Sites?  What Are The Restrictions Of The WordPress. Com Platform?  The Best Places to Get Royalty-Free Images for Your WordPress Blog Articles  Step-by-Step Guide for Installing and Configuring WP Super Cache for New Users  Do you want your WordPress content to have images next to each other?  How to Select the Ideal Color Scheme for Your WordPress Website  How To Pick The Perfect Domain Name  How to Repair the WordPress Error Establishing a Database Connection  How To Fix Typical Image Problems In WordPress  How to Enlarge Images Without Compromising Quality  How to Download and Install Plugins and Themes for WordPress from GitHub  How to Delete Numbers from URLs Created with WordPress  The Step-By-Step Guide To Uploading PDF Files To Your WordPress Website Want to know how to remove digits from WordPress blog posts and URLs?  The Step-by-Step Guide to Linking to an Email Address in WordPress How Does Changing Your WordPress Theme Affect Things?  Getting Started With WordPress Comment Moderation: A Beginner’s Guide  How to Generate Branded Short URLs for Your WordPress Blog: A Step-by-Step Guide Step-by-Step Guide for New WordPress Users on How to Correctly Uninstall Plugins in WordPress WordPress Theme Framework: What Is It? All That Is Good, All That Is Bad  Images Theft: 4 Approaches to Protect Them in WordPress 7 Crucial Tips for Using WordPress Shortcodes How to Use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to Upload Files to WordPress for Newbies 5 Easy Ways to Use WordPress to Get More Facebook Likes  How To Setup A WordPress Theme For Beginners How To Get Free WordPress Training In A Week How To Detect and Stop a DDoS Attack Against WordPress How To Install A WordPress Plugin: A Step-By-Step Guide For Newbies How to Delete All of Your Past DNS Records (Chrome, Mac, Windows) How to Create a Site-Specific WordPress Plugin How to Copyright And Trademark Your Blog Name and Logo How To Conduct An Appropriate Website Speed Test (8 Best Tools) To-Do List: 7 Items Before Going Public Your WordPress Site Fixing A Hacked WordPress Website: A Guide For Complete Beginners Tips For Deleting And Removing A WordPress Theme (Step By Step) How to Merge Two WordPress Websites Without Sacrificing Search Engine Optimization Comparing WordPress.Com With WordPress.Org: Which One Is Better? WordPress and GDPR Compliance: The Complete Guide – Everything You Need to Know Which One Is Better: A WordPress Plugin Or A Functions.php File? The Top 10 WordPress Bugs And How To Fix Them How To Making A Website Logo: Step-By-Step Instructions  11 Essential Pages Every WordPress Site Must Have In 2022 WordPress’s 15 Most Frustrating Issues and How to Fix Them WordPress vs. HTML Site- Which Website Design Is Best for Your Business? WordPress Users: 10 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid 5 Essential WordPress SEO Audit Checklist Items To Improve Your Rankings 2 Ways to Stop Users from Deactivating WordPress Plugins How to delete all the WooCommerce products with SQL Query? Pagination in WooCommerce: how to set it up? How to Add WooCommerce Product Categories to the Menu What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? How to apply WooCommerce Shortcodes to theme development How to skip the FTP credentials to install the theme and plugin on AWS EC2