Are post tags on blogs still useful?
-
Hello
I have a number of sites on Wordpress which all still use the post tag feature. Is this something that I should really be avoiding due to duplicate content issues in the url's of the site, or is it still something that can help SEO wise?
I only ask as I did a crawl diagnostics report on SEOmoz and it found that 48 of my title elements were too short due to these tags in the URL's.
If you do all suggest I keep using them, should they be 3 odd words which are keywords?
Thanks in advance.
-
One quick aside: categories in WordPress are easier to SEO then tags. Wordpress collects category descriptions. Plugins like All In One SEO Pack can use this info to write a meta description for you. Wordpress doens't collect descriptions for tags so plugins can' use this info to write out a meta description for your tag pages.
-
Search engines can't really tell the difference between types of pages.
Do you want your tag pages to rank in search results? If so you could add a description. The All In One SEO plugin I mentioned could help with this. However, as I alluded to before, it's tough to get lots of tag pages to rank well in google. I wouldn't worry too much about adding meta descriptions for them.
-
Hi Daniel,
Regarding blocking the tag directory in the robots.txt file, I did some searching about on SEOmoz and I found this post: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/serious-robotstxt-misuse-high-impact-solutions where she says that
The best way to use a robots.txt file is to not use it at all. Well... almost. Use it to indicate that robots have full access to all files on your website and to direct robots to your sitemap.xml file. That’s it.
Would you agree with this or do you still think that blocking the tags would help? What you are saying makes sense to me but I just wanted to double check with you before I did it!
Many thanks
-
Thanks for your help guys. One more question.....on the crawl diagnostics report mentioned above, there are 48 meta descriptions missing which are all on tag url's. Is this a probem or can a search engine distinquish between a tag and a real post?
-
I run a wedding blog. A few of our categories rank highly in google. None of our tags do. Of course to Google tags and categories are essentially the same thing.
There are some simple WordPress plugins that allow you to noindex or nofollow your tags if you decide you're worried about duplicate content or want to do some page rank scuplting. I recommend the All In One SEO Pack.
-
Tags never were useful for SEO and are not now. They are strictly a usability feature. If you use categories then tags are certainly obsolete. If you use the all in one seo pack you can noindex your tag pages I believe, so I would do this to avoid duplicate issues. Also block the /tag/ directory in your robots.txt file.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Well performing blog article
I have an article that gets a lot of hits, way more than any other I have. Is there a way I can figure out why? For example, Is there a tool to help me find out where people are finding it? Or another important factors I should look at? Thank you in advance
Content Development | | laurentjb1 -
Blog post generating irrelevant traffic. What should I do with it?
I have a blog post that has been generating more than 75% of my website's traffic month over month.-averaging about 1000 views a month. Awesome that so many people are finding and benefiting from this post, however it is really skewing my traffic. I have an 87% bounce rate, and I'm only ranking in terms related to this post as opposed to industry related terms. I'm not sure what to do with this blog post. I want to be able to better evaluate my website's performance and be sure I'm targeting the right audience in order to gain more leads. Would a 'noindex' or 'nofollow' be appropriate here? Thanks!
Content Development | | Ali_DeLeg0 -
How do I use meta descriptions properly?
Hi there, I am starting to write a blog and I wanted to know, how to write meta descriptions correctly? I have been reading a lot about this subject lately and I found very different opinions in terms of length. Could you give me some advise about this? Thank you!!
Content Development | | lucywrites1 -
Should my client copy and paste his blog posts onto other professional sites?
I have a client who is an Attorney and participates in a couple of different Q and A legal sites. One of these legal sites is recommending to my client that he copy and paste his blog posts onto his profile page on the Q and A site. I understand my client wanting to copy and paste his blog posts onto these sites, as it will not only get his content in front of a larger audience, but also lend credibility. However, I've always heard that that could cause some duplicate content problems. Will my client's blog likely get penalized by google for copying and pasting his blog posts onto other relevant sites?
Content Development | | ScottMcPherson0 -
Google Blogger Vs. Sub Domain Blog - Authority building.
We are looking into offering blogs for our customers on their current sites that we have built & host for them. My developers have given me 2 options. 1. Sub domain with a hosted blog. 2. A Google Blogger blog with our customers sub-domain pointed to it. In my opinion I feel that a blog hosted on the sub domain is a better option as it is more authority then a Google Blogger blog. What does everyone think? Having a blog hosted on the subdomain would help with authority building vs. a Google Blogger site? Thanks for any help!
Content Development | | DCochrane0 -
Does it still help to bold text on webpages to draw the attention of the search engine bots?
I remember a few years ago, bolding text was important for the search bots, is this still the case?
Content Development | | TheVolkinator0 -
How to titling images in WP blog
What is the best way to title an image in a blog post. The wording will relate to the post discussion so I am not discussing the word stuffing, rather how to enter the words. Here are my options for the title: 1. dayton engagement photos 2. dayton_engagement_photos 3. daytonengagementphotos 4. Is there another preferred method? Should I increment the image title for each image such as: daytonengagementphotos1, daytonengagementphotos2, etc. What about the alternative text area? Does the same concept apply there? Thanks hR3ua.jpg
Content Development | | maximphotostudio0 -
How can I use my unique content to my advantage?
Hi, I run http://ablemagazine.co.uk - we also put out a print magazine every 2 months (the biggest disability magazine in Britain) This means we have loads of unique content (around 30 feature stories and 30 news stories every 2 months) Just wondering how I can use this to my advantage? I've been social bookmarking the feature stories (reddit, etc) and a link to all my unique stuff on facebook/twitter. Just wondering if there's anything else I should be doing? Thanks
Content Development | | craven220