Before WordPress, the use of tags and categories within a blog was not such a common practice. Visitors would search the entire site if they wanted to find any specific content. Sometimes this long search did not achieve a result. WordPress popularized this tool and is currently the most used CMS (Content Management System) in the world, being present in 1 out of 3 sites.
Understanding how tags and categories work within a blog is essential for your brand to position itself strategically. However, many people do not know the difference between these two terms and end up feeding their blog in a non-functional way.
In this article you will understand the difference between tags and categories and how to use them in the most appropriate way.
What is the difference between categories and tags?
Categories and tags have a common goal: to keep your articles more organized and accessible within your site. Although they have complementary features, when it comes to visibility, SEO and relevance within search engines, the two operate in different ways.
Categories
The categories are used to classify your posts within a specific subject. If, for example, you have a blog about marketing, it could have categories like metrics, strategies, campaigns, among other numerous themes. That way, when a reader accesses your site, they don't have to do a big search until they find what they want.
In some cases, some subjects are broader and have subdivisions that can be allocated to more than one category. It is from there that the tags enter.
Tags
Tags, in English, it means etiquette. Therefore, the functionality of a tag is to "tag" different subjects within a given theme. That is, while the categories relate to the topic addressed, the tags relate to their subdivisions.
If, for example, you have a “news” category on your blog, the classification of a post would be arranged as follows:
Post: "New vaccine against Coronavirus arrives in Brazil this Thursday".
Category: News
Tags: Health, Coronavirus, Vaccine
The visitor will see the post in the news area, and through the “Coronavirus” tag, they will be able to redirect themselves to posts on this subject only.
Categories and tags in SEO
Although a good structuring of categories and tags will help you to be found more easily in search engines, it is still necessary that your content is directed to the SEO so that your chances increase even more. Using interesting titles, keywords, internal links are some practices that can help you.
It is essential to have a strategy when creating tags and categories on your blog, as an improper tagging or classification can generate duplicate content, which negatively counts in the ranking of search engines.
Conclusion
There is little point in creating relevant content for your blog if you don't use good strategies. The user experience when finding your content must be positive. To that end, search engines should direct visitors to your site. So, deploy tags and categories in a well-oriented way and have more effective numbers and results in your posts.
For more content on digital marketing, visit our blog!
