Blog tags (okay, Blogger calls them labels) are those little keywords you plug into the bottom of your blog post so that you and other people can use them to either 1) quickly search your blog for a certain post, or 2) people using Google can find your blog searching with specific keywords.
What?? You didn’t know that people could find your blog using certain keywords in Google??
I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve visited that only use one or two tags for a blog post. And very generic ones at that! For example, if you do a blog post about a special technique for fabric flowers, be as specific as possible in your labelling. Otherwise you’re just another “fabric flower” in a sea of tutorials!
Things you could include in your “fabric flower” blog post (I’m liking this topic so I’m going with it!):
Is it a tutorial? Say so!
Be specific! Colors, fabric type, embellishments…
Is it a necklace? A bracelet? A brooch? Other possible uses?
Be descriptive!
Keep it relevant!
Don’t be afraid to include product names and people’s names!
Think to yourself “How would I search for this blog post in Google?”
You have to remember that when you add labels to your blog posts you are literally telling the world how to find your blog.
Sure, you can add tags that have a certain meaning to you. I have my own secret (okay, not so secret since they obviously show up on the blog post) tags that I add that I use for searching my own blog. There is nothing wrong with that! But try not to use more than one of those because, really, you can find your blog a lot faster than everyone else on the planet. 😉
Let’s take a look at one of my older posts, the homemade bride’s survival kit. Here are the tags for that post:
Not many tags there, but they are fairly pertinent. I get a lot of hits on this blog post from Google even though it was written 10 months ago!
Hmmmmm… but looking at it I’m thinking of even more keywords for this particular blog post. And the good thing about Blogger? (And WordPress, too, I would assume.) You can always go back and edit! So here is what the tags look like now:
Better! And if I think of more tags I can always go back and edit again.
You can see that I included not only what the project was, but many of the items involved in putting the project together.
Blogger gives you only so many characters you can use when labeling your blog; use as many of the characters as possible!
I’ve found that my blog posts tend to show up in Google within hours of my publishing them. A lot of that has to do with my tagging!
A personal experience with good tagging:
Not to toot my own horn (okay, there may be a fair amount of tooting going on here!), but I included a tag once of a person’s name/blog – that is a great crafting resource! – that I had used in a compilation list of examples of a certain topic. Many months later that person “Googled” themselves and found my blog through my keyword, commented, and left a link to my blog on hers.
You never know who will be looking at your blog!
So what are you waiting for? Take a little bit of time and edit those tags with better keywords and get even more people to visit your blog!
The Answer Is Chocolate
Saturday 22nd of May 2010
Thank you so much. I am still getting the hang of this and found your blog through your linkup at TT&J and just became a follower. You have some great stuff incl blogging tips so I'm off to explore your place some more :)
Suzanne
Saturday 22nd of May 2010
I never even thought of putting a tag on any of my posts~I didn't even know what they were for! Thanks for the information, it's really helpful.
Anja021netteC_021Restrepo1
Friday 21st of May 2010
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MandeeFranee
Friday 21st of May 2010
I have a quick question... as I was checking out your blog I saw that you have some little buttons that link to your Etsy and FB pages... where/how did you get those? I'd love to add some to my blog as well. :) thanks again!
MandeeFranee
Friday 21st of May 2010
I hopped over here from New Friend Friday at The Girl Creative. :) I actually JUST started my blog today and those are some great tips!! THANKS!