7 Guidelines for Tags & Keywords
Tags & Keywords are a simple way for grouping and directing your audience to short-term or ultra-specifically categorized events. Below, we’ve rounded up our best guidelines for keeping your Tags & Keywords list manageable and effective.
Tags
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1. Do not append organizational words
Since Tags are unique to each Localist platform, there’s no need to append organizational words to them. For example, keep it simple and use “Spelling Bee” rather than ”Localist Spelling Bee”.
2. Consider what is expected by your community
Since Tags are visible on the front-end, always use language that is expected and used by the majority of your community. This is especially true if a matching “tag” has been established elsewhere in your communications or resources. For example, if an annual Spelling Bee competition is nicknamed “Bee-Day,” we would recommend using a Tag that does not require being “in the know.”
3. Use Tags as “Sub-Filters”
Since your Filters are an evergreen list, Tags are a perfect way to compliment these types and categories. Instead of using “Child” Filters, which tend to clutter your lists, you can use supplemental Tags. For example, if you have a “Volunteering” Filter, you can consider Tagging events with “Fundraising”, “Tutoring”, “Mentoring”, etc. These kinds of Tags provide additional context for users, without having to sacrifice concise and easy Filter navigation.
4. Keep your list of Tags manageable
While Tags are meant to bring granularity, as a rule of thumb, they should always match several events so your platform can maintain consistency and reduce clutter. For instance, “Free Food” is a popular Tag as this could apply to a large subset of events. On the flip side, we’d recommend avoiding “Free Pizza” or “Free Cookies.”
5. Avoid echoing other Classification
However, this does not mean that Tags should be parroting other Classifications. For instance, if you have “Arts & Culture” as a Filter, we’d caution using Tags such as “Arts” or “Culture.”
Keywords
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6. Focus on internal curation
While Keywords are almost identical to Tags, they provide the added benefit of not being visible on the front-end. As such, they do not have to be recognizable or familiar to your community. This is when your team can confidently use shorthand or acronyms.
7. Don’t forget about common misspellings
Keywords may be limited to admin curation, but they can also be useful for users on the front-end. Here’s how: Imagine you’re hosting a book signing with Colleen McKnight—you could add different spelling potentials, such as “Coleen” or “MacKnight”, as Keywords to catch users who may not know how to spell the author’s name when relying on search.