Get Organised: Tags and Categories
As you can see from the long list of categories, tags and archive pages, there’s a lot of information on my site that has accumulated over the years. It’s time to get better organised and make things a little easier for you to find. So what’s the difference between tags and categories, and why is it important?
Tags are single keywords or “micro categories”, helping you identify related information easier and should consist of “real” words (eg. web-design).
Categories are much broader, catch-all topics encompassing multiple keywords and are usually made up words or sentences (eg. My Long Trip to Amsterdam).
Here is an example of part of my new structure:
Categories
Portfolio /category/portfolio/
Clients /category/clients/
Projects /category/projects/
Competitions /category/competitions/
Reviews /category/reviews/
How-to’s /category/how-to/
(…)
Tags
/tag/web-design/
/tag/video/
/tag/client/
/tag/web-hosting/
(…)
Tags are singular, categories are plural. Keywords should be specific to something, categories are broader. If you are looking for how-to’s I’ve written just browse the “how-to” category (ok, it’s singular but only because it makes it read better when written as a URL: http://axelsegebrecht.com/how-to/remove-applications…).
If you were looking for all posts relating to “web-design” you would simply follow that link and it will show you everything that is related to it, including entries from my “portfolio” and “how-to” categories.
As a “last resort” there’s always the search, where you can (for example) combine keywords: eg. “web design portfolio”, which would show you everything matching those words or phase in order of relevance.
By the way (btw) search is only shown where it makes sense, eg. the categories, tags and archive pages where people are looking for stuff and a search form might help them as an additional tool. The reason for not plastering it over every page and post is because the site structure is designed to guide visitors through topics. Search should only be used as a fail-safe tool, not as a primary navigation feature. Also, adding links to categories and tags specific to a page or post make it easier for readers to find relevant content. That’s instead of a general “blog” or “categories” link.
Hopefully this re-organisation is going to make things a lot easier. Let me know what you think about it and how you organise your blog (if you have one).
