On blogs I read some categories are very helpful in navigating my way
around. Others are somewhat useless and seem to just take up goofy space on a
sidebar. Is there a strategic way to use categories that will enhance our sites?
I think there is but before I talk about it, remember what a wise person once
told me regarding my advice: “That’s ONE way to look at it.”
First, a big NO NO: Don’t make a bunch of categories out of the blue when
you start. It is likely you have no idea what you are going to be blogging about
in the coming weeks months and years and these will either needlessly narrow
your focus or give your readers false advertising. Start with “General Blog” as
the default and if you want, one other of your naming. This tip is based on the
old story about the college who saved millions in landscaping costs by allowing
the students to groove their own paths between buildings and pouring them in
concrete later. A great plug-in for batch sorting posts and categories can be
found here. Publishing your
blog
Second, a recommendation: After a period of time, sort your posts into
relevant categories. For example: If, out of 25 posts you have 5 that cover the
news, 15 that cover humor and 5 that cover pop culture, just make one new
category for the large one since that is likely to be a large area for you on
your blog. You don’t know if the other areas are going to be major players on
your site that will be found through navigation. Default the 2 other small sets
of posts back to the “General Blog” category until you re-evaluate after more
time to see if there are more of that type.
Finally, another recommendation: Continue doing step two and developing
categories in terms of how they develop, not how you plan them to be. You will
find your system to be streamlined and natural. Your topics will have category
homes almost automatically. NOTE: If you write a post and cannot find a home for
it, DO NOT I repeat DO NOT make a category for it. This will make your
categories more like titles and they defeat the whole purpose of a searchable
archive. For those posts that haven’t “established themselves” yet, find the
closest possible category OR just relegate them back to the default until more
of their kind warrant starting their own colony
Say a positive thing about the post. I catch myself going right to my agreement
or disagreement sometimes and forget the fact that the primary audience for my
comment is the author. Most people who deal with psychology in interpersonal
situations know that you make a bridge for your point to be received by offering
a compliment. I have written about this in more detail with regards to writing
in general, but nowhere is it more true than in comments.
