Difference Between Tags and Keywords

Tags vs Keywords

Keywords and tags are two tools in web development that can greatly aid in directing traffic to your site. In most cases, the two are used interchangeably as they have very similar functionalities. Despite that, there are notable differences in the roles that they play and how they are used. The main difference between keywords and tags is where you will find them. Keywords are actually a part of the content and are used to identify what the content is all about. On the other hand, tags are just placed by the creator of the content to describe what the content is and what it relates to. It may appear in the same page as the content, but it is not a part of it.

Keywords are just about everywhere. In pages that have written words on it, keywords can be found. In contrast, tags are seen mostly in blogs or sites that organize their contents as distinct pages or articles. This is easily explained as tags were originally used in blogs so that search engines will know what the content is all about as an aid to the keywords that are already embedded in the content. So that even if the keywords are not as clear to the search engine, the tags would complement them and help direct traffic to the page.

Another important role that tags play is they help in organizing the contents of the site. Tags are used by blogs to present similar or related stories as well as help in searching for other pages. A tag cloud, which is a group of tags that are presented as a moving cloud, provides the visitor a way to see all posts that are have a specific tag. Keywords do not have this functionality, and thus, cannot be used for fast and hassle free sorting and organizing content.

Using keywords and tags is not a matter of one or the other. In fact, it is actually better to have both in your site as you get the advantages provided by both. There is also no disadvantage in using keywords or tags. Just don’t flood your page with keywords or tags as most search engines are programmed to ignore excessive placement of both.

Summary:

1.Keywords are actually part of the content but not tags
2.Keywords are seen in all web content while tags are seen mostly in blogs
3.Tags are used for organizing similar content in a site while keywords are not

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