Tags are used to describe your content in simple, searchable words or phrases.  A tag can be a single word or a combination of words, but should be kept as simple as possible.   If you are writing an article on how to optimize your website for search engines, your tags might include something like:

• search engine optimization
• search keywords
• web marketing

Notice that each tag contains no extraneous words or phrases.  For instance you wouldn't want your tag to read "how to optimize your website".  This tag is too long and includes words that do not accurately represent the content of your article.  Tags are not a sentence, they are Keywords.

Take note of the tags for this page:

• tags
• keywords
• search engines
  
• search engine optimization
• seo

Beware of Keyword stuffing

It is important to get your point across without being repetitive.  If you put too many iterations of the same word "tags" "meta tags" "tag keywords" "search tags" "tagging", you can be penalized for keyword stuffing.  Make sure that if you are using multiple variations of a word (like "search"), that you place it in the proper context.

Why should I add Tags?

Tags are great because they get your content to the people looking for it, whether it is on Google or on a search within your site.  You may notice that when you add Tags on Tendenci, they are displayed as links below the content on your page.  These links are read by search engines and the search engines use them to determine what your page is about and display it appropriately in search results.  This means you get your content to the people who are looking for it!

Tag searches are also built into Tendenci.  Each Tag in Tendenci is a link to search the content for that Tag.  This way users reading your article or CMS page can quickly find related content on your site if you have placed your tags.  I might be reading an article about Video Editing, and when I click the tag, I see that there are Job postings for video editors, or Directory listings for video editing companies.

How do I add Tags to my content?

Tags works across many modules in Tendenci, so when adding content, look for the Tags field.

Tags are space delimited, which means each tag begins and ends when you type a space.  If you want to create a tag with multiple words, use quotes " " to mark the beginning and end of your tag (an example is provided below every tag input box).

When you submit your content, the tags will be automatically added.  It's that easy!