The use of category pages and tag pages are two prevalent approaches that are utilized when it comes to the organization of material on a website. These have been regarded as beneficial solutions by website proprietors during the year, and they have now evolved into an element that visitors and search engines anticipate to be present on a website.

When it comes to search engine optimization(SEO), category pages and tag pages each have their own set of qualities that make them advantageous and disadvantageous. As a result, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the distinctions between the two and to select the one that is most suitable for the requirements of your website.

1. What Are Category Pages?

The purpose of category pages is to organize comparable stuff. If your site is about various recipes, for instance, you may include categories for "breakfast," "lunch," "dinner," and "desserts." This facilitates visitors' discovery of information of interest and aids search engines in comprehending the architectureand arrangement of your website.

Category pages are typically seen to be better for search engines from an SEOstandpoint. This is because they offer a clear hierarchyfor the information on your website and aid search engines in comprehending the primary subjects of your website.

Category pages may also improve the overall authority and position of a website by using appropriate internal linking.

2. How To Create A Category In WordPress?

In WordPress, click the "Posts" tab and choose the "Categories" option to create a new category. You will then be sent to a screen where you can name and create your category. Your category will be created when you click the "Create Category" button after finishing.

A few things to incorporate within your category are as follows;

• Category name Slug or the category's URL structure
• If it's a kid category, the description of the "Parent Category" name, while this is not required
• You may choose a category for a newly created blog post in WordPressby going to the "Post" settings.

It's crucial to remember that, even though you may have as many categories as you like, it's advisable to restrict them to a minimum to keep your blog focused. Five to ten categories would be a decent amount.

3. How Many Categories Should You Have In WordPress?

How to Create Post & Add Categories in WordPress? | WordPress Tutorial for Beginners

There's no right or wrong amount of categories to have. Generally, you'll want a value of five to ten so that you can effectively organize your content and create a user-friendly website. The purpose of categories is to include a wide range of topics.

Subcategories and tags can be used to divide your entries into more manageable sections.

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You shouldn't stress about attempting to come up with the ideal collection of categories if your blog is just getting started. Simply select three to five broad categories, then add more as time permits.

4. What Are Tag Pages?

Tags pages are utilized to give additional information that is more particular regarding the content. You may add keywords or phrases to them to provide a more detailed description of your material because they are not hierarchical.

Use keywords like "vegan," "dessert," and "recipe" for instance, if your blog article is about a vegan dessert dish. WordPress tags are often shown as a list of links or a cloud, making it simple for users to locate related material.

The degree of precision that categories and tags offer is the primary distinctionbetween them. Tags offer more precise information about the material, whereas categories are used to organize content into broad subjects.

5. How To Add Tags To WordPress Posts?

Posting tags is quite simple. Once more, navigate to the WordPress post settings and find the tags area by scrolling down. It'll be directly beneath the section on categories. A blog post can have as many tags added to it as desired, in contrast to categories.

Keep them to a minimum, though, since postings with more than 15 tags and categories in total may be seen as spam. The purpose of tags is to quickly inform readers of the main idea of your blog content.

6. Is There A Limit To How Many Tags A Post Can Have?

There is no restriction on how many tags you may have on a post by WordPress itself. It's possible to tag a post with 1,000 or more tags! But we most definitely advise against doing such. Tags are used to help group together relevant entries.

Users who are searching your site will benefit from tags. Certain plugins that show similar posts make use of tags to assist them in determining the themes of related articles. Generally speaking, we advise you to use no more than 10 tags per post.

7. Benefits Of Using Page Categories And Tags In WordPress

Improved SEO

Sorting the material on your WordPress website using categories and tags encourages natural traffic to your website. Tags are similar to the keywords that people use in searches.

Search engines, particularly Google, are more likely to send users to your website when they employ these terms. Your domain authorityoverall and Google SERPranking will both increase as a result.

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Increased Engagement

Utilizing page categories and tags can lead to increased engagement among website visitors. WordPress websites may provide readers more opportunities to discover more stuff that interests them by logically categorizing content and labeling related themes.

Facilitates Content Management

For proprietors of WordPress websites, page categories, and tags simplify the content administration process. Easily arranged and updated pages may be by administrators by properly classifying and labelingmaterial.

This makes content administration chores like updating material, creating new pages, and reorganizing the website's navigation menu easier. Website owners may easily maintain an updated and well-structured website with little work if they have a well-organized system of categories and tags in place.

Improvement Of User Experience

Organizing your information into categories facilitates easier access and navigation for readers. Users will find what they're searching for much more quickly, which lowers bounce rates and raises reader satisfaction. Additionally, there's a greater chance that it will boost conversions from clicks to your WordPress website.

8. When Should You Use A Tag And Category?

It is crucial to remember that categories and tags are intended to function in tandem. You should have a good understanding of both the specific purpose of categories and tags as well as their combined goal of improving the usability of your WordPress website from the first two subheadings.

How to Use Tags and Categories in WordPress

Generally speaking, categories are best used to represent the article's genre, whereas tags are better utilized to delve far further, highlight the specific topics covered in the post, and loosely connect many postings.

9. What Problems Can Extra Category And Tag Pages Cause?

An excessive number of category and tag pagescan cause two primary issues.

Competition For Attention

Consider a scenario where many sections of your website are vying for the same visitors. It resembles a large group of individuals in a packed room yelling for attention. Your website may find it more challenging to rank well in SERPs as a result.

Wasting Money And Resources

Specialized software is used by search engines to "crawl" through websites and add their pages to search results. However, they are unable to crawl every website on the internet. They concentrate on the pages they deem to be the most crucial as a result.

Having a lot of unnecessary extra pages on your website is like leading search engines on a wild goose chase. They could lose out on the excellent things as a result of this.

10. How To Display Category And Tag Pages On Your Website?

Your theme most likely won't show categories, tags, or custom taxonomies on the front end because WordPress pages don't contain them by default. Installing the Post Table Pro plugin will solve this problem without any effort. It's far more versatile and a great substitute for archive pages. With Post Tables Pro, you can;

• To make it easier for visitors to browse the material on your website, arrange categories and tags in a table. Rather than requiring you to manually enter your data, the table is automatically created and shows a list of the pages on your website.
• Use a shortcode to list pages from a certain category or tag, or show all pages and allow users to select by category or tag.

11. How To Deal With Excess Category And Tag Pages?

There are actions you can take to address the issue of having an excessive number of category and tag pages that are interfering with SEO;

No Indexing Pages

This entails instructing search engines to exclude particular pages from their index of results. It's similar to designating a book in a library catalog as "private," meaning that only specific individuals may locate it.

Organizing Better

Examine your tags and categories carefully. Make sure they aid your visitors and make sense. Delete the ones that don't offer much value or are unclear.

Linking Wisely

Take caution while adding links on your website to these sites. Avoid overusing links pointing to unimportant pages. Concentrate on guiding readers to the most important pages.

Frequent Examinations

Pay attention to your website. Perform routine audits to check for any new problems with the tag and category pages. To maintain the functionality of your website, quickly fix them.

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FAQ's About Category And Tag Pages

How Do Category And Tag Pages Contribute To Internal Linking Strategies?

Category and tag pages serve as natural hubs for internal linking, allowing website owners to strategically link related content together.

Can Tag Pages Help In Reducing Website Bounce Rates?

Yes, Tag Pages can help in reducing bounce rates by providing users with relevant links to explore further within the website.

What Measures Should Be Taken To Avoid Duplicate Content Issues With Category And Tag Pages?

To avoid duplicate content issues, website owners can use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page, ensure they have unique content, and set parameters to prevent search engines from indexing unnecessary variations of the same content.

Final Thoughts

Although category and tag pages may be excellent tools for organizing your website, you must use them carefully. Overcrowding can result in resource waste and content competitiveness, among other SEO problems. Although each category page and tag page has benefits and drawbacks, category pages are seen to be more beneficial for search engineoptimization.

Many, however, dispute their true SEO effects and argue that you should use whatever is most effective for your website. Tags provide your website with a clear structure and facilitate search engines' understanding of your site's primary subjects.