- They’ll be easier to find: Sure, you always assign a category to your blog posts, but adding a few tags instantly makes the post more user-friendly. Think of your categories as the chapters of a book, and your tags as the index.
- Boosts your SEO: Every tag creates an archive page – click one and you’ll see a page that lists all of the posts with that tag. These count as internal links ( . . . bots love ‘em!) in your site that can help boost your authority and your ranking.
- Encourages visitors to stay longer: To keep visitors from leaving your blog, it’s best to give them a clear path to read more about the same topics. Tags do this perfectly. Rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you would be drawn to click on the tag when you reach the bottom of the post.
- They show up in a tag cloud: For visitors and blog owners, a tag cloud shows some basic, but relevant information on the content of your posts. Frequently used tags show up in larger and bolder type, giving instant feedback on your most written about topics. Visitors who want more information can click the tag to see more articles on the tagged topic.
- Makes it easier to re-purpose content: Take a good look at your tag cloud, those big bold topics are the ones you’ve talked about most often. Click one. Maybe its time to gather those posts into a PDF e-book and spread your knowledge in a new format. Put it on the front page of your site and offer it to new visitors in exchange for an email!