Written by Fernando Maciá
In SEO, we refer to folksonomy as a web content classification system that, unlike taxonomies, is neither hierarchical nor structured, but is generated from the social contribution of the users themselves, who are the ones who assign the appropriate tags to each content. The term folksonomy is attributed to Thomas Vander Wal and is derived from folk and taxonomy, a concept related to the classification of concepts.
From an information architecture point of view, folksonomies complement taxonomies by incorporating unstructured names, attributes or categories that are unstructured but match popular searches.
Metaphorically, we conceptualize folksonomies as groupings of content that allow us to “fill in the gaps” between taxonomies and that complement the visibility of websites for a broader and more diverse range of related searches, beyond the usual search patterns.
Although the original spirit of folksonomies focuses on the regrouping of content based on the social tagging introduced spontaneously by users, it is clear that they also allow for the very flexible generation of new groupings or categories of content in response to the way users search for them.
For example, website users translate their search intent into distinct queries:
- By using product names: ipad, nike air, iphone, canon Legria, galaxy note, kindle…
- Defining product categories: blu-ray player, qled TVs, video games…
- Specifying product features: second-hand diesel cars, cruise trips, vacation rentals, six-bedroom house…
If we select the taxonomies properly, each of these searches should correspond to a ranked page. The product cards will be the pages oriented to long-tail positioning of the type name or specific reference of the searched product. Product family and subfamily pages would respond to product category searches specified to a greater or lesser extent in the search. Lastly, searches based on a product feature would have faceted navigation pages as candidates to be positioned for this type of search. It is relatively easy to build taxonomies from these attributes since both the product name and the product categories or product characteristics are objective and there is agreement among users as to which category each product belongs to.
However, users can search as well:
- By the benefit they expect to get from the product: how to protect my home, how to decorate the baby’s room, how to keep the swimming pool clean, how to avoid spam…
- By the characteristics of the recipient: gift for Father’s Day, toys for a six-year-old girl, advertising claims for companies…
- For any subjective quality of the product: romantic weekend, charming hotel, original gifts…
Taxonomies are no longer as effective here, as these product groupings respond to subjective criteria other than formal categories. In these cases, folksonomies provide new, more flexible grouping categories that make it possible to complete the visibility of the website for these more informal searches.
Application of tag pages in SEO
In SEO for media, tags group content related to the same topic. For example, the Messi tag page on as.com (https://as.com/noticias/lionel-messi/) gathers all the news about this soccer player. Although tags are mainly applied to identify the protagonists of a news item, they can also be used to create groupings of content around any other topic. For example, this page of hola.com https://www.hola.com/tags/cancer-de-mama/ groups all the publications on breast cancer published in this media.
In SEO for e-commerce, tags are applied to create cross groupings of products. For example, “Mother’s Day gifts” or “gluten-free products”.
On travel websites, content tagging favors the grouping of destinations or accommodations according to subjective criteria: “charming hotels”, “romantic weekend”, etc. that connect with definitions that users also use in their searches.
Recommendations for creating a label
When creating new tags, it is important to keep in mind:
- Select phrases or keywords with search potential: if the objective of the new tag is to be positioned for this search, we must analyze which one has the greatest traffic potential (is it better to use “queen Letizia”, “Ms. Letizia” or “queen of Spain”?)
- Choose expressions different from those already included in our menu: when choosing new content groupings, these must be different from the menu items and respond to criteria sought by the user. Cross-category product categories – such as celiac-friendly or low-calorie products in an online supermarket – would be a good example of this.
- They can be subcategories of menu items: if one of our sections is called Fashion, related tags could be Men’s Fashion, Spring Fashion, Fashion 2019.
- They can be synonyms of menu items: for example, if we already have in our menu the section “Fragrances”, we could create the tag “perfumes”, since this word has a higher search potential.
- They can be more generic than menu items: for example, for a section called Jewelry and watches, a suitable tag would be Fashion accessories.
Additional references
Folksonomies, indexing and retrieval in Web 2.0, book by Isabella Peters.
Introduction to folksonomies: definition, characteristics and differences with traditional indexing models, article by Nadina Yedid.
Social indexing and information retrieval, article by Yusef Hassan Montero.
Post about information architecture and SEO in e-commerce, by Fernando Maciá.
