Take control of your blog through organisation

When it comes to blogging, most people focus on the content itself—catchy titles, compelling copy, maybe a relevant image or two. But behind every successful blog sits a well-oiled system that keeps everything organised and accessible: tags and categories.

Think of them as the filing system of your website. Without them, your blog is like a classroom with stacks of unlabelled homework all over the floor. But with them? You’ve got colour-coded files, timetables, and a smooth system that even Google appreciates. Tags and categories don’t just help your readers—they’re critical for your website’s structure, user experience, and SEO performance.

Let’s use an online education platform as an example. You’re offering short courses and articles on everything from accounting to art history. Your categories might include:

• Business and Finance
• Arts and Humanities
• Science and Technology
• Student Success

These are your broad subject areas—each blog post or course update must live in at least one.

Tags, on the other hand, are more granular. Think of them as the lesson-specific details. A post under “Business and Finance” might carry tags like:

• tax season
• budgeting tips
• small business
• financial literacy

While categories structure your content into defined topics, tags help connect the dots across different topics and make related content discoverable no matter where it lives.

Here’s where things get interesting from an SEO perspective.

Every single tag and category automatically generates a WordPress archive page—a dynamic list that displays all content linked to that tag or category. These pages are indexed by search engines, which means that over time, they can start to rank in search results on their own.

Say someone searches for “study tips for online learners” and you have a Student Success category archive filled with valuable content on the topic. That archive page, not just the individual articles, might appear in Google’s search results—creating another doorway into your website.

Even better? A well-maintained archive page:

• Encourages internal linking and keeps users exploring your site
• Increases the number of indexed pages without additional work
• Helps search engines understand the theme and relevance of your content clusters
• Improves topical authority by showing depth on a subject

At Fort Hartley, we specialise in crafting smart content ecosystems using taxonomy—the strategic structure of tags, categories, and blog sections. Whether you’re a law firm, an architecture practice, or an e-commerce brand looking to position yourself as a thought leader, we build your blog in a way that educates your customers while boosting your visibility online.

The goal is twofold: First, your content should actually help people understand your process, your service, and how you solve their problem—that’s content marketing at its best. Second, it should be packaged in a way that search engines can understand and rank, thanks to clean taxonomy, strong keyword targeting, and well-structured archive pages. That’s where we come in. From planning out pillar topics to designing how your archives look and function, we help your site become more useful to people and more discoverable to bots.

At Fort Hartley, we build many client websites using the Avada WordPress theme, which is one of the most versatile tools out there. With Avada Layouts, you can turn those plain archive pages into fully branded, strategically designed content hubs.

Here’s what that means for your education platform:

• Create a custom banner for each category—like a bold “Science & Tech” banner featuring lab imagery, or a “Student Success” page with motivating testimonials.
• Include filters, search bars or featured posts for easy browsing.
• Adjust how your content previews appear—change the layout from grid to list, add descriptions, include author bios or even video snippets.
• Drop in CTAs like newsletter signups, course registration links, or social share buttons to turn traffic into action.

No coding needed—just drag, drop and design with purpose.

Using tags and categories properly helps users find what they need, helps search engines understand your site, and helps you present your content in a more strategic, valuable way.

Paired with Avada’s layout capabilities, archive pages become more than just auto-generated lists—they become content hubs that reflect your brand and drive engagement.

If your education blog or learning platform feels a bit scattered, start by reviewing your tags and categories. They might seem small, but they’re the hidden heroes of your site’s structure. And if your archive pages look like they were built in 2008? Chat to the Fort Hartley team. We’ll help you transform them into sleek, searchable, SEO-friendly content gateways that truly reflect the quality of your offering.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not just about writing—it’s about being found, being clear, and becoming a brand people trust. That starts with structure.