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Are Tags Useless and Bad for SEO

by Latsyrc
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ok, I'm one step away from deleting all of my tags because of this article I found below:

The Reasons I Use Categories Only for My Blogs and Why I Think Tags Are Absolutely Worthless | TentBlogger

I have found that I rank for many keywords due to my tags. But I feel that is shoving aside the pages that need to be ranked first. What do you think of this article?
#bad #seo #tags #useless
  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Tags are really more for internal housekeeping, and have little
    to do with SEO. Although I suppose it adds a little to internal
    linking, and that may help. It's really for people to find and your
    site to file related posts. It's useful for people searching your
    site, if your site is a blog.

    The article is full of a lot of misinformation as to what a "tag"
    actually is and does.

    I use them, only because the post looks naked without them.
    And like I said, it helps visitors find related posts.

    It does not help search engines. I can't see how it would.

    You can put anything and everything in a tag. So what?
    That does not make the post or article related to it.

    Paul
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    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author LeviiStar
    To be honest, using tags has actually helped me! I have a number of posts with one or two of the same tags applied and those tag pages have actually started ranking for their corresponding search terms which is pretty neat.

    For SEO purposes I don't think much weight is added by displaying tags on a post on your website but in regards to the additional tag pages that are created, they're definitely worth it to me.

    A bit of extra traffic never goes astray.

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  • Profile picture of the author davidrisley
    I think tags are of limited use, personally. Plus, most people overuse them, and turn it into a huge source of clutter for the site.

    If you use them in a way which makes sense, it can help internal navigation. But, don't display "tag clouds" (its clutter), and don't use tagging as a replacement for meta keywords. The purpose of tagging is to relate like stuff together, not really SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author LeviiStar
      Originally Posted by davidrisley View Post

      ..and don't use tagging as a replacement for meta keywords.
      Is doing so really such a bad thing?
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      • Profile picture of the author 36burrows
        Originally Posted by LeviiStar View Post

        Is doing so really such a bad thing?
        No, it isn't.

        I usually make the tags and the meta keywords the same. This hasn't been showing any negative effect at all.
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