The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Does anyone have trouble coming up with how to tag a blog post?
Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's that little OCD tendency of mine. But I have a heck of a time trying to figure out how to tag some things.
I guess part of it is that I consider my blog something that I will want to go back and reread (don't we all?)... therefore, if I'm looking for a topic or post in particular, I'd like to be able to find it easily. I mean, I have the obvious tags... one for books, one for movies, quotes, cooking, travel, etc.
And then there are other posts. Like, I'm single and was blogging about a cute guy I met. How do I tag that? I mean... it wouldn't go under relationships.. so what would it go under? Or how about the posts where I'm talking about a camera I want... does that go under the photography tag or under a separate tag, perhaps called dslr or cameras? And then there's the fact that I have a tag called "getting healthy" and lately I've been blogging a lot about going to the gym. Maybe there should be an "exercise" tag or something to that effect...
I'm overthinking this, aren't I?
Does anyone have a similar problem? Have any suggestions? And what seem to be the top... I dunno 5? 10? tags that you use on your blog?
I guess part of it is that I consider my blog something that I will want to go back and reread (don't we all?)... therefore, if I'm looking for a topic or post in particular, I'd like to be able to find it easily. I mean, I have the obvious tags... one for books, one for movies, quotes, cooking, travel, etc.
And then there are other posts. Like, I'm single and was blogging about a cute guy I met. How do I tag that? I mean... it wouldn't go under relationships.. so what would it go under? Or how about the posts where I'm talking about a camera I want... does that go under the photography tag or under a separate tag, perhaps called dslr or cameras? And then there's the fact that I have a tag called "getting healthy" and lately I've been blogging a lot about going to the gym. Maybe there should be an "exercise" tag or something to that effect...
I'm overthinking this, aren't I?
Does anyone have a similar problem? Have any suggestions? And what seem to be the top... I dunno 5? 10? tags that you use on your blog?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nick Tabick on -
I see categories and tags as two separate entities and try to use them as follows: (If you really want to see a dulled-down version of this in action, you can check out my current blog.)
- Categories are for specific overarching categories, such as what type of post or what audience I'm trying to target with that post. (For example, I have a "Geeky" category for things that might fly over someone's head.)
- Tags are for the type of content in the post or things that get mentioned as the subject matter of that particular post.
For self-hosted WordPress users (like yourself), one plugin I find useful in times like these is the Calais Auto-Tagger. I don't always use the tags it pulls back, but it's useful for getting a second opinion on what the important points of your post are and basing tags off of the suggestions.
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Permalink Reply by curiousillusion on -
I think I get it. And thanks for the plugin link, I think I'll try that out!
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Permalink Reply by SassyGirl on -
I use Categories to organize my posts, and tags are mostly for search engine optimization or just plain randomness. My tags will always contain the characters mentioned in the entry, but after that, it's pretty much whatever broad topic(s) come up in the entry.
For your example, the cute guy entry would go under some Dating category, and the tags would be "CuteGuy, first date, bowling".
Or for the camera post, the category might be "Day to Day" or "Shopaholic" and the tags would be "camera, sexiness, online shopping"
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Permalink Reply by Harper and Beatrix on -
you could just tag things all willy-nilly like me.
which is my way of saying i'm no help. "making out" is far and away the most used tag at our blog, followed closely by "eating". "puke", "grocery stores", and "sandwiches", however, have made it into the top 12 or so.
~beatrix
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Permalink Reply by Kelsey on -
I got all sorts of confused when Wordpress added tags, but after looking around at how other bloggers used tags and categories I figured out how fun tags can be. I have 'Adventures in Adulthood' for when I recount the times when I've really felt like an adult, or faced something that made me reminisce on the days of no worries and Barbie dolls. On the other end of the spectrum is 'Attempts to be Young' for posts about just that; taking time to just be a twenty-something.
My categories are more for self organization. Since being a military spouse has taken me around the world I've made a category for the places I was at when I typed the post (i.e. England, Idaho, Washington) and I also have a category for my age at the time of the post (23, 24, etc). This way when I review my blog posts years from now I can have a little more information about what I was doing while I was writing.
I have found that my tags are getting a little extensive these days and have begun to trim up the list into more encompassing topics like David was suggesting.
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