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Tags: .... still relevant ?

by fjgust0
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Guys, just wanted to find out your opinions regarding tags. Are they still relevant ? Does it make sense to put tags with relevant keywords on every single page (for example we are talking about e-commerce site) ?
How relevant are these tags for a blog? I have noticed that some people always put tags at the bottom of a blog post, some simply don't... Very interested to hear your opinions.
#relevant #tags
  • Profile picture of the author GavThomas15
    Tags were originally introduced for SEO (search engine optimisation) purposes, to try and speak the language that Google and other search engines would be able to easily understand. They are not that helpful for actual humans, but they have been helpful for SEO purposes.

    It's important to acknowledge that, in order to answer the question "are they still relevant". Because what we are really asking is "are tags still relevant for search engines, primarily Google (given it's market share)".

    According to Google, the answer to that question is that "tags don't hold much SEO weight. just make sure your content is really quality".

    I agree with that statement, however from experience a website with great content that has some keyword tags, will rank better than a website just with great content. So I'd recommend using tags, but the focus of an SEO strategy should be good quality engaging content, regularly added to a website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Franklin Hatchett
    I wouldn't use them unless you really have to... they can create duplicate content and mess things up.
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      Yes. Not for SEO, for your readers... a way to group together posts on the same topic...

      Of course, you could do that with categories.
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  • Profile picture of the author alvinchua91
    Yes it's helpful. Just make sure NOT to spam your keywords, but instead add tags in a logical manner that would allow people to find what they want on your e-commerce site as a result of the tags. This way it helps people, which increases their time on your website, and increases your sales as well as improves SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by fjgust0 View Post

    Guys, just wanted to find out your opinions regarding tags. Are they still relevant ? Does it make sense to put tags with relevant keywords on every single page (for example we are talking about e-commerce site) ?
    How relevant are these tags for a blog? I have noticed that some people always put tags at the bottom of a blog post, some simply don't... Very interested to hear your opinions.
    I wouldn't do that.

    An eCommerce site will sometimes have duplicate internal pages because of things like product size, color, etc... but I wouldn't use a typical Tag page because you need to have those duplicate internal pages setup with canonical tags in the HTML source code. That tells Google your not trying to spam out the site with 100s/1,000s of duplicate internal pages. The canonical tag will tell Google all the duplicate internal pages vote for a single page (example) to be the page that's most important (the page you want to rank in the SERPs).

    Tag pages on their own with a regular blog/site are duplicate fluff that junks up site structure. Focus on parent/child site structure & keep the site structure as simple as possible.
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    • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      I wouldn't do that.

      An eCommerce site will sometimes have duplicate internal pages because of things like product size, color, etc... but I wouldn't use a typical Tag page because you need to have those duplicate internal pages setup with canonical tags in the HTML source code. That tells Google your not trying to spam out the site with 100s/1,000s of duplicate internal pages. The canonical tag will tell Google all the duplicate internal pages vote for a single page (example) to be the page that's most important (the page you want to rank in the SERPs).

      Tag pages on their own with a regular blog/site are duplicate fluff that junks up site structure. Focus on parent/child site structure & keep the site structure as simple as possible.
      And its important to clarify that the same url you define as the canonical on your html tag is the same on that your XML sitemap need to have, otherwise the canonicals on your html may not be read.
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  • Profile picture of the author InitialEffort
    OP Yes, tags are still relevant but I won't add it on every single page of my site as it can cause duplicate content.
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