What's the difference between a category page and a content page

[wparlaman]

Hello,

Little confused on this matter.

From a website architectural and content stand point, what is the difference between a category page and a content page?

So lets say I was going to build a website around tea.

My home page would be about tea.

My category pages would be:

White Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Team and British Tea correct? (  I Would write content for each of these topics on their respective category pages correct?)

Then suppose I wrote articles on organic white tea, white tea recipes, how to brew white team etc...( Are these content pages?)

Do I think link FROM my category page ( White Tea) to my ( Content pages ie; Organic White Tea, white tea receipes etc) or do I link from my content page to my category page?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks,

Bill

[AlanBleiweiss]

It's easy to get confused with terminology. All pages, however, should have high quality, unique, paragraph based content, no matter what you call them.

You have the right idea for organization.

From the home page, there should be links to the top level categories

White Tea

Black Tea

Oolong Tea

British Tea

Then all of your articles having anything to do with White Tea would be linked from within the White Tea section of the site.

So the tree would then look like:

• White Tea
  • Organic White Tea
  • White Tea Recipes
  • How to Brew White Tea
• Black Tea
• Oolong Tea
• British Tea

This is, in fact, high quality content organization.  So congratulations for having understood the concept.

[RyanKent]

I like Alan's answer. A couple direct answers to questions you raised:

From a website architecture stand point, there is no difference between a category page and a content page. They are both web pages and it's up to you, as the site owner, to determine how they can be utilized to best present your product.

From a content stand point, there is no right or wrong answer, but there are best practices. On the one end, some site owners use category pages purely as an organizational tool. Let's say you find a site about "beverages". There could be a categories for Coffee, Tea and Juice. There are three ways you can use the Tea page:

1. Content Separator. The Tea category would only be viewable from a main index page which allows visitors to see how your content is organized. The category page would not be reachable per se. "Tea" would be text, not a hyperlink. I think this usage is a missed opportunity from a web design perspective.

2. Content Index. The Tea category would be used to provide links to all the Tea pages. Some websites would choose to simply add links to their various tea pages. Other sites choose to offer high level information about each tea, along with the link. The latter choice works pretty well.

3. Content. You can use your category page to provide content. When I look up [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea]Wikipedia's Tea page[/url] there is a lot of information which can all be included on your Tea page.

It really depends on the balance you wish to achieve for your site. What is the focus? Is "Tea" something you want to sell or educate your visitors about? Or is "Tea" a road marker used to guide readers to the real destination.

You asked "Do I link FROM my category page to my content pages or do I link from my content page to my category page".

My answer would be, both. Let's say "Bill's Black Tea" was one of your products. On your Black Tea category page, you would use anchor text to link to Bill's Black Tea. You might say "If you want a smooth tasting tea, try Bill's Black Tea". Your anchor text would be "Bill's Black Tea" which would link to that page.

From the Bill's Black Tea page, you may make a general statement such as "Connoisseurs of black tea will appreciate the smooth taste of Bill's Black Tea" with "black tea" being anchor text back to the category page.

You asked a great question. The answer requires some high level thinking on your part. Do you want your site to be an educational resource for visitors, and your site happens to also sell tea? Or are you a tea merchant who offers high level information about the products you offer?

There is not a right or wrong answer. It's market positioning.

[RyanKent]

and let me say how much I dislike how the Edit button is presently broken. Grrrrrrr

[AlanBleiweiss]

Ryan,

You added some great additional insight here for Bill to consider.  Excellent work on that.

And yes, I agree with you in not being happy that the "edit" link doesn't want to work lately here.