Are tags an issue in SEO

[visualartistics]

SEOMoz saw that my tags were duplicate pages. Are tags a serious issue in SEO? Should I remove it entirely to prevent the duplicate pages?

[trixiekix]

Yep, I think nofollow definitely makes sense sometimes. But if you have a short list of targeted tags and aren't creating dupe pages I think there is value in having those tag pages indexable. I see it as a way to easily create a page with focused content around a specific topic. If a site is using categories for that purpose then I definitely put nofollow on the tags, otherwise I use them sparingly.

[TargetClick]

Hi Kathryn,

I ran into the same problem a while back.  I had multiple tags on posts that were redirecting to the same post with different URLs.  As you said that creates a dup content issue.

I did exactly what John said to do, and it took care of the issue.

-Greg

[trixiekix]

The tags themselves aren't the issue, the result of using tags can be duplicate pages and that's what you want to avoid. If you have a tight list of tags and use them consistently they can be effective at creating content rich pages around a particular topic, and helping your visitors navigate your site. The problem arises when you use the same tags on all posts (thereby creating duplicate pages) or end up with a long list of tags, each one only showing 1-2 posts (again, ending up with many pages showing the same 1-2 posts). I like to predefine the list of tags I think will be useful and edit/add/delete as I go, versus coming up with tags each time I write new content. Kathryn

[blu42media]

Your best bet is to "noindex,follow" your tag pages.  There was a great article about this just a few days ago on the Moz blog:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/setup-wordpress-for-seo-success

The article covers tags, categories, author pages and more.  You're sure to find what you're looking for.

-John