On most blog systems, tags & categories are a critical feature to help organize articles better. 


Tags & Categories work together to form a structure which is helpful in the following ways: 

  • Groups & organizes articles concisely. 
  • Helps identify the topic of each article. 
  • Helps your viewers find more relevant articles easily. 
  • Helps Google™ categorize articles better, and potentially increase search engine traffic. 


The differences between Tags & Categories

It's important to distinguish what to use as a category or tag properly. Misuse of these can result in a very messy website, convoluted grouping of articles which can decrease the performance of your blog significantly. 


Categories Are Major Topics - you only need 3~6 at most!

Think of categories as sections of a restaurant menu. Items on the menu are grouped into categories, such as Appetizer, Main Course, Dessert or Cocktails. When done right, categories are an easy way to sort items by their relevance.


For example, Century 21 Yellowknife maintains a set number of categories on their blog. Clicking on a category shows a selection of relevant articles, but clicking on a different category won't show the same articles. This is an ideal use-case scenario for blog categories as articles are organized under different categories. 


A reasonable list of categories on a Real Estate agent/brokerage blog would look like this: 

  • Market Updates
  • Listings Showcase
  • Home Improvement & Decor
  • Community Updates
  • Team & Agent Updates


Categorizing each and every city/subarea is, for the most part, not recommended except for very special circumstances. That's what tags are for - coming up next!


Example of confusing, poor categories (that will eventually land you with too many categories): 

  • Real Estate News
  • Real Estate Updates
  • Market Updates
  • Vancouver Market Trends
  • New Listing
  • Open Houses
  • Just Sold
  • Statistics & Reports
  • New Homes
  • Interior Design & Decor
  • Home Improvement


Unlike Categories, Tags are for all subject/topics that the article is related to - each is a singular topic!


Think of tags like the ingredients or index in the back of a recipe book. You can search all recipes that include "broccoli" or "pork belly" quickly at a glance from the index. 


Any blog can end up with dozens, if not hundreds, of tags over time. For each article, about 10~20 is suitable. 


Reasonable list of tags for an article titled "Vancouver Westside Condo/Townhome Sales Report in February 2022": 

  • Attached Homes
  • Condos
  • Townhomes
  • Detached Homes
  • Houses
  • Kitsilano
  • Real Estate
  • Vancouver West
  • Vancouver
  • YVR
  • British Columbia


Note that each tag is a SINGULAR concept, not a mix up. Tags such as "Vancouver Westside" and "Condos" are completely separate tags, not combined. 


Each tag should be an isolated concept, and use multiple tags to make multiple topic/subject references.


Example of poor tags that you should NOT use:

  • Vancouver real estate news
  • Condo sales in Burnaby
  • Detached House Sales in March