Blog Category vs Post

denisgeo

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Ok, this is something that's been confusing me for a while...

I have an article that I've been working on this week that I was going to post as a blog post, but because it's so comprehensive and covers much of a category of my blog I was wondering if it shouldn't be a category page?

Right now each of my category pages are just a list of the blog posts that make up that category. What is the best practice for what a category page should be?

It seems to me that category pages (at least as I have them right now) don't add much value, and maybe I should just delete them all? That would mean all my blog posts are just listed under Blog. However, I think if the category pages contained an overview + a list of blog posts for that category it would add some value. What do people here think?

As you can see I'm confused! Anyone got any advice as to how to structure things?
 
My take on it is that category pages can become 'killers' for you in the rankings.

Take a look at this:

http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/laptops/

Now, of course they're showing up for the term despite not having any detailed copy, presumably because of the authority of the site generally and their internal linking strategy etc etc.

But you can boost the rankings of a category page if it does contain a huge amount of great content that gets people up to speed on the category.

https://www.volusion.com/blog/how-to-increase-seo-by-adding-content-on-category-pages/

That is a decent stab at an introduction to the topic - some takeaways:

- write custom copy for each page
- make sure you write stuff that helps customers make a purchase (if you're an authority site/need people to click your reviews - make it something that makes them want to read more/visit the specific offers/reviews you need them to etc).
 
TL;DR Version:
1) Implement best practices (below) on the category archive, then don't worry about it. 2) Focus effort with Wordpress pages for your pillar content / top-of-silo stuff.
Click to expand...

There are multiple strategies around this topic. Generally, it's to do with content "siloing". There are typically 2 types; a virtual silo or physical silo. You could actually do both if you want, and what is best is a bit arbitrary and may even be unique to your niche considering the way Google's algorithms work now. The simple definition is:

Physical Silo = Using site structure, categories, tags, archives, subdirectories.
Virtual Silo = Internal linking, typically within posts to other posts you want in the silo.

There's a lot more to it, but that's the high level view. As far as categories, I'll use the term "archive", specifically, so as to not confuse between actual Wordpress pages. Things being niche-dependent these days, category archives sometimes rank. Other times they do not, or don't rank well. This makes sense, as a standard archive is an ever-changing mix of content (post titles, and descriptions if you have them) that's not always so well targeted to primary keywords you might want your physical silo to rank for.

There are some things that can help with a physical silo. If it's paginated, as with an archive, you might noindex/follow all except the first page, so at least that first page stands the best chance. Also, as Steve mentioned, you can actually customize your archive and maybe add blocks of text or other custom content that might be a bit more static and optimized. Sometimes this might be enough to get the job done, but you will definitely need to test this for your niche.

Personally, in my experience across a broad range of niches, I've never really seen too many category archives rank amazingly without effort. I look at them as "drive by" ranking potential. I try to opt for not putting effort into the archive, but instead using a WP page since it's easier. At least for my niches/industries, I tend to do what I said above, noindex/follow all except the first page, and let it ride. I'll actually do both types of siloing, and also put effort into internally linking within posts to reinforce silos. Then there's the next step.

So sometimes category archives can work. That's great when they do, and I'd consider it a bonus, but I wouldn't worry much about them. Regardless, the other option is an actual Wordpress page. I'll typically use a page as the highly-optimized top of a silo, as it's easier to have full control over it without resorting to modding PHP files. In that page, you'll want content covering a broad range of sub-topics within that topic. Also, maybe link to your archive first page, and several other pillar posts within the category/silo. The posts link up to your page, and sometimes across to each other.

The big takeaway should be, however, that it's still niche dependent and you'll need to test to determine what works for you. I can't stress the importance of that enough. Perfect example would be something like:

  • Implement archive best practices
  • Create rank tracking campaign for primary keywords (I use SERPWoo)
  • Create optimized WP page for top-of-silo + internal linking to important posts (in-silo)
  • Maybe a few other things like:
    • Update old posts with new content + links to top-of-silo page (Try not to update with just a link. Add a paragraph or two)
    • Maybe add top-of-silo page to nav, if it makes sense and is high level enough
  • Let it all ride (as far as structure) and monitor rank tracking campaign for ~90 days (yes 90; less than 90 Google intentionally manipulates rankings at random to try and trick you)
  • After 90, assess performance and trends; wash, rinse, repeat
 
turbin3 said:
As far as categories, I'll use the term "archive", specifically, so as to not confuse between actual Wordpress pages.
Click to expand...

I love this way of wording it - I'm going to start using it when I chat to new trainees etc going forward. Sometimes our 'category' pages are a mix of content and featured posts, other times it is just a page. Either way they're rarely ever just the standard WP 'archive' that many think of first. I love making the distinction super clear with that terminology.
 
That's an important aspect you mentioned, Steve. Namely: trainees. That or junior team members. Hell, in some cases, maybe even senior team members. One of the reasons I tend to lean the direction of focusing on WP pages for pillar content / top-of-silo stuff vs. archives is simply ease of maintenance.

It's nice, and sometimes can be extremely effective going the customized category archive route. I mean, it's always a recurring point of tough decision-making people have with Wordpress; Page, Post, Archive.....and FFS Tags?!?! Ahhhh, which one?! Always nice when you can just consolidate focus down and just say, "Our content is primarily Posts + Archives and that's it!"

Though depending on the WP themes / plugins being used, if it means getting into manually modding base PHP files, that's where I find things can start to become a pain to deal with over the long term, especially with multiple team members involved.
 
Great few posts, @turbin3.

Could you elaborate on how an example of a site with the specific top-of-silo (page) along with the corresponding archive (category) would look like? Take Steve's example of http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/laptops/
http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/laptops/
How would a page-pillar posts look if you were to use that instead of the archive page, that contains all the reviews? What would it contain? Why would it be good for, as opposed to an archive page of sorts, that has all the underlying reviews neatly organized? And, carrying on with this example, would you push and rank the page as the "hub" for that category instead of the archive page?

How would they interact, aside from the mandatory interlinking between sub-posts?
 
One simple example would be this. Imagine the overall design of the pillar page is actually similar in content and appearance to the archive. In essence, you have your custom content blocks, but you also have a block that looks like a post feed. After all, that appearance can be really useful from a UX standpoint, of giving people some highlights and pointing them in the right direction to your other content they might like.

The real difference is, with a Wordpress page, you'd have a greater level of control and would be able to do things like custom coding a block with a post feed, but that is static and has only the posts you want, with the most optimal headlines and snippets.

The page could also look totally different as well, but that's just one example of the possible benefit in one method vs. the other based on minimal design differences. One potential issue that may crop up, at least in certain niches, is that your archive's constantly revolving post feed could make it a bit difficult to determine what is working and how. In essence, the page content, keyword distributon, TF-IDF....all that stuff could be changing quite a bit, and frequently, which could have some unpredictable effects on stability of ranking.
 
I do not like using Wordpress Category pages as this kind of page. I've had bad experiences with it, getting slapped and difficulty for Google understanding the value of such a page. Most likely due to Google slapping tag spam which was a thing.

I would make my own Taxonomy and create a template from scratch.
 
turbin3 said:
Imagine the overall design of the pillar page is actually similar in content and appearance to the archive. In essence, you have your custom content blocks, but you also have a block that looks like a post feed. After all, that appearance can be really useful from a UX standpoint, of giving people some highlights and pointing them in the right direction to your other content they might like.
Click to expand...
Say you have a product type site, like our favorite example, The Wire Cutter. You make reviews of drones, washing machines, widgets, you name it.

You have a "category" called Cameras (http://thewirecutter.com/leaderboard/cameras/) that functions exactly like you would expect a category to. It has a brief introductory statement, and then just kinda lists whatever reviews or posts that has been added to that category.

Heck, it even ranks for "best cameras", although it is clearly a category page.

How would a "page" (top-of-silo) look for a site like this? What would be its purpose?

turbin3 said:
The real difference is, with a Wordpress page, you'd have a greater level of control and would be able to do things like custom coding a block with a post feed, but that is static and has only the posts you want, with the most optimal headlines and snippets.
Click to expand...

So it's really just a matter on control to have a corresponding "page" to an archive? It's possible to customize archive templates, so if you can do that, would that be ideal to only have the "one" archive page, that carries _both_ explanatory text/content/neat presentation AND latest posts?

turbin3 said:
The page could also look totally different as well, but that's just one example of the possible benefit in one method vs. the other based on minimal design differences. One potential issue that may crop up, at least in certain niches, is that your archive's constantly revolving post feed could make it a bit difficult to determine what is working and how. In essence, the page content, keyword distributon, TF-IDF....all that stuff could be changing quite a bit, and frequently, which could have some unpredictable effects on stability of ranking.
Click to expand...

I hear you, and that would be an obvious benefit to being able to fully control what's going on, on that pillar page.

So when you say the pillar page would be "static" (as pages normally are), does that mean that any "new" posts, you'd add manually to that page, along with whatever HTML makes up the structure of the post presentation an archive page usually has? Which would also mean, you'd edit the same structure every time a new (or featured) sub-post is added to the site, that you'd want to display?

Specifically, how would the pillar page and the archive page interact? You would want to rank the pillar page and make that the top of the pile, but "posts" would still be added to the archive, right? Or would you add sub-pages to the pillar instead of posts to the category?

Looking at http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-mirrorless-camera-under-1000/, the breadcrumbs show "Cameras" as the category, and clicking it takes you back to said category. How would you structure this with your model, without essentially winding up with a category page and a pillar page that is identical? And if they aren't, what would the "page" offer that the archive couldn't, other than easier PHP/HTML customization and more control over which posts/excerpts are shown?

Sorry for dragging this out.
 
Let's take a step back for a second. I just want to make sure there's no confusion. I was definitely not implying that what I described was "the" way or necessarily that it will even work for you, but merely giving a few examples of different methods that might work.

The one thing we see these days, specifically as far as Google is concerned, is that the exact nature of what works best is highly variable. It's often entirely different from niche to niche to industry. The most important thing is to decide on one method or another and test to verify whether it's working for you, in your niche.

Category archives absolutely can and in many cases work. I tend to be biased against going that route, based on my experience with large scale sites where any potential form of duplication is amplified massively. I should have probably prefaced everything with that, as the same logic may not quite apply with a much smaller site and/or different niche.

As far as the example you cited, I think this quote from Steve perfectly explains it:
Steve Brownlie said:
But you can boost the rankings of a category page if it does contain a huge amount of great content that gets people up to speed on the category.
Click to expand...

That category may be an "archive", technically speaking. However, in it's current form, it's actually a bit more of a "page" in nature. For one, it has no pagination. Look at most "blogs", and maybe you'll see 6-10 posts per page and dozens of paginated archive pages. In this case, they just threw EVERYTHING on one archive page, so no issue there with tons of other archive page variants.

On top of that, some of the posts have healthy-sized snippets, and the strength of the page is also improved by the sub-categories or related categories that are included on the page along with relevant headers. In effect, they're very strong pages that, from a content perspective, cover a wide range of related topics and give a good overview of the general subject.

It's literally the same type of thing you might want to achieve if using a standard Wordpress page. In this case, they appear to have just done it very well and focused on optimizing the category archive structure.
 
Brilliant stuff turbin3!
What do mean by:
"...modding base PHP files,"
Thanks!
 
Basically modding standard files that most themes have, like an "archive.php" or something.
 
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