Category Organization: It Does Matter
Blog categories and tags
Blog categories and tags are a file and search system for your posts. Categories are the main topics generally listed on the side of a blog’s page so that readers can easily search articles and posts related to certain topics. Tags are specific themes or key-phrases assigned to individual articles and posts. There are usually a few tags assigned to one post.
I like to think of blog categories and tags as the endless sea of files on my hard drive. Categories are the major folders and tags are the little folders inside of the major ones. When I want to find something, pull it up quickly, or group items together, being able to search by category or tag help my life.
Similarly, readers can easily search related articles when searching your blog by category or tag. Just like a personal filing system, it is crucial that posts are accurately categorized and tagged so that readers receive quality results when searching under a specific topic. If they click on the “Social Media Marketing” category and receive a result with the title “Content Marketing at its Best”, then it’s clear that the post was mis-categorized. Help point people to the right material by accurately categorizing and tagging your posts.
Lastly, if you do not currently have a ‘blog categories and tags system’ in place, sit down and produce a list. Consider 4-10 categories that will be the umbrella topics for your blog posts. From there, construct a list of anywhere from 8-15 tags that are sub-categories and themes within your posts. Then, consistently plug these and only these categories and tags into your editorial calendar so that when you post an article, you have the pre-determined category and tags readily available.
No one ever said being organized was inefficient!
-Jamie
