[LINK] Categories for a community directory

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Mon Mar 12 07:25:52 AEDT 2012


At 18:21 +1100 11/3/12, Ash Nallawalla wrote:
>I didn't get the original message, but the SEO angle to this is that it is
>bad to have empty categories. If possible, allow users to suggest a category
>and then add it.

Any idea what the rationale is behind the 'no empty categories' dictum, Ash?

Is it 'just 'cos', i.e. the people who first did folksonomies just 
thought 'list' and 'extensible';  and 'structured' and 
'comprehensive' were out of sight and out of mind?

A taxonomy has significant advantages, in particular structure and 
hierarchy, which give rise to clustering and even inheritance (e.g. 
all sports support groups have quite a bit in common and can learn 
from one another;  ditto for the various forms of mental health 
support).

 From a marketing perspective (and even non-profits do marketing), 
knowing which segments you have strong coverage of, and which you 
haven't, can be very handy.

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



More information about the Link mailing list