Ideas for Blog Labels

Blog labels are used by Google's Blogger platform. Labels are similar to blog tags in that they help to keep posts organized and assist users in finding content that may be of interest to them. The way in which you use labels is entirely up to you, but there are a few good concepts to employ when you first start to help strengthen your blog.

Short is Sweet
Blog labels are not intended to be used as summaries, so keeping them short is a good way to keep your blog looking its best. Try to keep your labels down to one word, and make each of those words as succinct as possible. For instance, a post about a barbecue could have the labels "Food," "BBQ," and "Grill." The easier the labels are to understand, the more likely a reader will click them.

Repeat Labels
Blog labels are their strongest when you have several posts that share the same labels. One mistake many beginning bloggers make is creating too many labels for each post, making it hard to categorize their blog as the posts and label count grows. Try do decide on some core labels for the sake of organization, which you can repeat throughout the blog. You can pepper these with more specific labels as well, but keeping a core group makes your blog easier to navigate.

Go Crazy
If you're trying to break your blog out of the mold, you may wish to forgo the traditional label setup and use your labels to enhance each post. One use of labels that is increasing in popularity is hitting each post with a collection of super-specific, but funny labels. The popular technology/geek culture blog Geekologie, for instance, often labels each of its posts with funny labels like "Yay!" or "VROOM VROOM!" Funny labels are just another method of engaging your readers.

Label Cloud
A label, or tag, cloud is a display somewhere on the front page of your blog that showcases your most popular tags. This is a great method for displaying a bunch of categories to your readers right when they hit your page, which allows them to choose posts that apply to them. This is also a good way to bring readers to older posts, as you may not necessarily blog about the same things with the same labels each day.