Use a Blog Tag or Keyword… What’s the difference?
Have you ever tried to find something on a blog using a blog tags You knew for a fact that it was there, because you’d seen it before. But when you searched for it… it never came up. There is a reason…
When I first started blogging, I’d always heard that a keywords and a blog tag was the exact same thing. While there is some truth to that, I didn’t realize that there are some minor differences between the two. Actually, that’s the reason that sometimes they’re referred to keywords and sometimes they’re referred to as a tag. The proper use of a key word and a blog tag in blogs can be pretty confusing, so I’ll try to clarify some of the differences here.
What Is a Blog Tag… And How Do You Use Them?
The first thing to understand is the very basic fact that a blog tag is NOT a keyword. A blog tag is used in blogs as a way to categorize or organize the information on your blog in a way that your content will come up when certain words are “searched” for.
The next thing you need to know is that you should never stuff your keywords in the blog tag area of your blog. This will hurt you more than it will help. You’re using your blog tag for people to find your content naturally… not to boost your rankings in the search engines. This is so important; it will be worth mentioning more than once.
Tips On Using a Blog Tag
When you’re writing your blog tag, or in most cases, tags plural… here’s a good rule of thumb to follow. Your blog tag is best when it’s a single word, but should never be longer than three. One-word tags are better simply because 95% of the way most blog tags will be categorized will be with single words. So if your tags are written this way, (with one word) you’re right in the flow.
Let me give you an example of something I learned from one of my syndicated tribe groups called Synnd. Here’s the scenario they used.
Let’s say you’ve written a new blog-post on “Labrador Retriever Clicker Training” and let’s say that this is the main phrase you’d like to get “high rankings” for in the search engines. You first want to make sure that the term is included in your META title and META description. You also want to mention it in a very “natural” way throughout your blog post. Don’t blast your blog tag everywhere so that it’s unpleasant to read and turns those ‘in the know’ off. Just sprinkle them here and there… in the right places.
And even though this is off subject… I have to mention this because I see so much abuse in this area. Please DON’T use social networks to splatter your keywords and blog tags all over the internet. That’s why you need a blog!!!!! Use keywords and blog tags wisely in your blog, but use your social networks wisely to promote YOU!! Do it right, and more people will actually see your blog and your article with your keyword and blog tag and ultimately, your offer. When it comes to social networks, you DON’T want to use your keywords as tags… Remember… keywords are NOT tags and tags are NOT keywords! Believe it or not, many social networks watch for “spammy” tags and they are not welcomed.
Okay… I’m off the ‘social network’ soapbox for now. Back to the topic at hand…
So how would you go about properly using a blog tag to “tag” your article about Labrador Retrievers…?
The best way to write your blog tag is to use a single word that would “trigger” other relevant terms. For instance… if a person puts your term in the search box on your blog, if your article is written properly, it should pull up your content.
For Example…
If I write my article on “Labrador Retriever Clicker Training” and tag it properly, it would actually come up when someone searches for terms like: dog, clicker, training, labrador, retriever, or lab. Notice, you don’t see “spammy” keywords in this tag list.
In other words, you DON”T see this…
Labrador Retriever School, Labrador retriever Dogs, Labrador Retriever Training, Labrador Retriever Pets, Labrador Retriever This AND Labrador Retriever That!!!
Always keep this in mind when you’re writing your blog tag. As I mentioned earlier… this bears repeating. Use your blog tags wisely; to allow your content to be categorized in a way that it can easily be found, not to boost your rankings in the search engines. Use keywords for that.
If you’d like to know more about how to use a blog tag and keywords properly plus a whole lot more, I invite you to join for my newsletter!
In it you’ll find not only information on the proper use of keywords and tags, but many basics on how to keep a healthy, profitable blog running smoothly.
Try this exercise. Write a new blog post based around your keyword, then add your tags in the proper place in your admin area, and notice the difference. This will help you understand the difference between using a key word and a blog tag.
