Why being intentional with article tags matters

If your website includes articles or blog posts, chances are you’ve seen or used “tags” to help categorise your content. But before you go tag-happy and add every word that pops into your head, it’s worth taking a moment to be considered and intentional with your tagging strategy.

At Mity, we build websites that are designed to grow with your content. A well-structured site with meaningful tags can make a big difference to how your content is presented, found and understood, both by users and search engines.

What are tags for anyway?

Tags are a way of grouping related content that doesn’t necessarily sit within a rigid category structure. Think of them like cross-references. They allow readers to explore similar content that shares a common theme or topic.

For example, if you write an article about using Statamic for not-for-profit organisations, you might tag it with Statamic, CMS, and Not-for-Profit. These tags give readers and search engines a hint about the main topics covered, and they can also power features like “related articles” or tag-based archives.

But here’s where things can go wrong

We’ve seen many sites where tags are added without much thought, and it ends up doing more harm than good. You might end up with:

• A huge number of tags with only one article each

• Slight variations of the same tag (like “Not for Profit” vs “Not-for-Profit” vs “NFP”)

• Tags that are too generic to be useful (like “web” or “design”)

• Inconsistent capitalisation or punctuation

The result? A tag system that’s cluttered, inconsistent, and confusing for both users and editors.

Be intentional

A good tagging system should be planned and purposeful. Before you start tagging every article, consider:

• Why does this tag exist? Does it help group articles in a meaningful way?

• Will I use this tag again? If a tag only applies to one post, it’s probably not necessary.

• Is the wording consistent? Pick a naming style and stick with it.

• Does the tag add value? Tags should help the reader discover more, not just restate the obvious.

And most importantly: less is more. You don’t need 20 tags per article, usually 3 to 5 well-chosen tags will do the job nicely.

Make your tags work harder

When used intentionally, tags can become a powerful feature of your website. They can be used to:

• Generate related content suggestions

• Create topic-based landing pages

• Filter articles by interest

• Improve internal linking

• Give structure to large content libraries

And when you’re using a flexible CMS like Statamic, your tags don’t have to be just labels, they can be part of your broader content strategy.

Tags are more than just keywords stuck on the end of an article. When done well, they enhance the reader experience and help your content shine. But like many things in web content, a little strategy goes a long way - and remember - one is the loneliest number!