Tags and Categories are 2 common tools used in most, if not all, blogging platforms to classify content. Whether it's a standalone WordPress blog, posts in a social blogging site like Tumblr, or now in Steem Network, they help visitors navigate and seek out content that interest them.
Categories vs Tags
According to WordPress Support on Tags vs Category
Categories allowed for a broad grouping of post topics, but when you wanted to describe a post in more specific terms .. .. Tags are similar to categories, but they are generally used to describe your post in more detail.
Tags in Steem
In Steem, there's no segregation between categories and tags. The first tag that you entered becomes the "Main tag". It seemed to be pretty similar in nature to Categories in conventional blogs. Below is an example as to tags work in Steem:
Some basic facts about tags in Steem:
- Tags are limited to 5 per posts. This is to prevent Tag Spamming.
- Your posts will still be found even when browsing your primary tag.
See the Image above. The red box shows the chosen tag. The yellow boxes show the primary tag - The URL structure in Steemit.com is:
https://steemit.com/TAG/@USER/BLOG-TITLE - The top 249 Tags and their statististics are available by clicking on the "View all tags.." on the left column
You will see the following:- Total Number of Posts
- Total Payout
- Total Number of Comments
Proper tagging
Etiquette
The golden rule of tagging is to tag appropriately! Steem is a community that is self moderating and most users are pretty savvy. If they sense a tag spam (or spam of any kind) there's a chance they may decide to give you a downvote! And since, popularity and reputation in Steem is highly dependent on the votes, that is the last thing that you want.
You may be tempted to post into popular tags to gain visibility, but this is a terrible idea! Popular tags are often the ones with tonnes of posts. So, unless your post is relevant and of high quality, you will quickly be drown in the ocean of posts. Even without any down votes!
Research
Profitability & Visibility
I've done a brief analytics of the tags, their profitability, and their engagement about 1 month back. You can find the post here:
Some of my findings are:
- Popular tags are not always the most profitable ones
- Popular tags do not always get the most engagement
When tagging, it may also be useful to include some tags with lesser posts and yet decent payout.
For example:
You have written a post about an adventure trip to Borneo, climbed the Mt Kinabalu, and taken some awesome photos of the view from the top. Instead of just posting to "Travel", you can also add the tag "Adventure". Instead of adding "Photography" (800k Posts), consider adding "LandscapePhotography" (11k Posts).
Background Research
Another research to do is the contents posted to the tags. For example, "Busy" is mostly NOT about time-management and how to handle you busy lifestyle! It's a default tag that is included for posts that are posted from http://busy.org .. another Steem based project!
Another example is the "witness-category" tag .. this is not a section where you upload your CCTV recordings of crimes! It's for matters related to a dedicated group of Steem users called "Witness".
Human Research
Lastly, join some off-system communities. Most are using the tool called Discord .. and nope .. it's not a place to start a quarrel!
Look out for things like "Join our Discord" from posts that interest you. You will accelerate your learning curve by learning directly from them.
Some good discords for new Steem users (affectionately know as "Minnows")
- Minnow Boot Camp: https://discord.gg/YmZXUqH
- ADSactly: https://discord.gg/nKrV6H4
- Steemians: https://discord.gg/DTMzmR8 (The guys behind SteemAuto.com)
- Steempunks: https://discord.gg/cc5fKVH
If you are from Singapore or will be blogging about Singapore, please join
- TeamSingapore: https://discord.gg/upyb2eQ
If you are interested in photography:
- Photochain Official: https://discord.gg/NZzqfAJ
Conclusion
There are countless things that can be said about just tagging alone.I couldn't possibly covered all in just 1 post. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to write a comment.
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