Workflow · 3 min read
How to Create Topic Tag Sets
Designing a small taxonomy that stays useful as your archive grows.
Fewer tags, used more often
A tag earns its place when several pieces of content share it. A tag applied once is a dead end: it creates an archive page with a single item, which is worse than no page at all.
Before adding a new tag, ask whether you will publish at least three more things that belong under it. If not, use an existing broader tag.
Two layers is usually enough
Most content libraries work well with pillars and sub-topics. Pillars are the handful of subjects you cover; sub-topics are the recurring angles inside them. Anything more granular belongs in the text of the piece, not in the taxonomy.
Review on a schedule
Once or twice a year, list every tag with its item count. Merge anything under three items into a neighbour, and split anything that has grown past a few dozen. Doing this regularly is far less work than rescuing a taxonomy that has been left alone for three years.