How to Properly Change, Move and Delete WordPress Categories

How to Properly Change, Move and Delete WordPress Categories (2023)

Categories are a key part of organizing content in WordPress. As your website grows and evolves over time, you may find yourself needing to make changes to your category structure. Perhaps you want to rename a category to be more descriptive, move a category to a different section of your site, or delete a category entirely.

While changing WordPress categories is a fairly straightforward process, it‘s important to approach it thoughtfully. Category changes can have a significant impact on the usability and SEO of your WordPress site. In this guide, we‘ll walk through how to properly change, move and delete categories in WordPress.

Let‘s dive in!

Important Considerations Before Changing Categories

Before making any changes to your WordPress categories, it‘s important to consider the potential impact, especially if you have an established site. Here are a few key things to keep in mind:

1. User experience – Your category structure helps users find the content they are looking for. Moving or deleting categories can disrupt that, so make sure any changes actually improve the browsing experience.

2. URL structure – Each category has its own archive page and URL. Changing the category slug or deleting a category can result in broken links from both internal and external sources. Setting up the proper redirects is crucial.

3. SEO – Search engines use categories to understand and rank the content on your site. Dramatically changing categories can affect your keyword optimization and search rankings. Avoid deleting categories with a lot of search equity.

With those considerations in mind, let‘s look at how to actually make changes to your WordPress categories.

How to Rename or Edit a Category in WordPress

Renaming or editing a category is the simplest change you can make. To do it:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Posts > Categories
2. Hover over the category you want to change and click the "Edit" button that appears
3. Update the category Name, Slug, Parent category, and/or Description
4. Click "Update" to save your changes

Keep in mind that changing the category slug will change the URL of the category archive page. In most cases, you‘ll want to set up a redirect from the old URL to the new one (more on redirects in the next section).

If you just want to change the name or description of the category, you likely won‘t need a redirect, as the URL will remain the same. Updating the category name will automatically update it everywhere the category appears on your site.

How to Move a WordPress Category to a New Slug

If you want to change the URL of a category archive page without changing the name, you‘ll need to edit the category slug. For example, you may want to change a category URL from "/blog/category/example" to just "/example". Here‘s how:

1. Go to Posts > Categories in your dashboard
2. Find the category you want to edit and hover over it
3. Click the "Edit" button
4. Update the category slug to your desired URL
5. Click the "Update" button to save the change

Now comes the important part – setting up a redirect. Changing the category slug will break any existing links pointing to the old category URL. To prevent 404 errors and retain SEO value, you need to redirect the old slug to the new one.

The easiest way to set up redirects in WordPress is using the Redirection plugin. After installing and activating the plugin:

1. Go to Tools > Redirection
2. Click "Add New"
3. Set the Source URL to the old category URL (e.g. /blog/category/example)
4. Set the Target URL to the new category URL (e.g. /example)
5. Select "Redirections" as the group
6. Set the HTTP code to "301 Permanent"
7. Click "Add Redirect"

Now any requests to the old category URL will be redirected to the new one, and you‘ll retain any SEO authority associated with the original URL.

How to Properly Delete a WordPress Category

Deleting a category should be done with care, as it can have unintended consequences. When you delete a category in WordPress, a few things happen:

• The category archive page and URL will return a 404 error if requested
• Any internal links to the category archive will break
• Posts assigned only to that category will be set to "Uncategorized" (or your default category)

So before deleting, make sure to:

1. Reassign or delete posts in the category
   Go through all the posts assigned to the category you want to delete. If they fit in another existing category, edit them to change the category assignment. If they are no longer needed, delete them.

2. Set up a redirect
   Use the Redirection plugin to catch requests to the soon-to-be-deleted category page and redirect them to a relevant page, like your blog homepage or a related category. This will help retain link equity and avoid 404 errors.

Once you‘ve taken those precautions, you can delete the category:

1. Go to Posts > Categories
2. Hover over the category you want to delete
3. Click the "Delete" link that appears
4. Click "OK" to confirm deletion

Your category is now deleted, and any posts not reassigned to a different category will appear under "Uncategorized" (or your default category).

Changing the Default WordPress Category

By default, WordPress assigns posts without a category to an "Uncategorized" category. You can change this default to a custom category of your choosing. Some people opt to rename the "Uncategorized" category to something like "Other" or "Miscellaneous", while others change it to their most used category as a fallback.

Here‘s how to change the default category:

1. Go to Settings > Writing in your dashboard
2. Next to "Default Post Category", select your desired default from the dropdown
3. Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page

Now, any posts created without a category assigned will automatically be added to your selected default category. Changing the default category will not affect the category of existing posts.

Working with Subcategories in WordPress

Subcategories allow you to better organize large collections of content by creating hierarchy. For example, a Food blog may have high-level categories for Recipes, Restaurants, and Kitchen Tips. Within Recipes, you may have subcategories for Appetizers, Main Dishes, Desserts, etc.

To create a subcategory:

1. Go to Posts > Categories
2. Click the "Add New Category" button at the top
3. Give your subcategory a name
4. Select the appropriate parent category from the "Parent Category" dropdown
5. Add a slug and description (optional)
6. Click the "Add New Category" button to create your subcategory

Your new subcategory will now appear nested under the parent category you selected. Posts can be assigned to the subcategory just like a normal category. Subcategory archive pages and URLs will include the parent category slug, like "/recipes/appetizers".

You can create subcategories within subcategories to create even deeper levels of hierarchy if needed. Just be careful not to go too deep, as an overly complex category structure can become difficult to navigate.

Converting Categories to Tags (and Vice Versa)

Categories and tags are the two main taxonomies WordPress uses to classify content. While they are similar, they serve distinct purposes:

• Categories are meant for broad grouping of post topics
• Tags are meant to describe the specific details of a post

In general, categories should be used sparingly to define the main subjects your site covers, while tags can be more numerous and specific. Your posts should always have a category assigned, while tags are optional.

If you find that a category is too granular, you may want to convert it to a tag instead. To convert categories to tags (or tags to categories):

1. Install and activate the Categories to Tags Converter plugin
2. Go to Tools > Import and click "Run Importer" under Categories and Tags Converter
3. Select the Categories or Tags tab
4. Select the checkbox next to the items you‘d like to convert
5. Choose either "Convert Categories" or "Convert Tags" depending on which way you are converting
6. Click "Convert"

The plugin will automatically convert the selected categories to tags or tags to categories. Note that if you are converting a parent category with subcategories, the subcategories will be converted to top-level tags and lose their hierarchy.

Tips for Using Categories Effectively in WordPress

With all the mechanics of changing categories out of the way, let‘s talk about some best practices for using categories to organize your WordPress content:

1. Plan your categories in advance
   Before adding content, outline the main topics you plan to cover and create corresponding categories. Consider creating subcategories as well if you know you‘ll have enough content to warrant further segmentation. Planning ahead will save you from having to recategorize a bunch of posts later.

2. Keep your categories focused and limited
   Resist the urge to create a category for every topic you write about. Stick to a handful of main categories and use tags for more granular topics. A good rule of thumb is to use categories for the table of contents of a hypothetical book about your content.

3. Use clear, descriptive category names
   Category names should clearly describe what a reader will find when they click on them. Avoid clever or vague names that don‘t mean anything out of context. Consider including keywords in your category names where appropriate to assist with SEO.

4. Provide category descriptions
   Take advantage of the description field when creating categories to explain what type of content belongs in each one. This helps with SEO and makes the purpose of each category clear to anyone else managing content on your site (like writers or editors).

5. Assign a primary category to every post
   Make sure every post on your site has one primary category assigned. This helps define the main focus of each piece of content. You can assign secondary categories as well if a post covers multiple topics, but try to keep it to 2-3 max. Remember, you can always use tags to further describe a post.

6. Use categories in your site navigation
   Make it easy for visitors to find content by adding links to your core categories in your site‘s navigation menu. You can also display a list of categories in your sidebar or footer.

7. Regularly audit and update your categories
   As your site grows, take time to periodically review your categories and tags. Merge or delete categories that are too similar or no longer relevant. Look for opportunities to further segment popular categories with subcategories. And make sure every post is properly categorized.

By being strategic and proactive with your use of categories, you‘ll create a better experience for your readers and give your WordPress site a strong foundation for SEO and content management.

Conclusion

Changing, moving and deleting categories in WordPress is relatively straightforward, but it‘s important to approach these tasks with care to avoid hurting your site. Always consider the impact on user experience, URL structure and SEO before making any major changes to categories.

Use the step-by-step instructions in this guide to properly edit, delete and redirect categories in WordPress. And keep the best practices in mind when planning and managing the categories on your site.

Properly utilizing categories is key to keeping your WordPress site organized and user-friendly as it grows. Put these tips into practice and make categories a core part of your WordPress content strategy. Your readers will thank you!