In a reply to this article , Krishna asked a doubt in the comments section.
(a) What is the difference between category and tag in wordpress?
(b) How do we use it effectively for SEO?
That’s a very good question(s) there. I believe many of us had it in mind but did not quite ask it out probably.
Let me try to answer.
We have to see this in two perspectives.
i) The functionality/usability perspective
ii) The SEO perspective
If we take the functionality perspective, on the first look both tags and categories look alike.
Because, they do the same job.
Tags and categories, both are used to label or name articles and arrange them.
If a user clicks on a tag/category URL, he is taken to a page with relevant information.
And there ends the similarity.
Take the usability perspective.
When are tags used?
Tags are used when you have an article that’s already written and you want as many descriptions to it that will associate that article to various topics.
Ex:- In an article about Michael Jackson, I may use tags like “king of pop” “MJ” and “Michael jackson”
These tags are one-word descriptions of the most important aspects of the article. I’d say – they are tentacles you gift your article so that it can reach out to other social media channels out there on the web, like Technorati for instance.
On Wordpress, tags are used to label a particular article with the most prominent keywords or commonly recognizable words.
Coming to Categories,
When are categories used?
Categories are used to arrange a set of articles that falls into a common label by a common name.
For example, ten articles that I wrote about artists can be fled under the category – Pop. In the Pop category, there would be articles about Michael Jackson, Madonna and MLTR.
Differences in usage
Ok, so let’s now take the SEO perspective.
If you’ve read my earlier posts, you’d have understood that while using categories, file only one article on one category. Filing a single article into more than one category increases the chances of duplicate content hence avoid it instead use one category for one article.
And that’s why tags are here. Tags allow you to use them on more than one article and make things simple. No long sidebars with long category lists, no or less duplicate content issues and no confusion.
So in the SEO perspective, both tags and categories pose a threat of duplicate content if used un necessarily and in the wrong way. But if you use them properly, then the duplicate content issues are minimized.
URL – Both the categories and tags have the same structure.
www.domain.com/tag/post and www.domain.com/category/post
But category will have more importance and page rank in Google’s eye rather than tags just because Category comes in on a higher hierarchy while tags comes down in a lower level.
So essentially, categories and tags serve the same purpose. But they support different entities. While an article can be multiple tagged, it is not adviceable to multi categorize an article. SEO wise, if they are used as per what they are really intended to be, they pose no threat but otherwise, they may take you to trouble.
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Very useful post. it answered a few questions I had
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[...] Diferenta intre Categories si Tags in ce priveste usabillity si SEO [...]
What is an appropriate number of tags to attach to a given post? Another way to ask that is at what point are you overdoing it with tags?
Is one better-off using a higher number of post and keyword-specific tags, or a smaller number of slightly more generic tags that are broad enough to have more than one or two posts related to the given tag?
Thank you for your insights, and I found this post to be quite interesting and informative.
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Mani Karthik Replied:
Hey Pamela, good question there.
I am inclined to believe that as long as there are tags that are not squeezed in just to cash in on search engine traffic, it is okay to have as many tags that you wish to describe or help others find your site. It is important that tags should be complimentary to the article and not spam. Ex: An article about Coca Cola can have tags like beverages,coke,coca cola and even pepsi sometimes. But it doesnt make sense to put in tags like alcohol, drinking, weeds etc. So its a balancing act between a good user experience and targeting the search engine/social media traffic.
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Thank you. Now, I ve got some spring cleaning to do…
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And one more question: Will you be attending BarCamp Bangalore April 19-20th? If yes, it would be nice to meet up.
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Mani Karthik Replied:
Indeed I am Krishna. Feel free to grab me out for a chat there.
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[...] in Blog Boy. i suppose I could have twitted all that today. Mani at The Daily SEO Blog brought us Tags and Categories – SEO and Usability Darren blogged on branding your blog with your name in The Choice of Associating Your Name with [...]
Good post, also wite posts on latest trends too
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I agree, Mani. Tags are expansion of categories. We should keep categories brief and then we could add tags via articles grouped into the category.
So it’s the benefit of having a long category list in a tidier look
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[...] Found on DailySeoBlog, tags and categories for SEO and usability. [...]
[...] Da DailySeoBlog, tags e categorie per SEO e usabilità. [...]
Good insight on Tags and Categories but in my opinion two three tags will be appropriate for a particular post.
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[...] : Mani has written an excellent post, where he tells the difference between categories and tags and how they can help in SEO and how they can pose a threat in [...]
[...] use of §Categories Categories, as we’ve discussed here and here, sometimes poses a threat to creating duplicate content, but sometimes they are the best [...]
[...] use of §Categories Categories, as we’ve discussed here and here, sometimes poses a threat to creating duplicate content, but sometimes they are the best [...]
[...] Create categories for your blog as early on as possible. When I’m starting a blog in a niche I start with the Google Adwords Sandbox where I search for the niche and use the suggestions to come up with names for the categories that will appear on the site. I normally then use each of these additional keyphrases to search for more specific topics using the same tool. It’s a great way to come up with ideas for posts. [...]
Thank you – this was the exact answer I was looking for!
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Good stuff, thanks
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Dear ,
Please tell me very simple question , can we make tags in google blog or not .
I know that google allows us to make label , but you any idea of making takes just with title of articles
Thanks in advance
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[...] Tags and Categories – SEO and Usability [...]
Hi mani, I studied you nice article. You have highlighted good points to compare tags with categories. After studying your post, I have also linked my blog tag URL’s to my home page text.
For example:
I linked the text “college administration software” to
http://www.advantarapid.com/blog/?tag=/college+administration+software
Are the keywords in above anchor text and Tag URL useful for SEO??
You can see http://www.advantarapid.com/ for a live example.
Thanks,
Manpreet.
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Very nice and useful information which I finally got after googling. Thanks for this post.
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well illustrated guide this cleared many of my doubts.. Thanks
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Can you use the same tag for the same category.
For example if you are posting a article in category “Google” can you add a tag “Google” for this or not.
Please replay
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