The Google Algorithm vs. the Dewey Decimal System: Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter

Imagine trying to find the book you need in the library without the Dewey Decimal System? The ole Dewey Decimal System might not be terribly sexy, but at least it issn’t a proprietary secret under intense lock and key like the ever-changing Google algorithm, right? Although it might seem like online content has no equivalent version of the Dewey Decimal System by which to Feng Shui itself, there are two largely overlooked “organizing” methods that do help your law firm’s content get found: blog categories and blog tags.

The sad truth is that most attorneys’ blog posts are doomed before they even see the light of day. Why? Because the blog itself does not have an search-engine optimized category and tag structure. In “The Google Algorithm vs. the Dewey Decimal System: Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter,” I’m going to help you set up your blog with Dewey Decimal efficiency so your legal content gets seen.

Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter: The Algorithm v. The System

Let’s really compare searching for info in a library to searching for it online. In a library, the Dewey Decimal System leads me directly to what I want and—the best part—doesn’t care how popular what I want is! On Google, a mysterious and magical algorithm throws popular results at me and is less concerned about how relevant they are. Furthermore, in a library, I can view all of the similar titles on the shelf, which is super helpful—like a mosaic-style Pinterest feed but in real life. On Google, however, search results are linear, ads first, limited to ten per page, and popularity competes with relevance and quality.

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age we can still google something and not find what we need, despite being pretty certain it’s out there somewhere in Al Gore’s internet. So if it’s out “there,” why can’t you find it? How is it possible this fancy shmancy Google algorithm is failing? Well, one of the main reasons the algorithm can’t find what you want is quite possibly because whoever posted the blog post didn’t categorize or tag it properly. Imagine if, like in a library, every blog post was consistently categorized and tagged by a professional Google librarian? Unfortunately, here in the real world, Google is a library where every single creator uses their own damn “system,” which for far too many attorney bloggers is no system at all. C’mon y’all…you’re making the internet look like the tops of your desks…sigh

So, what does all of this mean?

It means your law firm needs to adopt a widely accepted, Google-friendly organizational structure for your legal blog. Too many lawyers (and legal content or marketing agencies) just write blog posts and send them into the Google void—essentially, hitting the “delete” button instead of the “publish” button. What’s the cure?

Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter: Creating a Smart Law Firm Category Structure

Good news: If you’ve ever outlined a book report or made a table of contents for a research paper, you can categorize your blog posts. Think about the main themes your law firm’s blog covers. Then create subcategories beneath each one. Here are some ideas:

BANKRUPTCY LAWYER

~ Filing Chapter 7 in San Diego > Automatic Stay, Secured Debts, Unsecured Debts, Bankruptcy Hearing

~ Filing Chapter 13 in San Diego > Automatic Stay, Sample Payments Plans from Real Clients, Qualifying for Debt Consolidation

~ Rebuilding Credit After a San Diego Bankruptcy > Mortgages, Personal Loans, Credit Cards, Credit Report Tips

DIVORCE LAWYER

~ Filing Divorce in Chicago > Legal Process, Frequently Asked Questions, Asset Division, Uncontested Divorces

~ Legal Separation in Chicago > Legal Process, Frequently Asked Questions, Separation v Divorce

~ Chicago Child Support Tips > Illinois Child Support Laws, Children from Previous Marriages, Income Changes

If you’re using WordPress (and you should be), go to “Posts” in the left sidebar. Under “Posts,” you’ll see “Categories” (along with tags, which I’ll get to in a sec). This is where you set up your blog categories. Be sure to fill out the “slug” (the URL for that category’s results page) and the description field (the blurb that will show up in google results for this category page). Moving forward, when posting your legal content, select the appropriate categories from the right sidebar on the post writing page. Don’t forget to make sure your categories are displayed on your blog’s sidebar. Fix that by going to “Appearance” (left side) and then “Widgets.”

Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter: Creating a Tag Structure

If blog categories are your table of contents, then blog tags are the index at the back of the book. Categories help folks find the theme they need, while tags help them find the specific topic.To carry on with our examples from above, here are some sample lawyer blog tags:

BANKRUPTCY LAWYER

~ San Diego Ch. 7 Bankruptcy Lawyer

~ San Diego Ch. 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer

~ San Diego Debt Consolidation

~ San Diego Bankruptcy Tips

DIVORCE LAWYER

~ Chicago Divorce Lawyer

~ Chicago Family Law Attorney

~ Chicago Child Support Lawyer

~ Chicago Divorce Tips

~ Illinois Family Law Statutes

If you are using WordPress, the categories that you plug into the category page will show up in a drop down menu on your blog writing page. Tags get set up in the same way (You’ll see the tag tab right next to the category tab in the “Posts” section on the left sidebar.) However, your pre-set tags will not show up in a list or drop down menu on the blog writing page, which stinks. You’ll see a box where you’re just supposed to type in the tags you want from memory…rrrrr! To keep you law firm’s tags organized, you can just type a list of your tags in a Google Doc and reference that each time you write a new blog post.

Why Blog Categories & Tags Matter: Permalinks

Going back to our Dewey Decimal System vs. Google algorithm discussion, in addition to keeping your law firm’s blog category and tag structure optimized, you also need to use Google librarian-approved permalinks (a.k.a. the URL for your blog post). Consider how Google interprets these two lawyer blog permalinks:

~ orangecountyimmigrationlawyer.com/i-130-processing-time-for-spouse

~ orangecountyimmigrationlawyer.com/?p=567

Obviously, the top permalink is speaking in Google’s language. The second permalink, again, might aw well be a “delete” button for your blog post. In WordPress, go to “Settings” in the left sidebar then “Permalinks.” If you’ve been blogging for a while with page number URLs, changing the permalink structure now could break existing links and cause you to lose existing backlinks, so only make changes to future blog posts. On the other hand, if your existing legal content doesn’t generate any traffic, let’s just assume they have DNRs in place! (For you non-estate planning lawyers, that is a “Do Not Resuscitate” order.)  Switching to a more descriptive, algorithm-friendly permalink structure may be the better move. Don’t forget you can also edit each blog post’s permalink by hand one at a time or as needed.

BONUS: Each Category & Tag Generates a Searchable Web Page

Here’s the real silver lining in all this blog structuring: Google treats each individual tag and each individual category page on your blog as a separate page. Under the picture of me laughing (bottom right), it says “Lawyer Blogging Tips.” Click on it and see what happens (It will open in this tab—just hit the back button to return to this post.) You’ll see that with no extra work on your part, each blog tag and category will automatically create pages like these:

~ https://orangecountyimmigrationlawyer.com/tag/vawa-tips

~ https://orangecountyimmigrationlawyer.com/category/anaheim-asylum-attorney

This is a huge boost for SEO! I like to think of it as adding more “doors” to your website. Rest assured Google indeed shows lawyer blog category and tag pages in search results—these babies rank! That’s the power of smart organization.

Legal Content Writer HQ Recap

Bottom line: it’s not enough to just write a stellar blog post for your attorney brand—you must speak to Google in it’s algorithm language through categorizing and tagging your content (and using descriptive permalinks). To summarize:

~ Categorize all of your law firm’s blog posts. Blog categories are your “table of contents,” so to speak.

~ Tag all of your law firm’s blog posts. Blog tags are your “index.”

~ Ensure each blog post’s permalink is descriptive, reflecting your keywords—not a page number.

~ Remember Google indexes each and every one of your law firm’s blog categories and tags as an added bonus!

If you’d rather focus on practicing law and leave the blog categorizing and tagging to a law firm blogging expert, give me a shout.