Do Tags Clouds Help or Hinder SEO?
A question was asked at Google Webmaster Central whether tag clouds help or hinder search engine optimization.
Matt cuts explained what a tag cloud is and how it can be overdone.
Defining a Tag Cloud
Our definition of a tag cloud – A tag cloud is a group of keyword terms in the form of links that help visitors find content more easily on a website. Matt said it could possibly negatively affect your pagerank if overdone and could be considered keyword stuffing, hence lowering where you list for those terms in search engines.
Keyword stuffing is the over use of a term in the form of links or weighted text on webpage or throughout a website in the hopes to manipulate search engine results to list you higher in their search results for those terms.
We have a tag cloud implemented but we also use categories. Matt suggests use one or the other. For a test we are going to drop our tag cloud plus expand the use of categories and see how it affects our search engine standing from here on out.
To be honest I think our website should be atleast be at a pagerank 4 by now. So something is hindering our pagerank from going higher. By experimenting and tweaking this website we hope to prove the advice Matt is giving us does help build our pagerank and listing.
Rules for a better tag cloud
Here is my suggestion on whether to use or not to use tag clouds…
- If you already have tags posted at the bottom of each article then do not use a tag cloud.
- If you have categories already implemented on your website then do not use a tag cloud.
- If you have neither tags at the bottom of each article or a category listing then use a tag cloud.
Either way the use of tags, tag cloud or categories are a way for your visitors to navigate your website. But more importantly they are a link. Too many of the same links can have a negative impact for your search engine optimization.
Page Importance defined as LinkJuice
Linkjuice is where the most amount of your pagerank (importance) and listing results originates from. Say for instance your main website in Google search results shows your website but also other pages within your website. These extra pages can be found by clicking the + sign. The problem arises is you want the majority of your link juice (page importance) to flow from the front page of your website and not to the other listings.
The term ‘linkjuice’ is rather broad term; instead let’s refer to it as page importance. Your web page importance is gauged by having the following a relevant title, content, tags, description, excerpts, categories, media attributes and meta data. It is beneficial to match up these eight web page elements as closely as you can to increase not only were you list in search engines but how you are graded by them through pagerank.
Increase your search engine listing by manipulating web page elements
For example let’s write an article titled web page importance. These are the following keywords you will want to have to increase were and how well you list within search engines.
Title – The title should be crafted like this “Page Importance more relevant than linkjuice”. Notice my main keyword is within the title of our example article.
Content- the word ‘page importance’ should be found no more than three times within a 500 word article. This word should have a <strong> applied to it.
Tags
The word ‘page importance’ should be tagged once. You can also use other variations to match broader searches you might think people will make like ‘web page importance’ or ‘website page importance’. This is where keyword research comes into play. These longer search terms are called long tail keywords.
Description
The main search term should be found once within the description of the article. A well-crafted description will have the main keyword found once within it.
Excerpt
The main topic should be found within a short excerpt. For example a well crafted excerpt will contain the articles main keyword once within it. “The term ‘link juice’ is rather broad term, instead let’s refer to it as page importance. “
Categories
Categories should be drawn up the following way. Let’s take our example keyword ‘page importance’, ask yourself can this keyword be classified under a more general category? In this case yes it can, I would categorize it first under SEO. Ask yourself is your website just about SEO? In our case no, it is more about website building. Website building entails seo, seo entails page importance. What if we want a category called tips where all our website building tips can be found? Then create a cat. called Tips the sub heading might be website building the second heading might be computer tips the third heading might be business tips. Look below to get a feel of what I am trying to say..
Categories
- Tips
- Website Building
- SEO
- Page importance(linkjuice)
- SEO
- Computers
- Business
- Website Building
- Website Building
- SEO
- Page Importance (linkjuice)
- SEO
Media Attributes
By enhancing media attributes we can help not only the visual impaired but it will allow us to add in our keywords to the alternative tag. The main purpose of the alt tag describes what the video or image is about. With a little creativity we can craft the alt tag to include our keyword.
Meta-Data
This is pulled from your content but it can also be modified.
So by having a better understanding of how Google gauges website pages, we can then make sound decisions when tweaking our web pages so they rank and list higher within said search engines. For us the question was asked do tag clouds help or hinder search engine optimization? Take the poll to the right to weigh in on the question.
By the end of next month you will have our results. The results will include a before and after comparison of our top search terms we are optimizing for.
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5 Responses to Do Tag Clouds Help or Hinder SEO
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Excellent Article. Very nicely explained and beautiful web page design. Nice and easy to read!! Thank You.
Nice article .tag cloud could increase Seo ranking .
Thank you. I am going to make the necessary changes and see how that affects my ranking…
I’m glad I’ve search first for articles regarding the real use of tag clouds before applying on my website. I already had a hunch that it was kind of redundant to put it given the tags and categories already on the page. This clearly sums it up. As per the “strong” attribute – I normally apply it to the words that are part of the main topic of that particular post. Usually the header 3-5 levels.
Thanks again.
I think Sharp hit the nail right on the head so to speak. Redudancy has always been a concern for search engines. If you look at the keyword meta field abuse, search engines quickly made that head tag virtually irelevant. The same thing is happening with tag clouds.
If you already have tags attached to the bottom of each post then what use is a tag cloud for the user that reads your content? None what so ever.
Keeping your content relevant and non-redundant does work!