WordPress tags are quite prevalent in today’s websites, because of how efficiently they distribute your content and how effectively they can retain the visitors’ engagement.
When learning the WordPress fundamentals, you should definitely check out the tags, a s they are very widely used and are one of the two main taxonomies, along with the WordPress categories.
In the following paragraphs, you will read what tags are, and how they affect SEO.
What are the WordPress Tags?
Tags are words that describe a specific piece of content on your site. The idea is to give an insight into what the content is all about when your visitors have a glimpse of the tags. For example, if you were to create a cooking WordPress blog, and publish an article about a sweet chili chicken recipe, some of the tags describing the article might well be chili, chicken, dinner, and meat recipes.
Furthermore, when visitors click on a certain tag, they will be redirected to all other pieces of content tagged with this word. Considering the sweet chili chicken recipe example, if a visitor clicks on the tag chili, he will be redirected to a list with all recipes that contain the chili tag.
In a different example, Lilly is a book blogger. In her new article, she writes about the latest Stephen King novel and adds tags like thriller, horror, and suspense. This is helpful, because the readers will immediately know what type of novel is this, and would help them with their browsing experience. Adding tags to her articles is handy because her readers can also search for some more light-hearted novels if they prefer so. They can type in romance and comedy in the search box and all the articles bearing these tags will appear.
WordPress Tags and SEO
Tags are important for SEO. When used properly, tags can add a kick to your search optimization. However, keep in mind that they can also be harmful to SEO if used incorrectly.
To be effective for SEO, tags should be in reasonable numbers, shouldn’t overlap with your category’s names, and should be consistent in terms of spelling and capitalization.
To get the most out of your tags in terms of SEO, consider these pieces of advice:
- Avoid creating similar names for your tags and categories. This can bring confusion to the search engines on which one should be indexed, thus, resulting in ineffective optimization. In short, avoid creating a tag Recipes and a category with this very same name.
- Avoid creating tags with similar names. This means that you shouldn’t have a list of tags with almost the same name that altogether means one and the same thing. For example, such inconsistency might be “salad”, “salads”, and “Salad”. Be conscious about your tag lists and keep them clean and tidy at all times.
- Do not create and do not add too many tags. Keep things tight and simple, as too many tag names can confuse the search engines.
Tips and Tricks on How to Use Tags
As a rule of thumb, you should tag efficiently and sparingly. This means that, for the best results for your own convenience, positive user experience, and SEO, you should:
- Use relevant tags for your articles. Use only the tags that are strictly related to the article they are included in. Do not add tags that are somehow related, but not directly to the topic.
- Don’t underuse tags. If you have to include seven or more relevant and related tags, do so. However, double-check whether all of them are related to the article. If not – remove the ones that are not related.
- Don’t overuse tags. If it is fully sufficient to use only two tags, do not add seven of them. It won’t help you, your visitors, and the search engines.
Usually, distributing your content is a great idea and oftentimes contributes to many long-term benefits for your site. However, along with distribution, you should also keep in mind the website’s safety and security features.
How to Create and Remove Tags in WordPress
Creating and removing tags in WordPress are two straightforward processes that require only a few clicks here and there. To learn more, check out our dedicated articles:
Conclusion
WordPress tags are one of the two main taxonomies in the platform. By default, WordPress includes two main types of taxonomies – tags and categories. Both are very versatile and convenient, and both are widely used by WordPress developers.
Sorting your content is important, as it helps you search for, edit, delete and modify it in a quick and effortless way. In fact, tags, along with categories become more important and useful as the amount of content on your site expands. So, if you wish to include a blog section with tons of media library items, on your site, keep in mind that you should learn how to use tags and categories properly.
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