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Home / Podcast

How to make the most of your category pages

Written in: Jan 2020 🠆 Updated in: Apr 2020

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I’ve talked in a previous episode about how important categories are for your blog. So now that you have the categories decided on and set up, what happens once your visitor lands on one of those category pages? That’s what we’re going to be talking about today: using your category pages to connect with your reader, lower your bounce rate, and improve your SEO.

The point of a category page is so that your visitor can learn more about a certain topic, right? She’s already on your blog, she likes what she’s seen so far and she wants to hear more from you about something. So she clicks on your link to view all of your posts in that category.

What does she see? Is it just a list of blog posts with no guidance?

You always want to make sure that your visitor knows that she’s in the right place. You want her to get to know you and trust you every chance you can.

To bring this to life, imagine this: you just bought a new house and you’re excited to show your friends, and they’re excited to see it! But when they come over for a tour, you just walk them into each room without saying a word.

You just stand there while they try to figure out what the room is, to guess how you’re going to use it, and they have no idea why any of it is special.

Awkward.

Without your guidance and vision, your friends have lost interest–it’s just another kitchen, just another living room, just another house.

In the same way, you don’t just want to drop your reader on to your category page and leave them alone to try to figure out what it’s all about. Use that chance to talk to them! Tell them what great things they will find on the page, tell them why the posts are going to be helpful for them. Guide them to the best ones, tell them where to start.

Make a connection with them and get them as excited about your content as you are.

So now on to some technical details…

What does Google think of category pages?

In the past, many recommended that you set your category pages to no-index (meaning telling Google not to look at them) because Google might think you’re trying to cheat the system by showing it your content multiple times (aka “duplicate content”).

Thankfully, that’s not an issue anymore and Google is much smarter than that. They know that category pages are some of the most helpful pages on a blog to a user. Because of that, they actually love when you have category pages.

So as bloggers, we want to make the most of our category pages, so that our visitors know what to expect, they’re excited about what you’re going to share with them, and they want to connect with you more. They’ll start to see you as a trustworthy resource when it comes to our key blog topics…and so will search engines.

So how do you write a category description?

The same way you would write an introduction to a blog post. Tell them what they’re going to find, why it’s special, how it’s going to help them. And don’t forget to share your excitement and make a connection with them.

Yoast recommends that it’s at least 150 words long, average recommendations are between 150 and 300 words.

It’s also very helpful to link to a few of your most helpful posts on the subject too at the end of your description. If you have a post with foundational information on the general topic, link to it. Also link to a few of your most popular posts (and tell them that they’re the most popular–people always want to see what other people like).

And don’t forget how much it will help with SEO too, so use your keywords for the category and utilize the Yoast tools on the page as well–just like you would for a blog post.

How to add a description to your category page:

  1. In your dashboard under the “Posts,” click on “Categories.”
  2. Hover over the category you want to add a description to and click “Edit.”
  3. In the “Description” box, type a user-friendly and SEO-friendly description of what they will find in that category. This should be from 150 to 300 words. If you have a Genesis theme, you’ll want to put this under the “Category Archive Settings” instead of the “Description” box.
  4. If you’re using the Yoast plugin (which is a good idea!), scroll to the bottom and fill out the Yoast SEO options as well for extra help.

Note that in some rare cases, your description and/or archive intro text won’t show in your theme. In that case, you’ll either need to reach out to the developer of your theme, or hire a developer to add the code to make it visible.

This week’s action item: add descriptions to your categories.

  1. Tell them what kind of posts they’ll find.
  2. Tell them why these posts are going to be helpful for them.
  3. Highlight what makes your posts on the subject unique.
  4. Get them as excited about your content as you are–but remember, it’s about them, not you. Think about her happy ending after consuming your content in that category and mention it. Maybe she’ll be able to pack lunches in less than 10 minutes. Or she’ll never run out of ideas for ground beef, or projects for her toddler that don’t take all day to clean up after.
    (If you’re struggling with this one, go back to episode 5 and make sure that your categories are designed to help your readers.)
  5. Link to a few foundational, helpful, and popular posts in the category.

Pin this post so you don’t lose the instructions!

(And to help your blogging friends out too.)

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In the categories: 101, 101, Beginner, Blog Type, Blogger, Blogger Level, Blogging, Business, Content strategy, DIY and Craft, Fashion, Food, Home Decor, Improve your blog, Intermediate, Lifestyle, Podcast, Pro, Travel, Tutorial, WordPress Tutorials and Tips

Hey! I'm Christina

WordPress developer for bloggers since 2014, occasional blogger since 2011, code perfectionist. Passionate about helping you make your blog a successful business.

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Comments

  1. Christine

    Thank you for this article. I just found more tools in Yoast I didn’t even realize were there. I’m going to optimize all my category pages now!

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Christina.

Web developer and former blogger. I’m here to help bloggers who have great style and vision, to build exactly the site they need to achieve their goals.

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What's your hobby? (And first, please excuse my ba What's your hobby? (And first, please excuse my bad photography.🙈) Don't forget to share yourself with your readers. A personal connection with your readers can be so helpful for your long-term goals of helping more people with your blog. Share one of your hobbies with them once in a while. Also share one with me here, I'd love to read about it!

One of mine is 1/12 scale miniatures. Interior design + before-and-afters + TINY THINGS! Yes, I know it sounds lame, but it's worth being picked on for having
Do you write like you talk? When I started my own Do you write like you talk? 
When I started my own blog 9 years ago, as I sat down to write the first post, I decided to purposefully write like I talked instead of using more formal and proper writing. And I'm so glad I did. It's such an easy way to make your blog feel more personal and make your visitors feel like they're hearing from an actual person instead of a corporation.

If you're not sure, read your last post aloud. Is it something you would actually say, the way you would say it?

Yes...I KNOW...SEO... Just make sure to keep it balanced. And don't forget, Google itself wants you to write like a human being, for other human beings.
It's good to think about where you started once in It's good to think about where you started once in a while.

In Feb of 2016, I started Meyne, selling pre-made WordPress and Blogger themes for small businesses. But after having been a blogger myself since 2011, that was still where my heart was. So the focus shifted to blog designs, where I could help very cool people who have created their own careers and are earning a living doing a very fun (and deceptively hard) job. 
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When your reader reaches the end of your post, tel When your reader reaches the end of your post, tell them what to do next. They will follow instructions more often than we usually realize. Need some ideas? ☑️ Save it on Pinterest
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Whatever your CTA is, just make sure you make it EASY for them to do it.

In WordPress, you can easily add some text to the bottom of your posts, with an image if helpful, and then give the box a colored background to make it stand out. 
P.S. Many food bloggers have the Instagram call-to-action at the end of a recipe (
We launched! I’m sure you all know Erika @thepan We launched! I’m sure you all know Erika @thepancakeprincess, she has such a cool and unique blog. She puts in SO MUCH work to bring bake-offs of all the popular recipes of the world together so that OUR job of picking the RIGHT recipe will be easy. I. love. her. blog. And was so excited to get to be part of re-designing it so we can all get the most out of her years of hard work and baking. Go straight to thepancakeprincess.com to check it out!
Still just showing your latest posts on your homep Still just showing your latest posts on your homepage? I’m talking TODAY about what you should show instead if you want more subscribers and a lower bounce rate in my talk for the Blogger Breakthrough Summit (over 700 bloggers signed up to watch! 😱). You can still watch for free if you sign up now. Link in bio! Or go to meyne.co/summit and see about a special bonus I'm offering if you buy a pass. 😃

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