How many Categories to use?

ramdom123 · 01-30-2012, 02:32 PM

Hello WF

I was doing some search on how many categories are good for a site and I saw lot of people say to not use more then 10 categories but what is the negative side on using more categories?

I have a blog which gets 1k daily visitors and it have over 20 categories with only 1-2 post in each and I have not been effected by any version on panda. I have good sales on the site, good bounce rate, good time stayed on the site.

For my new blog in health niche I will be having more then 20 categories but this time around 4-5 post in each categories.

so what do you say is it ok if there are lots of categories on your/my sites?

yukon · 01-30-2012, 02:55 PM

It doesn't matter how many categories you have.

What I do is for every single keyword I create a single category, then create supporting pages for each individual category. I wouldn't go less than 5 pages per category, then again I do things a bit differently than most IMers. For example my on-page SEO ranks keywords with groups of pages (supporting pages), rather than a single page trying to rank per keyword.

thatkeywordguy · 01-30-2012, 03:06 PM

These days, I NOINDEX all category and tag pages.

In theory, Google considers such pages as fairly redundant to their index and supposedly removing them will improve the ranking of your single posts.

So i've heard...

thatkeywordguy · 01-30-2012, 03:08 PM

Hence, if you did that, it wouldnt matter how many categories you have.

Well on second thought...

Another thing to consider would be if you are going to list your categories in your sidebar of your WordPress theme.

e.g. in theory, the more links you have on each page, the more link juice is being diffused (to each link).

Hence, a person with minimal outbound category links, would in theory preserve more link juice for his in-content paragraph internal links. Which are the most powerful.

But that shouldnt be too big of a deal unless you had like over 50 categories or something...

ramdom123 · 01-30-2012, 03:22 PM

@thatkeywordguy

I have 56 category links on my home page for one of my site which gets good traffic. Because most traffic comes from my individual post and my home page ranks pretty good to.

My new site will have around 20 to start with and later when i add more post i might need to assign more category and all would be showed on the home page.

01-30-2012, 02:32 PM	#1
ramdom123 Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 74 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts	How many Categories to use? Hello WF I was doing some search on how many categories are good for a site and I saw lot of people say to not use more then 10 categories but what is the negative side on using more categories? I have a blog which gets 1k daily visitors and it have over 20 categories with only 1-2 post in each and I have not been effected by any version on panda. I have good sales on the site, good bounce rate, good time stayed on the site. For my new blog in health niche I will be having more then 20 categories but this time around 4-5 post in each categories. so what do you say is it ok if there are lots of categories on your/my sites?

01-30-2012, 02:55 PM	#2
yukon SEO Strategist War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 6,534 Thanks: 355 Thanked 1,993 Times in 1,274 Posts	Re: How many Categories to use? It doesn't matter how many categories you have. What I do is for every single keyword I create a single category, then create supporting pages for each individual category. I wouldn't go less than 5 pages per category, then again I do things a bit differently than most IMers. For example my on-page SEO ranks keywords with groups of pages (supporting pages), rather than a single page trying to rank per keyword.
	- SEO Strategist -

01-30-2012, 03:06 PM	#3
thatkeywordguy KeywordResearcher.org Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 266 Thanks: 93 Thanked 69 Times in 34 Posts Social Networking	Re: How many Categories to use? These days, I NOINDEX all category and tag pages. In theory, Google considers such pages as fairly redundant to their index and supposedly removing them will improve the ranking of your single posts. So i've heard...
	FIND LONG TAIL KEYWORDS. Come see my latest program: KeywordResearcher.org Download the Free Trial or find "Long Tail Keywords" from your web browser. $8 Dollar Coupon for Warrior Forum Members! Want to be an AFFILIATE? Affiliates earn 45% per sale via Clickbank!

01-30-2012, 03:08 PM	#4
thatkeywordguy KeywordResearcher.org Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 266 Thanks: 93 Thanked 69 Times in 34 Posts Social Networking	Re: How many Categories to use? Hence, if you did that, it wouldnt matter how many categories you have. Well on second thought... Another thing to consider would be if you are going to list your categories in your sidebar of your WordPress theme. e.g. in theory, the more links you have on each page, the more link juice is being diffused (to each link). Hence, a person with minimal outbound category links, would in theory preserve more link juice for his in-content paragraph internal links. Which are the most powerful. But that shouldnt be too big of a deal unless you had like over 50 categories or something...
	FIND LONG TAIL KEYWORDS. Come see my latest program: KeywordResearcher.org Download the Free Trial or find "Long Tail Keywords" from your web browser. $8 Dollar Coupon for Warrior Forum Members! Want to be an AFFILIATE? Affiliates earn 45% per sale via Clickbank!

01-30-2012, 03:22 PM	#5
ramdom123 Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 74 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts	Re: How many Categories to use? @thatkeywordguy I have 56 category links on my home page for one of my site which gets good traffic. Because most traffic comes from my individual post and my home page ranks pretty good to. My new site will have around 20 to start with and later when i add more post i might need to assign more category and all would be showed on the home page.