[Jump]

You may have noticed the thread tag feature here at Joystick Required. You may also have wondered what you should put when you create a new thread. The short and simple is, you should put terms that both, relate to the topic you are initiating, and are likely to be keywords or key phrases that someone would search for on the internet. Because that's what tags are for. They are topical magnets designed to attract searchers to the web page they are on.

When someone searches for something like "Jumpgate Evolution" on Google, they may find the corresponding tag page on this site. Which will present them with a list of threads tagged for that key phrase. They start reading, get hooked, register, and play Jumpgate. The tag has served it's purpose and is successful.

When you enter a common word as a tag, such as "suggestion", or "help", or your user name, the tag will be unsuccessful as it will end up in Google's supplemental results index.

So help this site grow and help Jumpgate by giving a little thought to your tag choices and think about what you would enter into a search engine if you wanted to find that topic.

Thanks for your time invested in reading this.

jump

[Aphelion]

Does that mean I should put Jumpgate Evolution in all my tags (on Jumpgate Evolution that is)?

I thought it was just related to this forum's search so I'll do that from now on. Also, does typing J-G-E work in the tags section?

[Jump]

No, the abbreviation will show you the expanded word but the tag itself is not really expanded, so no, don't do that.

Though tags may have some usefulness on the site itself, such as popular tags on the front page, they are intended as bait for searchers on the internet at large. A Google search for "Jumpgate Evolution" shows more than 1.5 million pages already. Granted that's a lot of noise from all the sites announcing it. And while they may have top billing now, it is only the fresh data that will sit at the top as those pages fall off the front pages of those sites. So it's important in the long term to keep the phrase fueled with quality fresh content. That way, they will end up in the community of Jumpgate and not just some game site posting a press release.