WordPress is, without doubt, the main CMS1 on today’s internet networks. As of November 2022, some 43%2 of all sites globally use this system to build their pages and drive revenue. It is – after all – one of the most versatile systems on the market today and getting better with every new revision. On top of that, the .org version is free, so what else are you waiting for? But nothing is as easy as it seems, of course.
One of the pillars of this CMS is the use of taxonomies and you’ll find two general vectors for categorization by default in WordPress:
- Categories: In a way, those are the drawers used to store your data in. Neatly labeled boxes that contain your stuff, sorted in a way so that you and search engine bots can easily locate your wares. You may have as many categories as you wish and you’ll be able to create subcategories as well.
- Tags: Those are the stickers in the boxes that will tell you more about the content of your wares. Contrary to categories, tags don’t stack up and there thus is no possibility to drive a hierarchy. Look at them as post-it notes that you stick on documents if we want to oversimplify a bit.
Oh, and if the basic default settings won’t suit your needs, you can create your own multitude of taxonomies.
Today, we’ll concentrate on categories only, though.
And did you pick it up? I made a dangerous statement before by saying that you may create as many different categories as you wish. That’s in essence true, but be careful what you wish for.
Categories are like drawers. You choose one for a specific set of related items, which – in theory – should make the research for said items easier. You’ll know where they are stored and – thus – they’re easy to locate and access. And you don’t want to have too many of them, lest you get confused. It’s all gotta be neatly sorted in some sort of understandable logic. Makes sense, right?
So, to give you a few examples, let’s take our own, RMR – a music webzine. In our logic, we could categorize records with the idea of who made them, or where the music originates from. In this context, band names, genres (Heavy Metal, Black Metal, etc.), or geography spring to mind. Or, if you’d like to use the ‘zine’s activity as a driver, you could use categories like articles, posts, or reviews. The sky is the limit.
And what about categories and SEO?
Well, categories are an important part of SEO3. Neatly stored data is not only good for your own sanity but – more importantly – it needs to talk sense to web crawlers as well. Those spider bots are small programs sent by search engines that crawl your site at any moment of the day. Googlebot is probably the most famous one of them. Their purpose in life is to visit your site and pick up any and all material that you – the site owner – deem fit for the outside world to see. This data is then converted into search results which should – in theory – rank well and – preferably – appear nearest to the pole position on page 1 of the search results.
There’s a myriad of ranking factors that will determine if or if not your contribution to the web will be shown to the public at large with good visibility. But a category will indeed play a role in the decision algorithms make for you. And yes, AI4 with Google as its master in crime already rules your world. If that’s good or bad will may be the subject of yet another article.
How do we go about good categorization?
Still today, you have SEO actors out there that will tell you to let search engines crawl each and every nook and cranny of your blog. No restrictions at all. And as categories go, this may not be in your best interest.
Let’s assume you created ten different categories for every item you sell or describe. All of that goodness sits on your site’s backend fully visible to any bot out there. Having that many may make sense to you. And it will offer you the ability to get immediate stats. Not very sophisticated ones, true, but you’ll get something.
The outcome? Your users may not necessarily care; they already found your content somehow. Search engines are another story, though. They will be totally confused about what part of that categorization to pick and use for ranking. So, the aforementioned algorithm will again kick in and mangle your data. Depending on which one of the ten categories it picks, you may either be very far away or somewhat nearer to the coveted Page 1 of search results. And chances are that you’ll end up far back in the search engine’s good graces.
So, what could be a solution?
The KISS principle, for example!
Keep it simple, stupid. That’s what we found most useful over here at the RMR SEO desk, based on activity. A categorization that will use paths and items that are available on your page directly. As in the all-important menu that should guide your visitors. And something that goes hand-in-hand with the famed breadcrumbs that you hopefully use, too. You know, the item that Google states as one of the main factors in their Search Console tool.5
In short:
- Allow indexing of categories as shown on the menu on your site and adapt your XML sitemaps accordingly.
- Slam a ‘noindex’ tag on all other categories that should never appear in search results. I’d suggest adding a ‘follow’ tag to that. After all, it’s your data. In other words, let search engines index a select and logical set of categories only and block the rest.
Now, the above is easier said than done. But some powerful SEO plugins like Yoast can help with that. As to the sitemaps, you may have to create a tailor-made category one, just for your indexed selection of categories.
Oh, and avoid categories that are irrelevant to the purpose of your site. A music (and some SEO) ‘zine like ours – for instance – won’t entertain categories related to body parts, personal inclinations, gender, and so on.
To conclude!
Search bots are made by humans. And same as the latter, said bots like some clear structure to feed their algorithms. By using data available on your site, the categories will make sense to humans and the AI-crazed bots that ceaselessly crawl your data on the web. And that might hopefully help you inch a bit closer to that famed top spot on Page 1.
The Olde Footnote!