How to use tags properly?

by 9 replies
10
Hi Guys

I have a lot of adsense and affiliate sites and right now I am working on further increasing the traffic to these sites. I am setting up tags in wordpress but have some questions.


1. Should I use only keywords that are incorporated in my content, or also LSI words that google finds relevant?

2. Do I have to have the widget with all my tags in the sidebar before it is working?

3. Can I also put adsense on my tag sites? Or are they just used to bring traffic to the actual domain?

And of course any other tips you think I should know about proper ways to set up tags.

If you could direct me to a program or article on this matter, I would also be grateful.

Thx everyone.
#search engine optimization #properly #tags
  • Tags for blogs are easily misunderstood.

    These "tags" are for the blog to file certain posts
    under. It gives general info on what a post is about.

    If you think google (the search engine) looks at these
    tags to determine what it will show in blog or web searches,
    think again. They don't.

    Especially if the tags are in a widget that was a javascript.
    They would not even be seen.

    These tags or labels are for visitors to find other posts on
    related topics. Not for search engines.

    You will get a whole host of people (maybe) who believe these
    tags help. Just like the keywords meta tag, google does not
    take that into account when finding content.

    Your best bet is to use a well structured url system, title,
    and of course content.

    I don't quite know what you mean by "adsense on a tag site."

    Paul
    • [1] reply
    • As long as they're exposed to the 'bots and have good internal links they'll be indexed, will come up in search results and will bring in traffic from Google.

      If you use the Platinum SEO plugin that adds in the canonical tag, this will reduce traffic to them somewhat but not entirely. In this role, the tag pages, assuming a single post per page layout, tend to enhance the authority of the primary page for the targeted keywords.

      As for tags to pick, select 10 or so good long tail terms that describe your post and use them. It's probably best, from a diversity standpoint, not to use the exact same full keyword as your primary post keyword but related 'LSI-ish' terms. For example, if your post was on "bad credit auto loans" you might chose "car dealers, loan companies, low credit score, repo, no money down, refinance, lenders, bankruptcy, zero down, interest rates"
  • In order to find high quality articles on anything related to online marketing, check these sites in this order: ezinearticles.com, wikipedia, and yahoo search. You should be able to find any information you need simply by being specific in your search bar descriptions. Good luck.
  • Thx for the replies guys.

    If this is the case however, then why do I see websites tag pages, outranking other real pages for certain keywords.

    For example how can a site that has a inner page about red footballs, be outranked by a tag page that is on red footballs?
    • [1] reply
    • I can put a red footballs tag and pray. Or, I'd better have content to match.

      Pages outrank not by tags, but by title, url structure, content,
      authority, etc.

      Now google, as everything, is not 100% correct in results. But over
      the course of time, title, url structure, content wins out.

      Your main page contributes to the crawling and indexing of your
      posts. A lot of people forget this, ignore it, or don't believe it.

      Sure, I could show some parlor trick and do a gotcha moment as
      well. But that's not SEO.

      There is no magic in tags.

      You still need to explain what a tag page is.

      Paul
      • [1] reply
  • Paul's answers are absolutely correct - but you should use both categories and tags to ensure your articles are filed correctly.

    Where I would disagree with Paul is that tag pages (at least WordPress tag pages) can rank, and will, unless you 'noindex' them.

    Here's an article that, in the second half, describes how to use categories and tags in WordPress. There are also 3 related articles at the bottom which expand on the subject. Here's the article:

    http://www.wealthydragon.com/blog/20...es-categories/

    Cheers,

    Martin.
    • [2] replies
    • THx alot Martin. Will check it out
    • That was what I should have said more: it is important for internal filing.
      Makes a better surfing and visiting experience which is what you want
      to concentrate on.

      I never said they can't rank, I did not know exactly what you were referring to.
      If your blog creates a page for each tag, perhaps. But you would still want to
      only use tags that are relevant. And as far as showing up in a SERP, I
      would say that tag pages are not going to show that often. These tag pages
      would add to the visitor experience. I would see no reason to noindex it
      unless that's the default setting. If it is, I probably would leave it.

      Paul
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