Tag clouds are absolutely fabulous for helping your blog visitors find the information they are looking for. Much like suggested search terms. In a single glance your visitors can tell exactly what type of information is available on your blog … even if there are hundreds of posts.
Tags can also help set the meta keywords for your posts. Who couldn’t use a little more help in the SEO department ?
So we know tags can be good, but what happens when your tag cloud becomes toxic ? An overcrowded jumble of inter-related to non-related words and phrases. A jumble that may actually become very hard to read.
I have the problem of using just way too many tags … I will probably have over 100 different tags within a year or so. I am sure there are others out there who are just as addicted to “tagging” as I am. Whether this is good or bad is definitely debatable, but the overall effectiveness of your tag cloud may not be. Tag clouds can … and will … actually harm your blog if left to grow like a radioactive weed.
If your cloud is in your sidebar it can easily swallow a lot ( up to 1 page scroll ? ) of space that could have been used in other ways to help navigation. You can go from a helpful tool to a mess that looks more like a New York Times Crossword puzzle. That is why, when I built this blog, I intentionally removed the tag cloud from my sidebar. I figured I would give this weed it’s own plot of land and that is when my tag cloud page was born. ( see the page )
There are many different WordPress plugins that give you the power to spruce-up your Tag Cloud. I used the WP Colorful Tag Cloud plugin ( link to WordPress Plugin Page ) to create my tag cloud page for a couple of different reasons:
1. The plugin comes with a sidebar widget but you can also use a PHP tag outside of the sidebar to display your cloud anywhere you would like.
2. The admin settings page allows you to set the smallest to largest font sizes. A much simpler way then modifying code.
3. The admin settings page allows you set different colors for the different font sizes. I believe the different colors really help larger tag clouds. It can easily lead people to the more content ladened sections of your site.
You can create a cleaner look by leaving the tag cloud off of the sidebar. With the room you save you can easily include more “recent posts”, “recent comments”, and other navigational links.
Of course if you have a small tag cloud then this may not apply to you …
Comments and thoughts ALWAYS welcome !
Chris
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By: cupcake wedding cakes 
By: Sahara 
By: Jonathan Downin
great tip, but how about in blogger? how do i do this> or do you think I should just take it out all together? Thanks
Hi Dinah !
I swung by and had a look at your blog … I didn’t see a tag cloud in your side columns. I would probably go ahead and keep it out of your columns because there are quite a few links in there already. Definitely keep using your tags though, they can help with search engine placement.
I don’t really have any links to tag programs that work on Blogger … but if I run across one I will post it for you.
Chris
That is so weird – did you notice that Blogger just rolled out this feature yesterday? I can look for the link if you want. The nice thing is you can customise it to only show the tags you want to show.
I didn’t know blogger had this option. I have one from wowzio now, but the subjects are a bit jumbled. However, my blog is a mixed bag so I guess it works.
I’ve never used tag cloud on any of my blogs before! I prefer using latest posts inside this category plugin and latest blog posts on the sidebar. None the less you offer great advice to avoid de valuing the tag cloud when it is being used.
I’m not sure if you seen it but blog engage has a huge tag cloud!
http://www.blogengage.com/cloud.php
The only issue is some topic may be off related seeing its user generated!
Hey BBrian !
Thanks for the comments !
I used to absolutely love tag clouds, but lately I have definitely noticed the “clutter” effect. Its fine if you have a very specialized blog and use only a few tags … much like categories. But if you a “mixed bag” blog, like mine, the tag cloud looks like something pulled out of the amazonian jungle.
PS: I am quickly becoming addicted to Blog Engage.
Chris
waz up
I like commenting on blogs man! Sometimes it’s hard to find something to say but I just dig deep. I’m glad you’re enjoying blogengage it’s a great place to get a quality back link and find new blog readers. Thanks for participating we appreciate it. It’s ironic you say tags get cluttered I was just saying the same thing in a reply on another topic of yours. It’s also to wide range you simply get too much variety with specific words.