WordPress categories are a way of grouping posts on your blog.  Categories are used to sort and group content into different sections. A website publishing content on a variety of topics can divide their website into sections using categories.

You Probably Have Encountered Categories

You probably have already encountered categories on other sites. Often they are part of navigational menus or appear on the sidebar of the page. They allow you to find content that’s interesting to you. For example, online stores usually have categories that group products that fit into furniture, technology, art, sport, etc.

Plan Your Category Structure

Before you start adding and managing categories in your WordPress site, take some time and think about what your blog is about.  What topics will you be covering?   You can do this in your head but it is better to actually put it on paper.  How many categories do you need?  Remember these are the big themes your B2B business blog will address.  Not the itty bitty details.

For instance, this entire series about building a blog is part of the “blogging” category.   When we discussed the creation of your website, all the posts were in the “website” category.  When I write about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they all fall under the “social media” category.

It is recommended not to have more than 10 categories.

If no category is specified for a post then the post is automatically filed into the default category. In a new WordPress installation, the default category is ‘Uncategorized’.  A WordPress post can be filed under multiple categories although you want to think twice before doing this since too many categories confuses Google and can hurt your ranking.

Adding Categories

You can create a category in WordPress while writing a post. There is a categories meta box on the post editor screen with a list of existing categories. You can file your post in existing categories by checking the box next to the category name. Categories can also be created by clicking on the “+ Add New Category” link.

You can also add a category directly from the “Posts » Categories“ screen. All you have to do is provide a name. The slug, parent, and description field are optional.

Other Information of Interest

Category Slug

The Category Slug is the URL-friendly version of the category. It is usually all lowercase and contains only letters, numbers and hyphens.  This is optional

Category Hierarchies

Categories, unlike tags, can be nested into hierarchies. For example, you might have a Jazz category, and under that have children categories for Bebop and big band. (Only visible if you have child categories created)

Category Description

The description section is a place for you to add more details about the posts assigned to that category. Some WordPress themes may show this information.

Learn More

Learn more about creating blog posts and adding pictures in these posts:

Yes, You Need Social Media

Driving Traffic to Your Post

Content is King