Categories in Wordpress sites question

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I have a test blog with /%postname%/ as the permalink structure and also have the blog structured with 3 main categories and a few child categories under each main category.

When I do a post to the blog, none of the categories or child categories show up in the url - it always just shows up as www.domain.com/latest-post.

So, it looks like with this permalink structure that the category/child category structure is only beneficial to the site visitor, because these categories can be used as navigation menus.

Are there any SEO advantages at all to putting effort into Wordpress categories and child categories, or are they just organizational and site-visitor navigational advantages?
#website design #categories #question #sites #wordpress #wordpress categories #wordpress permalinks
  • I don't believe there are any SEO advantages as such, but as SEs become more sophisticated I am wary of making dogmatic pronouncements. There used to be an argument that dissuaded against the use of categories and tags because within the SEs it appeared as duplicate content. But such an argument seemed to defy the application of common sense.

    Sorry - I haven't really answered your question, but on balance I would go with no SEO advantage.
  • It's not showing the categories because it's not in the permalink, unless you did not post the entire code. Should be /%category%/%postname%/

    One thing I like to do also is /%postname%.html

    They use to "say" html is better than php. Though the SE's might know better anyways.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Hi Ron, yes I understand, without category in the permalink, then it won't show up in the url. From all I can gather, and from the results I'm seeing with a blog I have that is using the structure /%category%/%postname%/ and really should be ranking better, it is looking like just the postname permalink is better for seo. I'd also heard something about .html being better for seo that .php - need to check further on this, but man, I tested it out and what you suggested: /%postname%.html - works, nothing else had to be done to change all the blog posts from .php to .html. Thanks!
  • Glad it worked for you. I think it's a great little trick. Doesn't seem like most people know about it. Think I just tried it one day and it worked. Go figure.

    As for categories your talking about. I've also "heard" that the closer your pages are the root the better. Like site.com/somepage.html is suppose to be better than somesite.com/category/somepage.html.

    But it's just a theory (I heard some time back actually). And maybe the SE's are smart enough to know wordpress and it might not matter. Just a thought.
  • I'm thinking that /%category%/%postname%/ will often end up with urls that are too long and also that having the category in there may give the appearance of keyword stuffing.
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    Categories in Wordpress sites question

    I have a test blog with /%postname%/ as the permalink structure and also have the blog structured with 3 main categories and a few child categories under each main category. When I do a post to the blog, none of the categories or child categories show up in the url - it always just shows up as www.domain.com/latest-post.