Taxonomies Settings
Configure SEO settings for categories, tags, and custom taxonomies.
Overview
Understanding taxonomy SEO settings in ProRank SEO
The Taxonomies tab allows you to configure default SEO settings for taxonomy archive pages:
- Categories: Default WordPress post categories
- Tags: Default WordPress post tags
- Custom Taxonomies: WooCommerce product categories, custom taxonomies from plugins
- Hierarchical Taxonomies: Nested categories with parent-child relationships
Search Appearance Settings
Control how taxonomy archives appear in search results
Core Settings
Archive Title Template
Default title pattern for taxonomy archive pages.
Common patterns:
Categories: %term% Archives %sep% %sitename%
Tags: Posts tagged "%term%" %sep% %sitename%
Product Categories: %term% Products %sep% Shop %sep% %sitename%Archive Description Template
Template for meta descriptions on archive pages.
Variables for taxonomies:
%term% - Term name
%term_description% - Term description
%count% - Number of posts
%parent% - Parent term (if hierarchical)Robots Meta
Control how search engines index taxonomy archive pages.
- • Use Global Default — follow site-wide robots settings
- • Custom — set per-taxonomy noindex/nofollow
Show SEO Controls
Enable per-term SEO fields when editing individual taxonomy terms.
Pagination Handling
ProRank SEO automatically handles paginated archives:
Page 1: "WordPress Tips %sep% %sitename%"
Page 2: "WordPress Tips %sep% Page 2 %sep% %sitename%"
Page 3: "WordPress Tips %sep% Page 3 %sep% %sitename%"
Archive pages use the taxonomy term URL
rel="prev" and rel="next" tags are added automaticallyBest Practices
Recommendations for taxonomy SEO
Write Unique Term Descriptions
Add substantial, unique content to important category pages to improve rankings.
Optimise High-Traffic Categories First
Focus on categories that already receive traffic or have high search volume.
Use Strategic Internal Linking
Link to important categories from your homepage and main navigation.
Monitor for Thin Content
Monitor thin archive pages and use the per-taxonomy robots settings to noindex terms with little content where appropriate.
Avoid Over-Categorization
Too many similar categories can cause keyword cannibalization and dilute page authority.