A tag cloud is simply a list of tags set on a blog.
In this article, we will explain the outline of tag clouds, how to create them, their necessity, and their effects on SEO.
If you want to understand the necessity of tag cloud and use it if it is effective for SEO, please check out this article.
What is a tag cloud?
A tag cloud is a list of tags registered with main words for each page of a website.
Basically, the font size is displayed larger according to the importance of the tag. Generally, tag clouds are used as content in the side columns of blogs, but it seems that fewer sites are currently using them.
For example, you may have seen “Blog operator profile”, “Introduction of popular articles”, “Category”, etc. This part is called the side column, and it is mainly used as a role of “navigation” that summarizes the links to the information posted in the blog.
By the way, tags and categories are two different things. A category is a “folder” that stores articles by theme and a tag is a “sticky note” that is attached to the article as a mark. Even if they have the same tag, they don’t necessarily belong to the same category.
How to create a tag cloud
There are four ways to create a tag cloud.
- Use WordPress functions Create a tag cloud using WordPress plugins, widgets, and dedicated code
- Use the tag cloud creation tool Create using the free “tag cloud creation tool”
- Build with PHPLeverage a tag generation library for PHP to generate a tag cloud
- Create with jQuery and JavaScript Create with JavaScript using the jQuery plugin that can generate a tag cloud
Especially if you are using WordPress to create your blog, you can display it on your site by simply adding a tag cloud widget.
You can set it in “Appearance → Widgets” on the WordPress setting screen, so if you are interested, let’s set it.
Read Also: What Is Domain Authority?
Editable tag cloud design with CSS
The design of the tag cloud can be edited with CSS, so adjust the design before displaying it. This is because with the default settings, the characters are just listed and it is difficult to see.
It can be said that it is difficult for users to use when the default characters are just lined up. Therefore, it needs to be edited with user convenience in mind.
So here are 3 things to keep in mind when creating an effective tag cloud:
- Make it easy to understand that it is a link by using the default text color and the link color when it is over.
- Font size Enlarge the font size of popular tags and focus on content that attracts users.
- Change the font style and make the tag cloud stand out.
In addition, you can customize it to your liking, such as “surrounding each tag with an oval frame” or “adding a hashtag”, so it is recommended to create an original design based on the reference site.
Need for a tag cloud
Tag clouds have both advantages and disadvantages, and there are pros and cons about their necessity.
Know the pros and cons and use them wisely.
Advantages of tag clouds
There are two main advantages of tag clouds:
- The increase in internal links will improve the conversion rate of the user’s site
- Index count increases as new pages are added for each tag
First of all, the increase in internal links will improve the site circulation rate of users. The reason why the migration rate improves is because the tag cloud itself is a mass of internal links.
If a user clicks on one tag, there is a possibility that it will transition to articles of interest one after another. This makes it easier for users to get the information they want, and as a result leads to sites that are more likely to be evaluated by Google.
Next, about the number of indexes increasing as new pages increase for each tag. The reason why this is an advantage is that if it is judged that the content related to the searched keyword is rich and of good quality on the site, the search ranking can be improved.
More indexing means more pages for search engines to rank for. If every page is judged as a high-quality page, it will be regarded as “a site with many high-quality and highly relevant pages = a highly specialized site”, and as a result, the search ranking will increase.
Disadvantages of tag clouds
There are two disadvantages of tag clouds:
- You end up with a lot of duplicate content and similar pages
- Less content in tags and thin pages
If you do the above, both of them will be a big negative factor for SEO and may lower your search ranking.
The tag cloud has the potential to create many “tags with similar content”. If such content is actually created, it is highly likely that Google will judge it as “duplicate content or similar content” and receive a penalty.
Also, if your tag has little content, you may be tempted to blindly create pages to add more content. As a result, you will end up with a thin page, which will lower the quality of your content, and as a result, lower your Google ranking.
To avoid such disadvantages, you need to set noindex on the tag page. noindex is an HTML tag that prevents search engines from recognizing worthless pages. If noindex is set, the page will not be indexed, thus avoiding duplicate content.
SEO effect of tag cloud is not expected
So far, we have explained the advantages and disadvantages of tag clouds, but it is believed that the SEO effect is not very likely.
This is because Google’s official view is that “tag clouds have little merit and should not be used.” Google professes that tag clouds can be viewed as keyword over-stuffing.
For this reason, it seems that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, so it is better not to use tag clouds.
If you still use it, it is important to manage the site so that it does not become low-quality content such as “less content” or “thin pages”.
Quoted from: Placing a tag cloud in the sidebar is treated as SEO spam? ｜Google Webmaster Help Channel on YouTube
summary
This time, I explained the overview of the tag cloud, how to create it, its necessity, and its effect on SEO.
A tag cloud is a list of tags registered for each major word on a page such as a blog.
Although it has positive effects on SEO such as an increase in the site circulation rate and an increase in the number of indexes, it may have a negative impact if content management is neglected. doing.
For this reason, the SEO effect of the tag cloud cannot be expected much. If you’re considering using a tag cloud for SEO, it’s more important to focus on creating quality content.