How to Work with Tags in WordPress: A Simple Guide

Tags are an essential part of organizing your WordPress content. While categories group your posts into broad topics, tags allow you to add more specific keywords to each post. Tags can help your audience find content on particular themes and topics, improving the user experience and boosting SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

What Are Tags?

In WordPress, tags are used to describe specific details or topics within a post. Think of tags as keywords that help define the content in a more granular way. For example:

• If you’re writing a blog post about making a chocolate cake, some potential tags could be chocolate, cake, dessert, and baking.
• For a travel blog post, tags might include Europe, vacation, travel tips, and summer destinations.

Tags help users navigate your site by clicking on keywords related to their interests. They also help search engines understand the content of your posts, potentially improving your website’s visibility.

How to Create and Add Tags in WordPress

Creating and adding tags to your posts in WordPress is simple. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Create or Edit a Post

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. To create a new post, go to Posts > Add New.
   • To edit an existing post, go to Posts > All Posts, then click on the post you want to edit.

Step 2: Add Tags to the Post

1. In the post editor, look for the Tags box on the right side of the screen.
2. In the Tags field, enter words or phrases that are relevant to the content of your post. Separate each tag with a comma.
   • Example: For a recipe post, you could add tags like chocolate, recipe, baking, etc.
3. Once you’ve entered the tags, click Add to save them. The tags will now appear under your post title and be clickable for readers to explore related content.

Step 3: Add Tags While Writing Your Post (Optional)

You can also create new tags as you write. If a tag doesn’t already exist, WordPress will automatically create it when you add it in the tags field.

How to Manage Tags in WordPress

Once you’ve added tags to your posts, you may want to manage them—whether it’s editing, deleting, or organizing them into a more structured system.

Step 1: Go to the Tags Section

1. From your WordPress Dashboard, navigate to Posts > Tags.
2. This page will show a list of all the tags used across your site.

Step 2: Edit or Delete Tags

1. Edit a Tag: To edit a tag, hover over the tag you want to change and click Edit. Here, you can update the tag name or slug (the URL version of the tag). You can also modify the description, which may be used by some themes or plugins.
2. Delete a Tag: To delete a tag, hover over the tag and click Delete. Keep in mind that deleting a tag will remove it from all posts that were assigned to that tag. However, it won’t affect the content itself.

Step 3: Organize Tags (Optional)

While WordPress doesn’t have a built-in hierarchical system for tags like it does for categories, you can still organize your tags manually. Consider using a consistent naming system or creating related tags for specific topics (e.g., “baking-cake” and “baking-cookies”) to help visitors find related posts more easily.

How to Display Tags on Your Website

You might want to display tags in different areas of your site to improve navigation and engagement. Here’s how you can make tags more visible:

1. Display Tags in Post Meta Information

By default, WordPress displays tags below the content of each post. If your theme supports it, tags will show as clickable links, allowing users to explore more posts with the same tag.

If tags are not displaying on your site, you might need to adjust your theme’s settings or edit the theme code (if you’re familiar with coding) to ensure tags are included.

2. Display Tags in Widgets (Optional)

WordPress doesn’t have a built-in widget for tags, but you can add a Tag Cloud widget to your site’s sidebar or footer to show a list of your most popular tags. Here’s how:

1. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
2. Find the Tag Cloud widget and drag it to your preferred widget area (e.g., Sidebar).
3. Customize the widget settings (like title and display options) and click Save.

3. Display Tags in Menus (Optional)

You can add tags to your site’s navigation menu by following these steps:

1. Go to Appearance > Menus.
2. On the left side, look for the Tags section (if available).
3. Select the tags you want to add to your menu, click Add to Menu, and then click Save Menu.