How to optimize the SEO of your tag- and category pages

Why it is important to add text to your tag- and category pages

It is important to add relevant text to:

a) Help Google better understand your page and what keywords you should rank for with this page.

b) Lower the bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who visit the page and then immediately leave your website) of the page. When you add relevant text at the top of a tag page, visitors will stay on the page itself and in your website for a longer time.

What are best practices for adding text to your tag- and category pages to improve SEO?

a) Make sure you include the most important keywords around your tag in the text on the tag page, so keywords that also relate to the tag. You can use https://keywordtool.io/ to find these supporting keywords.

b) Include the most frequently asked questions about the tag in the text on the tag page. The most frequently asked questions about a particular word can be found via the Keyword Magic tool from SEMRUSH. In this tool you can enter the tag and see what questions people have about this tag (topic). 
Note: This only works with tags (topics) that have enough search traffic.

You can also write separate articles about the answer to these questions and then link to these articles from the tag page. This way you always have articles with a high CTR (Click Through Rate) at the top of the page, which will lower the bounce rate and improve the SEO of the page. 

c) Make sure to include enough text on the tag page. Try to use at least 100 words.

Use the right H1 / H2 structure for your tag- and category pages

In order for the tag pages to rank well, it is also important to have a good H1 / H2 structure in the text on the tag page. 

The title of the tag page is automatically used as an H1 tag, but you can also use H2 tags for subheadings when you place a longer text on the tag page. H2 tags help Google to better understand your page content. Use the H2 tags to highlight subtopics of the H2 tag. For sub-sub topics, you can use H3-H6. It is important that the H tags give a logical structure to a page.

Why Meta title & Meta description are important for your tag- and category pages

Each tag page should have an attractive Meta Title and Meta Description:

a) So that Google can better understand what the page is about and for which keywords the page should rank well.

b) To increase the clicks of the page in the search results. The higher the clicks on the page in the search results, the higher Google will rank the page in the search results. Google sees a large number of clicks on a page as a sign that it is an interesting page for the searchers and ranks the page higher in the search results.

What Meta Title to use for your tag- and category pages

a) The Meta Title must contain the main keyword people use to land on this tag page.

b) The Meta Title must be complete and incite people to take action. 

For Example: Read all the latest news about the <name tag> here

c) The Meta Title must not exceed 60 characters.

d) It is good to experiment with the Meta Title to increase the clicks on the page. Ways to increase the CTR of the Meta Title are for example, to place (TIP) after the Meta Title. 

For example: Read all the latest news about <name tag> (TIP) here 

Or ask a question in the Meta Title. This can make it stand out from the search results.

e) It can also be useful to enter the tag into the search engine, see which pages score well in the search results and use this as inspiration for optimizing your Meta Title. 
Think carefully about what people want to see when they search for a certain tag and with what text you can make them click on your page.

What Meta Description to use for your tag- and category pages

a) The Meta Title must contain the main keyword.

b) The Meta Description can be up to 320 characters, but make sure to include the most important information in the first 155 characters as this is the part that will be visible in the mobile search results.

c) As with the Meta Description, it is also good to experiment with the Meta Title as well.