If you’ve been managing a WordPress site for a while, you probably already know what tags in WordPress are—keywords or labels that you assign to your posts to describe the content. Tags help keep your content organized and improve navigation for your readers.
But did you know that tags are more than just a way to label your posts?
In fact, when you use them effectively, they can enhance user experience, improve site discoverability, and contribute to better SEO. Want to know more?
Want to know more? Read on as in this article, we’ll walk you through how to use tags to improve your website’s navigation, SEO, and overall user experience. We’ll also share practical tips and strategies to help you get the most out of your tags.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Table of Contents
What Are WordPress Tags?
As mentioned above, WordPress tags are simply keywords or labels that you can assign to your posts to help categorize and describe the content. Unlike categories, which are broader and often represent the main topics of your site, tags are more specific and help pinpoint detailed aspects of a post.
For example, we at InstaWP have an article called How an InstaWP Sandbox Can Relieve Devs from Big Burdens, basically a guide to how an InstaWP sandbox can help in WordPress development. We tagged it with “InstaWP Education” and “Testing.” These tags give readers an easy way to find similar content in our site, which might encourage them to explore more and stay on your site longer.
Tags are also beneficial for search engines: by organizing your content, they help the aforementioned search engines index your site more efficiently. The more relevant and descriptive your tags are, the better they connect your content, improving the overall browsing experience.
Tags vs Categories: Which One Should I Use?
So since we mentioned that categories are broader while tags in WordPress are a bit more specific, you might be wondering which one you should use. The truth is that both categories and tags are essential for organizing your content, but they serve different purposes.
Categories are used to organize your content into broad sections. They act as the main topics or themes of your site, helping visitors easily navigate large chunks of content. For example, on a tech blog, you might have categories like “Gadgets,” “Software,” and “Reviews.” Categories give your site structure and make it easier to group content by topic.
Tags, on the other hand, are more specific and help describe the details of a post. While categories are about broad themes, tags are used to highlight individual aspects of a post. You can assign as many tags as you want to a post, and they help users find related content within your site. For instance, a post under the “Gadgets” category could be tagged with terms like “smartphones,” “AI,” or “wearables.”
In short, categories are used to organize your content into main topics, while tags help describe specific details within those topics. By using both effectively, you create a more organized and user-friendly site
Advantages of Using Tags for Navigation
Using tags effectively for your site’s navigation can give your website these key benefits:
Simplifying Content Browsing
As we said earlier, having tags makes it easier for users to find the content they’re most interested in. When visitors see a tag on a post, they can simply click on it to see more related articles; especially helpful for larger websites or blogs with a lot of content. Tags offer a quick way to navigate to topics that are relevant to a specific interest or need.
Increasing Time Spent on Site
Also as mentioned above, if your visitors can easily find related posts and dive deeper into topics they enjoy, they will likely stay on your site longer. After all, they’re enjoying what they are consuming! This not only boosts engagement but can also improve your site’s SEO metrics: increased time spent on your site sends positive signals to search engines, indicating that your content is relevant and engaging.
How to Add and Manage Tags
Now that you understand why tags are important, let’s get practical. Adding and managing tags in WordPress is simple. Additionally, if you’re using InstaWP’s staging environment, you can experiment without worrying about breaking your live site.
The first thing you need to do is sign up for an account at InstaWP. Once you’re inside, you’ll arrive at the InstaWP Dashboard:
Assuming this is your first time, just press the + Add New on the upper right corner. This will come up:
For future reference, you can just keep pressing the Next Step button since this exercise is just about creating a staging environment for adding tags. But if you’ll notice, you can change WordPress versions, PHP versions, add plugins, and so on, before finally pressing the Create Site button:
This will then appear:
Press the Magic Login button and you will arrive at your WordPress staging site:
This functions just like any WordPress site, which is great since you’ll be in a familiar environment!
Adding Tags to New Posts
To add tags to a post in WordPress, follow these simple steps:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Posts and click Add New or edit an existing post.
- In the Post Editor, you’ll see a Tags box on the right-hand side.
- Type your tags into the box, separated by commas (e.g., “WordPress, Tags, Navigation”).
- Once you’re done, click Add.
Tags will now appear at the bottom of your post, and visitors can click on them to explore related content.
Editing and Deleting Tags
If you need to change or remove a tag from your post, follow these steps:
- Go to Posts and click on All Posts.
- Hover over the post you want to edit and click Edit.
- In the Tags box, you can delete tags by clicking the X next to the tag.
- To add or edit tags, simply type in the new tags and click Add.
You can also edit tags from the Posts section by clicking on Tags and updating them in bulk.
Bulk Tag Management
Managing tags in bulk is a time-saver, especially if you have a large site. To edit multiple tags at once:
- Go to Posts > Tags.
- Select the tags you want to edit or delete.
- Choose the action from the dropdown menu (edit or delete).
- Click Apply.
This will save you time if you need to make large changes to your tags.
Tagging Strategies for Improved Navigation and Enhance SEO
Now while we know that tags in WordPress can help us out a lot, it’s still important to use them properly. Let’s look at a few best practices.
Choosing the Right Number of Tags
It’s very tempting to add as many tags as possible, but this can actually hurt your site’s organization. Less is more; adding too many tags can confuse visitors and make your content seem disorganized. Instead, aim for relevance and clarity. Use a focused set of tags for each post, maybe between 5 to 10.
Avoiding Duplicate and Irrelevant Tags
One mistake many WordPress users make is adding duplicate or irrelevant tags. For example, using both “Technology” and “Tech” as tags is redundant. Focus on using unique tags that describe the content of the post specifically.
Additionally, irrelevant tags can confuse users and hurt your SEO. For example, if you’re discussing technology but use a tag like “Candy,” it can lead to confusion. Stick to terms that are relevant to your content and audience to ensure clarity and improve your site’s navigation.
Optimizing Tag Pages for Search Engines
WordPress creates tag pages automatically, and these can be indexed by search engines. To optimize tag pages for SEO:
- Use unique and descriptive tag names.
- Avoid keyword stuffing. Focus on natural language.
- Add relevant internal links to tag pages to drive more traffic to them.
You can also add SEO plugins like Yoast SEO to customize the meta descriptions of your tag pages, title tags, and keywords, helping them rank better. Additionally, SEO plugins offer features like readability analysis and internal linking suggestions to further boost your site’s SEO performance.
Leveraging Tags for Related Content Linking
Tags can be used to create related content links. By including relevant tags, you make it easier for visitors to find articles on similar topics. This improves navigation by grouping content by theme or interest.
For example, if you have a post about “WordPress SEO,” you can tag it with terms like “SEO tips,” “WordPress plugins,” and “SEO best practices.” These tags will link to other posts with the same tags, helping visitors explore more related content, and hopefully again, making them stay longer on your site.
Plugins to Enhance Tag Functionality
While WordPress gives you the basic tools for managing tags, there are some plugins that can enhance tag functionality. Here are five plugins worth considering:
Meta Tag Manager
Meta Tag Manager is a powerful plugin that helps you manage meta tags across your WordPress site. It allows you to customize the meta tags on tag pages, including Open Graph and Structured Data, which enhances your site’s visibility and SEO. You can also add Google Sitelinks and verification codes for services like Google Webmaster Tools and Facebook, streamlining your SEO efforts.
TaxoPress
TaxoPress helps you manage and optimize tags, categories, and all your WordPress taxonomies. It features tools like auto-linking, related posts, and automatic term suggestions, improving your site’s organization and user experience. With integrations like AI, it helps find the best tags for your content, making your site more intuitive and SEO-friendly.
Pages with Category and Tag
This plugin enables you to add tags and categories to your WordPress pages, which isn’t possible by default. By doing so, it improves the organization of your content and enhances SEO, allowing you to link related pages and provide better content navigation across your site.
List Category Posts
List Category Posts allows you to display posts from specific categories directly within other posts or pages using shortcodes. This plugin improves content organization and presentation, making it easier for visitors to explore relevant content without leaving the page they’re on.
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order is a powerful plugin that gives you control over the order of categories and taxonomies on your site. It features a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to reorder categories, tags, and custom taxonomies. This plugin improves the organization of your content, allowing you to present tags and categories in the order that best suits your site’s structure, making navigation more intuitive for users.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Tags
To measure how well your tags are working, there are multiple ways to track their impact beyond just analytics. Here are some key methods:
- Analytics Tools: Google Analytics is a great starting point. Track metrics like page views, time on page, and bounce rate for your tag pages to understand how engaging and effective they are in keeping visitors on your site.
- Heatmaps & User Behavior Tools: Using tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg, you can create heatmaps and analyze user flows to see how visitors interact with your tag links. This can help you understand if users are engaging with tags and exploring related content.
- Search Console: Use Google Search Console to track how well your tag pages rank in search results. Monitoring the organic traffic to these pages can help you determine if tags are boosting SEO and driving more visitors.
- Internal Site Search Data: Look at the data from your site’s internal search feature to see if users are searching for content that matches your tags. If there’s a high correlation, it indicates that your tags are effectively guiding users to the right content.
- User Feedback: Ask users directly via surveys or feedback forms about their navigation experience. Understanding how users perceive your tags can give you insights into how useful they find them for discovering relevant content.
Conclusion
Tags are a simple yet powerful tool for improving your WordPress site’s navigation and SEO. By using them strategically, you can make it easier for users to find related content, increase time spent on your site, and enhance your site’s overall structure. Remember to keep your tags relevant, well-organized, and SEO-friendly for the best results.
Start tagging your posts today, and watch your site’s navigation and engagement improve. Want to test the changes first? Try InstaWP’s staging environment to experiment with your tags risk-free before going live and see how they can boost your site’s performance.