WordPress Categories and Tags, Aug 18, 2015

What are WordPress “Categories” and “Tags“, how do they differ and how are they best used?

Categories:

• In WordPress, posts should be organized into Pre-set Categories.
• Categories help sort similar posts together and keep a clear structure.
• Every post must belong to at least one category.

By default, WordPress installs with a single category: “Uncategorized”. That is only there to fulfill the post category requirement before any custom categories are established.

Categories are broad topics under which similar posts can be listed. They can be compared to “chapter headings” in a text book, or an Art Gallery – one room for oil paintings, another room for drawings, another room for photographs. Posts should be under one category, but sometimes can have multiple categories, although that needs to be carefully managed to avoid posts appearing in multiple places.

Categories organize content in a rational way. Its important a site’s categories names are set up with careful though regarding the subject and content. A clear descriptive word should be used to name categories, and should relate to the site. In a site about “Art”, categories could include “Paintings”, “Drawings”, “Photos”, etc. The more accurate and descriptive the category name, the better for SEO. Search engines take note of the category names, and this will help them list the content appropriately.

Depending on a theme, a post may display the category name it’s listed under at the top of the post. This gives the viewer additional clarification as to the post content. If they click that category name/link, it will open a “Archive” page (index listing) of all post under that specific category. So if a viewer is at a site dealing with art, they may only want to see paintings (not drawings or other categories) and can easily zero in on posts with only that subject. This functionality is considered ‘user-friendly’ as the viewer doesn’t have to search through a long list of links to find additional posts under relating to the subject (category) that interests them.

If a viewer to a site is interested in only one specific category, they can zero in to all content of that category only, and bypass the other categories.

Many WordPress themes use Categories to structure the display of information on a home page. A home page Template page can include “wigetised areas” where specific pages or posts can be introduced. A widget area can contain a “Category Post widget” that will show only those posts under that specific category. So a home page can have several ‘blocks’ (widget) areas to contain different subjects.

Tags:

Tags are topics or terms that connect similar bits of information. Tags can be compared to a text book with an index in the last part of the book, with all relevant words used, listed alphabetically. Find a term, and the page numbers will show where that term is used. Tags can be used in WordPress to help find information with a specific tags.

In the WordPress post editing interface, the category needs to be set, and the Tags are optional. A site may have many more tags than categories. Posts can belong to a category, but have several tags that cross-reference the post with other categories. For instance, in an “Art Gallery” website, categories can include “Paintings”, “Drawings, “Photos”. But tags might be more specific. A Painting can have the tag of “Landscape”, but a Drawing can also be a Landscape. So with the tag of “Landscape”, all artwork showing landscapes of all categories and be listed together.

Once a site starts gathering relevant tags, it’s good to reuse the tags. Don’t create a new tag for each post! WordPress allows you to choose from “most used” tags to help find the related one.

Some WordPress themes also offer a “Tag Cloud”. This is a list of all tags used, with the tag most used showed in a larger font. This is to allow the viewer to easily find posts with the content they are interested in.