What Are Taxonomies and When Should You Use Them?

The word “taxonomy” sounds complicated and technical, but it’s actually simple and is encountered on almost every website you visit. To put the definition in basic terms, taxonomies in WordPress simply group related content pieces together for easy navigation. Your website likely has various products, services or articles to choose from, so having them organized into clean categories is valuable in multiple ways. Every business owner should use taxonomies in WordPress and here’s why.

Why Taxonomies Are Valuable

The great thing about WordPress for small business owners is the simplicity of setting up the website. When you use a taxonomy in WordPress, you’ll quickly see how easy the process is and how valuable it can actually be. You don’t want your customers to have to scroll through hundreds of products or pages of content before finding what they want. As a matter of fact, customers likely won’t take the time to do that, so they will just leave and find the information they need elsewhere. But when you use taxonomies in WordPress, you can organize content into simple categories customers can click on to quickly find what they need.

Using Categories and Tags

WordPress uses categories and tags as its default taxonomies. Categories are required with every post, but you don’t have to use tags unless you deem it appropriate to do so. Small business owners with only a few dozen products may not see a need to incorporate tags since they only have a few categories to sort their products or services in. Think of categories as being very broad when grouping content, while tags are specific.

Start Basic and Expand Into Using Custom Taxonomies

Once you get the hang of the basic taxonomies in WordPress, you may wish to expand your use of them. Custom taxonomies give you the ability to create as many as you need and can be used for virtually anything. Simply install the appropriate plugin and create taxonomies that make your website easier to navigate for your customers. Taxonomies should always be used on a WordPress website, even if you only choose to use the basic versions. They make your website look more organized in general, which is attractive to customers and usually keeps them on the website longer.

InMotion Hosting works with WordPress for small business owners and large corporations alike. We believe simplicity is a key component of every successful website. The use of taxonomies in WordPress is a necessity, and when you work with us, we will use them strategically to organize your website in the most appropriate ways. To learn more about taxonomies or how we can help you manage your website, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.

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Arnel Custodio Content Writer I

As a writer for InMotion Hosting, Arnel has always aimed to share helpful information and provide knowledge that will help solve problems and aid in achieving goals. He's also been active with WordPress local community groups and events since 2004.

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