Our Blog

A major reason to convert HTML theme to WordPress or switch from other platforms is to get greater control over website management. The CMS has numerous features which help in organizing the content and ensuring a satisfying user experience. However, people must understand WordPress categories and tags besides other features to present their content in an orderly fashion. In this article, we will be discussing categories, tags, and how they affect websites. The main purpose of these two utilities is to sort the content of an interface. However, a question that is foremost in users’ minds is whether these features have SEO benefits or not. Read on to get answers to such queries and other useful information about categories and tags.

What Is WordPress Taxonomy?

The open source platform uses the term “taxonomy” for its system of content classification. It has four pre-defined taxonomies namely, category, tags, link category, and post formats. Categories and tags are two of the most popular pre-built WordPress taxonomies. Users also have the option of creating custom taxonomies for specific groups of content. This helps visitors who are looking for text material related to a certain topic. Taxonomy helps websites and blogs which publish content on a variety of subjects, efficiently arrange their material.

What Are WordPress Categories And How Are They Created?

Categories, as the name suggests, are meant for grouping the content of an interface into different sections. For instance, a cookery website can sort the material related top different cuisines in categories like Thai, Indian, Mexican etc. This will help people locate the cuisine type they are interested in easily. Categories are hierarchical, meaning users can create sub-groups under the main grouping. For example, in the Indian cuisine category, state-wise sub-categories such as Punjabi, Bengali etc. can be created. There is no limit to the number of categories that can be included on a website. However, it will be sensible to have no more than 6 sections.

Let’s now take a look at how this feature can be added to an interface. There are two ways to create categories. The first is by using the “Posts” option in the admin dashboard. Log on to the control panel with your username and password and locate “Posts” in the menu. Click on it and go to “Categories”. A screen will open where you will have to provide a name for the new grouping. You can also enter the URL of the page in the “Slug” field if you so desire. However, you can choose to leave the slug and description fields empty as only the name is required for creating a new category.

Remember that the default category in WordPress is “Uncategorized”. In case, you do not specify a grouping, a new post will be listed under this classification.

What Are WordPress Tags And How Are They Created?

Tags are another in-built WordPress taxonomies which help to describe the specific features of a post. These are limited in scope and help in categorizing the content even further. For example, the cookery website can add a tag called fish sauce to the relevant recipes in the Thai category. Now anyone looking for dishes with fish sauce can easily find all the related material. Visitors, on clicking the tag, will be taken to an archive page listing all the posts with the term. However, adding tags to posts is optional. They are also not added by default. Moreover, there is no restriction on the number of tags that users can assign to posts.

The method to add a tag is simple. Go to “Posts > Tags” from the dashboard. In the screen that opens, provide the name of the tag along with its slug. Click on the “Add new tag” to complete the process.

People looking to understand WordPress categories and tags must know that categories and tags can also be added from the post editor screen. The menu on the right-hand side has the necessary options.

How Do Categories and Tags Affect SEO?

Categories and tags, if used intelligently, can improve the usability of an interface. They help visitors in easily going through different topics in a methodical manner. This has a positive effect on the user experience and will encourage visitors to remain for longer periods on websites. These taxonomies affect an interface’s SEO in the following ways:

1. Help Search Engines In Understanding The Context Of Content

These features provide the context of a post to search engines so that they understand it quickly. This improves the chance of the content appearing at a higher position in search results.

2. Prevent Individual Pages From Competing

Categories help websites, especially e-commerce portals, in preventing individual pages from competing with each other. The main page can be optimized for a keyword while the multiple product pages can rank for other terms.

3. Category Archives Acts As Landing Pagesinform

The archive pages of each category when properly optimized can easily appear in search results. This means that they act like landing pages and help in attracting traffic.

Conclusion

People must understand WordPress categories and tags help to improve the usability of their website. They help owners in presenting their interface’s content in a neat and orderly manner.