This post may contain affiliated links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Read the full disclosure statement here.

This post is all about blog categories.

You decided to start your blog and keep hearing the word blog categories. What are blog categories, and do you need them? 

Picture walking into a clothing store excited to find the perfect sweater for a holiday party. Only to find out the sweaters are sprinkled with baby clothes, men's jeans, athletic wear, and a few in the purse aisle. Would you feel frustrated and leave to find a more organized store, yeah me too! 

That is exactly what blog categories do, organize your blog for your readers to easily and quickly find what they are looking for. 

BLOG CATEGORIES

Organizing Blog Categories

Think of categories as baskets that sort your clothes: one for darks, one for whites, one for towels, etc. This allows you to quickly see which basket needs to be washed and prevents mixing the colors from ruining your clothing. Having blog categories keeps your core subjects organized on your blog in the same manner.

Your blog categories should be on the main menu of your blog and easy to find. When your readers come to your blog, they can quickly see the category, also known as the subject they are looking for, click it, and find a blog title they want to read under the category. 

Your blog categories should be the main topics and niche that you write about. Not sure what your niche is I have a post How To Start A Blog For Beginners that talks more about this. For example, if your blog is about women's fashion, then you might have the categories formal wear, casual wear, and office wear. Or if your blog is about blogging, you might have blog content, monetize blog, and start a blog. Keep your blog categories aligned with your niche. 

Then, under each of those categories will be a blog post pertaining to that topic. I can quickly go to the formal wear category and find a blog titled What Formal Wear is Popular for Weddings in 2024. 

Going back to my clothing store theory, as a reader, I would feel very frustrated to click on the formal wear category and find blogs titled Beach Wear or How to Run a Marathon. I would click out of that blog so fast and never go back. The goal is to keep our blog organized so that our readers stay on it for a long time and continue to come back. 

How Many Categories Do You Need

This depends on your niche. If you have a larger niche, such as food, then you might have 7-10 categories. If your niche is dialed in and pretty narrow, then you may have 3-4. Always think of your audience and what they would like as well as yourself. 

I think if I saw 7-10 categories at the top menu on the homepage, I might think clutter and possibly click out of the blog. In this case, I would rather see a category titled On The Blog; then, when I click it, there are 7-10 categories under it. Then, when I click on the category chicken recipes, there are all of the blog posts to choose from regarding chicken recipes. 

Keep Categories Fresh and Functional

You need to do routine housekeeping to your blog. That includes ensuring that your blog categories are organized, still relevant, updated keywords, not outdated topics, etc. 

Has your blog evolved to a more narrowed-down niche? Or a new niche altogether? You will want your blog categories to reflect these changes. Do you need to split a category, as it has gotten a little cluttered? Are your blog posts still under the correct category?

Utilize your analytics to determine which categories you should optimize, prioritize, or expand on. Categories that are consistently getting lower attraction, what can you do to enhance them, or is it time to let that one go?

Remember, the goal is to keep your blog well organized for your audience to find what they are looking for, stay awhile, and continue to revisit. 

There you have it, blog categories 101. I hope these tips will help you organize your blog!