What if everyone’s language was completely different–everyone had a different language that was only relative to themselves? Words that came out of other peoples’ mouths would be jumbled, hard to comprehend, and make communication with one another a nightmare. In the same way, everyone would be disconnected from each other, so everyone would be their own person.
Today, while we have thousands of different languages, words that can mean the complete opposite depending on your location in the country, and millions of variants, everyone is trying to get a similar message across, whether that is through the English language, Chinese, Spanish, or even further down to a localized group. While no one is able to truly know every language, the connection that everyone shares can also be exhibited on blogs and through the “social networking/tagging” sphere.
The Basics on Tags and Tagging
Dissecting a blog, you are left with the most basic elements–the framework behind your blog. Whether you run a photo, links, or resource (nearly all types) of blog, you are left with essentially the same substances. When you take what is left, you’ll find that everything can be connected through a mini “network.” The information can be arranged in a logical web, starting with the main page, then pages/posts, sidebar/related content, leading to paragraphs, sentences, ending with words and phrases. At this stage, all that will be left is your basic template, with no content whatsoever.
The biggest factor of whether your blog is successful, of course is content. All of this information needs to be categorized, through a method that doesn’t require a lot of feedback from the creator, just a simple word or two to distinguish it form the rest of the confusing heap of characters that are coming together to form what we call a blog. This is where tags come in. Even if you don’t think about adding tags to each post, image, or video you add to your blog, you are. Unique writing, and the most common words create tag clouds (when using an off-site tool), although a blogger or alternative site user can add tags to their posts, much like categories.
Essentially, a tag cloud is similar to a category, except for the fact that you can associate multiple tags within each category/post.
One of the best ways to begin your blog’s navigation structure is to decide what main topics you will be writing content in. Then, factor how many categories and tags will be required to accomplish this, making sure that you don’t overdo it with thousands in each category. You want it to be highly organized , both for your readers and yourself when you have thousands of posts in each category.
Main Ideas for Proper Implementation
These are some basic methods for structuring your organization structure, through the use of tag clouds, categories, and posts.
At the conclusion of writing each post, think about the main category of the 5-20 (ideally) that have been previously created. Place the post in one of these structured categories, then also tag it with a few tags, trying to use tags that have already been used, as to create a more organized blog. Do not overuse either tags or categories, or you’ll notice that your sidebar will continue to become more and more crowded, making it harder for visitors to find what they are looking for. Make sure that each tag is relevant and not some random word, simply placed there for attracting visitors. Use the power of tagging to harness new visitors from search engines. Using relevant tags (as outlined above) can help you gain visitors, since additional keywords will be directing to those posts. Use both on-site and off-site tagging, as it will draw in more visitors looking for information on that content. For example, include a tag cloud in your sidebar and/or a listing of tags beneath your post, in addition to tagging that post on other services. If a post was submitted to a social bookmarking site, tag it so other visitors can find it based on what they may be searching for. Focus on a select combination of both tags and categories, so that you can also work on gaining traffic using these tags and building search engine dominance in those particular categories/tags. Stick with words that are recognized by others. In addition, keep all tags on your blog similar. For example, all uppercase/lowercase, singular/plural, one word/multiple words, etc., allowing for better navigation.
Why Tags Have Become (Were) So Popular
With the introduction of the “Web 2.0″ craze, people needed new ways to organize and present content, as users wanted to be able to find content more quickly, without needing to run multiple searches simply to find something that could have been better associated with other content through “tagging.”
Previously, this post could have fit into the main category of “Blogging Tips,” or “Blogging Basics,” but with the introduction of tagging, I can now place it both in the main category and use multiple tags, including “tags,” “tagging,” “networking,” and/or “organization.” This allows readers to more quickly find information, especially if there are dozens of unrelated content within the prominent category–not a very good solution from the organization aspect.
Tags have become less important as search engines have become more sophisticated, and new content can be found closer to the top of the first page of results. More importantly, to find content, people typically search directly on the website or directly through a search engine, rather than browsing through multiple pages on the actual website.
Although tagging may not be revered as it once was, it is still important for visitors that want to find information based on the number of times that particular keyword appears in your blog. It can also be used to determine blog subjects that are overpopulated and those that aren’t written about nearly as often–leading to a more diversified reader base.
Another significant reason tagging is no longer as popular is due to the fact that spammers have used tags to generate traffic to their spam/non-related blogs, creating aggravation for people that landed on those pages by using tags found on tag “aggregators,” otherwise known as social bookmarking sites. This led to the downfall of “legitimate” tagging and more bloggers began sticking solely with categories.
Examples of Tags on Popular Websites
As you think about creating your tag cloud or preferred organization method, keep these following examples in mind. They may not be the best solution for your website, as you must determine which implementation properly suits your needs, however they can provide visual examples of what the “huge” sites are using for managing millions of photographs, pages, and media.
You can find additional tag clouds on many websites, simply by entering the website url followed by tags, as in the case of the services below.
- Technorati - Tags on individual pages of Technorati are not formatted for best practices; they display tags that are often irrelevant to the subject of the blog, however you can still see how basic tag clouds are set up.
- Delicious – Possibly the leader in tag clouds, Delcious allows all stories and bookmarked links to be tagged according to what users think they should be organized. In the screenshot below, the tag cloud is organized both alphabetically and by size.
- Last.fm – Top tags displayed in the popular music service, including genres and types of music. Tags are displayed alphabetically, with popular tags being displayed more prominently than ones that are not used as frequently.
Implementing Tags on Your Website
Many people who implement tags on their website don’t have a good place to start. They either have too many tags to properly make use of them or too few, making them appear more as categories.
The following method is my suggestion for first implementing them on your website. You may adapt these suggestions to suit your blog, as I cannot make a wide-sweeping guideline for the millions upon millions of blogs.
Main Ways to Place Tags on Your Website/Blog – Through an off-site service, such as those below or through social bookmarking sites, in the sidebar, in the footer of each post, or on a dedicated page. Overall Organization – Regular lists, much like categories, but arranged according to importance/more for aesthetics than organization or “clouds,” as tags are often organized. Additional Organization Methods – Tags are organized alphabetically, by color (with the most popular posts being darker/standing out more prominently), or by size, with tags that appear more often in the content being larger in size. Location/Placement – Tag clouds should not be displayed in place of a category listing, instead they should accent your categories as an additional method of organization/navigation. Services and Plugins (On-Site)
The following list describes methods for implementing tags and tag clouds directly on your website . You may be required to use a plugin or format specific code with each of these services, so it may be necessary to read the directions provided on the website of the service. Many of the plugins (noted) may only be used with WordPress.
Note : In WordPress, simply go to Design > Widgets > Select Tag Cloud to add a tag cloud to your sidebar. It isn’t configurable, however like the solutions below.
Adding a Tag Cloud to WordPress [WordPress Codex] – Instructions to add a basic tag cloud to the WordPress sidebar or an individual page/post (using code), allowing you to sort tags by number of uses (font sizes), number of tags, format, ordering method, and allows the exclusion/inclusion of tags. Instructions also provided on creating a tag archive.Blogger Tag Cloud [Blogger/BlogSpot] – Setup and configuration instructions for the new Blogger system to create a tag/label cloud. Blogumus [Blogger/BlogSpot] – Much like WP-Cumulus, this adds a 3D tag cloud to present a JavaScript and Flash-animated tag/category cloud on your Blogger blog. Requires you to implement and customize.Building a Tag Cloud in Java – Step-by-step guide on how to create a tag cloud in JavaScript.Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) [WordPress 2.3 to 2.5] – Inserts a fully configurable tag cloud into your WordPress sidebar or pages. Tag Cloud Creator for the Django Framework Drupal Tag Cloud [Instructions] – Instructions on how to create a tag cloud using the Drupal CMS.HeadSpace2 [WordPress 2.0 to 2.6.1] – Allows you to configure Meta Data for posts, pages, categories, and more. It is compatible with other tagging plugins, and increases search engine optimization potential from your website.How to Create a Tag Cloud Using ColdFusion (CFML) – A guide on how to create a rather simple tag cloud for placing in your website.Marking Up a Tag Cloud – Instructions for creating a tag cloud based on tag clouds used by Technorati, Delicious, and Flickr.Movable Type Tag Clouds [Instructions] – Instructions on how to create a tag cloud in Movable Type (advanced). Additional tutorials can be found here , here , and here . Note: These articles may be outdated.Creating a Tag Cloud in MySQL – A guide on how to create a tag cloud in SQL code and database tables (advanced).Perl Tag Cloud Creator#mce_temp_url# [Instructions] – Guide to create a tag cloud using HTML/Perl. Simple Tags [WordPress 2.3 to 2.5] – “The perfect tool for managing WordPress tags.” It includes related tags, AJAX admin features, tags suggestion, local tags, auto tags, ability to mass-edit tags, tag pages, insert tag clouds, and more.Swicki Search – A collaborative search tool that displays search-related keywords beneath a search box.Tag Cloud Generator – Creates an embeddable tag cloud, and allows you to customize several options, including the color scheme.Technorati Top Tags Widget – This widget will display the top tags found on your blog based on the keywords Technorati finds.Widgetbox – Search results for “tag cloud,” with widgets that you can add to nearly every website. Note: Some results may not be entirely relevant, but a few tag clouds/related tag widgets are displayed.WordPress Heat Map Plugin [WordPress 2.3 to 2.6] – Provides a method of inserting a heat map (weighted list) of your categories, tags, and monthly archives. You can customize the colors, font sizes, and more. Requires some knowledge of CSS/WordPress (PHP) to properly configure and add it to your pages.WP-Cumulus [WordPress 2.3 to 2.6] – Creates 3D clouds based on your site’s tags, categories, or both using a Flash movie. It functions like a regular tag cloud, but is more visually “exciting.” Plugin is fairly easy to setup and customize.Lijit – Although Lijit is primarily a search engine for your website, there is also a plugin that displays the most searched keywords on your post in a tag cloud format.
Best Off-Site Services
These services allow you to create a tag cloud by inputting tags/keywords, a website or feed URL and automatically create the desired tag cloud, which may or may not be able to be placed on your website. It is suggested that you use these for sites that you do not own to see their most used tags or for sites that cannot use the code required to implement your own tag cloud through a widget.
Cloud Control (ASP.NET) – A project that allows you to create tag clouds similar to Delicious using the source code provided.Many Eyes - Allows you to create different visualizations of your tags and information, based on data sets that you feed to the service. It is primarily for data mapping instead of for blogging, but can help you visualize your tags more efficiently.TagACloud – Service is still in beta, but it appears that it will be a “groundbreaking” way to create a tag cloud, described as a service similar to Google and other popular services.
Tag Cloud Builder – Presents a visual mapping of either inputted text or a webpage, along with several options to configure the way the tag cloud appears.Tagline Generator – This generator allows you to generate chronological tag clouds from simple text data sources without manually entering the data entries. A demo/preview can be found here .TagCrowd – A web application that allows you to visualize word frequencies in any user-supplied text or website URLs, including plain text files (as well as several options). It is recommended for using as topic summaries for speeches and written works, for visual analysis of survey data, as brand clouds for companies, data mining, helping writers and students reflect on their work, as name tags for conferences, and more.
Text Cloud Generator - Requires you to manually input tags and keywords.ToCloud – Provides a service for creating a visual representation of content based on a webpage or text that you specify.Wordle – Allows you to create a 3D word cloud based on a website URL, words/keywords, or a Delicious username. Allows flexible editing of the tag cloud. Released under a Creative Commons License .ZoomClouds – Allows you to create “cool, informative, and appealing” representations about what is happening on your blog, or anywhere else. You can place a tag cloud on your website using the service, although it requires a signup, but also allows you to customize and design your own cloud using their WYSIWYS editor.
ZoomTags – The first “tag cloud” based affiliate network, so it is primarily for monetizing keywords and creating PPC campaigns, although the service is free.
Conclusion
By no means is tagging dead, it is simply being used as a different method of communication and organization of content. There is an undeniable fact that it isn’t being used nearly as often as it used to be, but the tag cloud is being used in a more efficient method, allowing the blog writer and the reader/visitor to connect to the content and explore what a blog truly has to offer.
Through a good implementation of the tag cloud, you can produce results that far exceed your expectations. The tag cloud is extremely powerful, in the sense that it can bridge the gap between your content and posts, drawing in visitors looking for your content.
Your Input : What are your thoughts on tag clouds? Are they still useful or are they simply an additional eye sore that is added to blogs and websites?
Additional Resources
3 Comments
I have been using the WP-Cumulus plugin for tags. I get lot of page views due to it’s cool presenting method. But never knew the real advantageous. Thanks for this informative post. Stumbled !
And BTW do you think there are disadvantageous of using a flash based plugin for tags? Yo
@Inspirational Success Stories – It is quite a cool plugin/widget.
For the most part, tags are another way for visitors to more effectively search your blog. They can click on a tag and will be sent to an “archive” page of all the posts filed under that particular keyword/phrase.
The only disadvantage of it as far as I can see is that search engines won’t be able to pick up the tags as easily, although placement in the sidebar generally doesn’t merit much search engine “juice” anyway. To solve this minor problem, use the “keywords” tool in the All-in-One SEO Pack, similar to the way you add tags, which will add them discretely to meta keywords area. This will allow search engines to pick up those keywords and use them when people are searching for those terms.
I hope this answers any questions.
In addition consider the content we create as bloggers valuable. For example, who is representing us for the VALUE of this data the Lijit widget is both searching and claiming rights too in its terms of use page. Who owns it? What about each individual blogger’s data and the critical sanctity of Publishers private statistics. We at P.U.B. consider the safety of the information any app or widget(s) may be gathering, unbeknownst to the unwitting Publisher who installs them.
P.U.B. [Publishers Union of Bloggers] has made direct inquires to both Lijit Senior executives and the venture capitalists investing in Lijit concerning: Ownership of content/ how Lijit generates income and what percentage of this income goes to the Blog Publisher making the critical decision to allow a Widget on their site for their readers. In addition we have requested transparency on the critical issue of how the private statistic from Publishers Blogs are being used.
P.U.B. expected to hear back from Lijit on these financial and private statistics issues from P.U.B’s first inquiry we sent to Lijit in mid April 2008. So far all we’ve read is a public blog response(s) from Lijit advising 1) Lijit has no money, then 2) emails from Lijit’s CEO, Todd Vernon, attacking P.U.B. and falsely accusing we are writing fictitious emails. Any actual answer to PUB’s questions about the use of Publisher’s stats, or revenue as it applies to Lijit? Nada. Nothing.
P.U.B.’s job is to fight for Publishers asking hard questions and demanding answers. If all Widget companies respond as Lijit’s done up to this point, P.U.B. has a big workload for our Publishers, and your membership and support helps us all as Publishers, thanks.
If P.U.B. or our Blog Publisher membership ever gets a straight answer on topic from Lijit, not smoke and mirrors, we will let great Blog Publishers like you know their exact revenue/statistics use/sharing deal. Currently we are also working with Blog Publishers to track performance hit evaluations of Lijit installations, and of course the critical issue of actual ownership of content pulled by Lijit from our blogs.
Will publish these results to keep the community of Blog Publishers informed on this critical component of Widgets on our Blogs.
Sincerely,
Barney Moran
Founder, P.U.B.
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