Taxonomy, tags and categories in WordPress

Your very own taxonomies and entry types are very useful tools, especially when you plan to use WordPress to have something more than just a simple blog. Custom taxonomies are an additional way of organizing content. Default tags and categories are examples of non-hierarchical and hierarchical taxonomies, while specific tags and categories are the terms of these taxonomies.

Taxonomy in WordPress

Taxonomy in WordPress is the posts’ features that make them linked together in search results. If you select a category or tag, the database will show the records, whose common denominator is the taxonomy you have just chosen. The reason why plugins are the best to be used to create your own taxonomies and entry types is portability.

If you put the code in the functions. php file (which is possible), then after moving it to another theme, it will be lost, although, you can copy it to this new theme. The functions related to the content should be implemented in the plugins rather than design functions, so they can be used in a Variety of themes. Just turn on the plugin and it’s ready to work.

What are Categories?

Categories should group broad subjects that go beyond the reach of the tags. How categories shouldn’t be used? We should avoid:

• Creating too narrow categories – they are more Suitable for tags.
• Duplicating categories with tags.

Categories should be used to sort broad subjects. An article shouldn’t be assigned to more than 2-3 categories. For example, instead of Audi Q8, Test Audi Q8 we could use German Cars, Car Tests category. We’ve used such tags because:

• The subjects are quite broad, and in addition, they have great potential in the search engine.
• They don’t duplicate with tags.

Content can be duplicated in categories in a similar way to tags, by using categories with individual articles. In addition, a very common mistake is to use the same categories and tags – it means that we also duplicate the content.

How to use Tags?

We should categorize narrow subjects by using tags. For example, for an article about Audi Q8, tags should look like this:Tags: Audi Q8, Audi.What does using tags give us?

• They put the entry in the appropriate content groups.
• Keywords have potential and fit the article.

We use 2-3 tags per article. The more tags, the less power single Tag has. There are circumstances when it’s better to Insert more tags, but never do it at a push.

Maintain moderation

Having a huge number of categories makes you and the user visiting the site lose your bearings. If your site has dozens of categories, it should make you think that something is wrong and you should work on it. It’s very similar with tags. We often encounter a situation where there are several hundred tags on the blog, most of which have Only one entry assigned. It causes information chaos and completely defeats its purpose.