WordPress Categories
There are 2 similar types of information you can add to your post that many people overlook – and so do I at times! These are Categories and Tags. You can use them to categorize the information in your blog by topic and by its content. This will help your readers find what they want to read and even skip the stuff they might not care to read.
WordPress Categories are primarily used for organizing your posts into, um, categories! A general rule is that you should have about 8 WordPress categories. If/when you have a lot of content and may be posting very frequently, you can increase that 10 10; 15 categories should be the maximum on a site.
Anytime you create a post, you include it in a WordPress category or 2 or three! Currently, all the posts on this blog go into the following WordPress categories: Blogging, General, Plugins, Services, and Themes. If you had a site that deal with telephones, you might have WordPress categories such as: Wireless, Rotary, Calling Plans, Touch Tone, Accessories, and VOIP.
To see how this works simply create a new blog post. Once the post is written, you will see the Categories area on the right side of your post. If you have not ever created a category, click the Add New Category link. Type your category into the text box and click on the Add button. Congratulations! You just created your first category. Anytime you create a new category, it will be automatically checked for the blog that you are currently writing.
When you have several categories created, all you have to do is check the categorizes that you want your post to be listed under; check the boxes next to existing categories in the Categories box. You should always categorize your post under at least one category. If it fits, you can categorize it under 2 or 3, if it is applicable!
By using WordPress categories, you can organize your blog so your readers will enjoy it more!
Great advice. One thing I would add/suggest is that you stick with a one post, one category. If you use multiple categories in your posts then your readers will find the same post over and over again (if they are searching by category) which i believe makes for bad reader experience.
What are your thoughts on this?
I stand by my original statement – if a post is relevant to multiple categories, list it accordingly. I would not ALWAYS categorize my posts in the same 2 categories as this would result in the same content in both (which is your concern). This post here does not discuss Hierarchical Categories which may address your issues… Look for a post coming up on that! (Thanks for the suggestion!)
I agree with you, Paul. Sometimes a post fits multiple categories. I do this — when I remeber to categorize, that is.
Thanks for this, Paul. Getting my categories organized is something I’ve been meaning to do for weeks now – thanks for inspiration! I have too many…
Good morning, thank you so much for the information on categories. I have been wondering how I could acheive this. I will be starting my blog hopefully the end of this week. I will be writing on 3 to 4 different subjects. Thanks again and have a very blessed day!