Filing a blog post under multiple categories – a do or a don’t?

Again; a million dollar question! Many believe that a blog post should be filed under one category and a lesser number believes that it causes no harm to file it under multiple categories. What’s my stance? Well, if you take a look at my blog, you’ll see that I’m on the middle of the road.Benefits of filing a blog post under single categories.

• Would not create duplicate entries in your categories
  When a reader browses through your categories, that one wouldn’t be frustrated to see the same article titled “Gavin DeGraw’s Jealous Guy” featured in “songs for the heart” category and “my all time favorite soundtracks” category. (Hey! Just an instance alright?) After browsing your site for an hour, that reader might get the idea that he or she has indeed stumbled upon the same article 4 times in four different categories.
• Gives you a chance to have a nice category hierarchy
  Filing things under a single category will enable you to work on the categories hierarchies. This is one thing that your readers will definitely enjoy if your blog touches so many topics.
• Makes your blog look tidierIt makes you have a few categories, well out of the reach of another. For an example, blogging insights and blogging tips are almost the same. Having a single category filing policy really helps getting over the confusion in such cases, as you won’t be having both categories featured in a single blog.

Yes, although I believe in filing under single categories, I practice the other. In fact, I believe that sometimes, it’s a mixture of both that works. What do you think?

3 Responses to “Filing a blog post under multiple categories – a do or a don’t?”

1. Kevin Givens says:

   November 30, 2007 at 6:06 pm

   Nice article Nadeesha. I was debating the same thing while working on my new site.

   I noticed with another site of mine that when I posted in multiple categories, Google would pick up both /category1/post-name/ and /category2/post-name/.

   There’s much debate as to whether they actually penalize for duplicate content or not.

   After reading your post I have decided to go with single categories with a hierarchy. I think this will work better for visitors and SEO.
2. Julian says:

   June 21, 2008 at 1:34 pm

   I think is mixture is right. I try to separate my categories but sometimes it feel wrong to leave it out of a category. For example I have a post about a PDA that has amazing GPS features, so i post it under both. PDA and GPS Which both have a parent category of Mobile Devices…
3. Leo (Healthy Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle) says:

   September 13, 2008 at 3:57 am

   Hehe, I do the complete opposite and have loooooots of categories by now! =)