Tags in WordPress are incredibly useful. They help organize content, improve internal linking, and even contribute to SEO when used correctly. But what if you want a cleaner design? Or maybe you’ve got too many tags cluttering your posts? In some cases, it makes sense to hide them. In this guide, we’ll show you how to make tags invisible in WordPress—whether visually, in code, or by using plugins—without harming your site’s SEO.

Let’s dive in.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Before we hide them, let’s talk about what WordPress tags actually do.

Tags are one of the two default taxonomies in WordPress (the other being categories). They’re meant to describe specific details of your content. While categories group posts broadly (like “Recipes”), tags zoom in on specifics (like “gluten-free” or “20-minute meals”).

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By default, WordPress displays these tags under your post title or at the bottom of your posts. Clicking a tag leads visitors to an archive page that lists all posts with that tag.

Why Tags Can Be a Problem

Used poorly, tags can cause:

  • Cluttered interfaces, especially when too many tags are listed under a post.
  • SEO issues, such as duplicate content or thin archive pages.
  • Tag bloat, where every post has unique or unnecessary tags.

In cases like these, hiding tags makes a lot of sense.

There are several strategic and aesthetic reasons to hide tags in WordPress:

  1. Cleaner Post Layout: A minimalist look is often more user-friendly and modern. Removing visible tags can help streamline your content.
  2. Improve SEO: Tag archives can sometimes dilute your site’s SEO by creating duplicate or thin content. While noindexing is one option, hiding tags from public view helps reduce reliance on them entirely.
  3. Control Over Navigation: You might prefer to guide users through categories, breadcrumbs, or custom menus instead of tags.
  4. Prevent Tag Spam: Especially on multi-author blogs, contributors might overuse or misuse tags.
Make Tags Invisible in WordPress
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Now let’s look at three ways to hide tags effectively.

Method 1: Hide Tags Using CSS

The quickest and safest way—especially for non-developers—is to use CSS to hide tags from the front-end. This method doesn’t delete anything; it simply makes tags invisible to your site visitors.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Find the Tag Element Use your browser’s Inspect Element tool (right-click on the tag and select Inspect) to identify the class or ID.Common ones include .tags, .entry-tags, or .post-tags.

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Add Custom CSS Go to your WordPress dashboard: Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS

Insert This Code:

.entry-tags {
  display: none;
}

Publish and Check Your Site

Pros:

  • Easy to implement
  • No risk to your site structure
  • Can be reversed at any time

Cons:

  • Tags are still present in your site’s source code
  • Search engines may still crawl and index them

Method 2: Remove Tags via WordPress Theme Files

Want to completely remove the display of tags from your theme? You’ll need to edit your theme’s template files. This gives you greater control but does involve some light coding.

⚠️ Important: Always use a child theme for customizations to avoid losing changes during theme updates.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Access Theme Files Go to: Appearance → Theme File Editor, or use FTP/SFTP or cPanel.

Locate the Right File Common files where tags appear:

  • single.php
  • content-single.php
  • template-parts/content.php

Find and Remove This Code:

<?php the_tags('', '', ''); ?>

Or it may look like:

<?php the_tags('Tags: ', ', ', '<br>'); ?>

Comment It Out or Delete It

<!-- <?php the_tags('', '', ''); ?> -->

Save and Refresh

Pros:

  • Clean removal from source code
  • Better for SEO if done correctly

Cons:

  • Risk of breaking theme layout if edited incorrectly
  • Requires some PHP knowledge

Method 3: Make Tags Invisible via WordPress Plugin

Not comfortable editing code? No problem. You can use a plugin to hide or control tag visibility.

Recommended Plugins:

  1. WP Meta and Date Remover Removes meta information like tags and categories from posts.
  2. Hide Categories and Tags for WordPress Specifically designed to hide tags or categories from post meta or archives.

How to Use:

  • Install and activate the plugin from the Plugins > Add New section.
  • Navigate to plugin settings and select the option to hide tags.
  • Save your changes and review your site.

Pros:

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Quick setup

Cons:

  • May slow down your site if it adds scripts or styles
  • Plugins can conflict with others or themes

Here’s the tricky part—hiding tags might help or hurt your SEO, depending on how you do it.

When It Helps:

  • When your tag archives are thin (e.g., only one post per tag).
  • When you’re using tags solely for internal organization.
  • If you’re targeting a clean crawl structure.

When It Hurts:

  • If tags are part of your SEO strategy or used for keyword clustering.
  • When removing tags breaks internal linking patterns.
  • If you remove visibility but still allow search engines to index tag archives.

Pro Tip:

If you want to keep tags but prevent search engines from indexing tag archives, use Yoast SEO or Rank Math to add a noindex tag to them.

In Yoast SEO:

  • Go to: SEO → Search Appearance → Taxonomies
  • Set “Show Tags in search results?” to No

Best Practices for Making Tags Invisible

Whether you choose CSS, PHP, or a plugin, follow these best practices:

  • ✅ Always back up your site using a reliable tool like BackupBuddy before editing theme files to avoid losing important data.
  • ✅ Use a child theme for PHP edits.
  • ✅ Test changes on a staging site first.
  • ✅ Use browser dev tools to identify the correct classes.
  • ✅ Monitor your SEO and site health using Google Search Console.

There you have it—three easy ways to make tags invisible in WordPress, along with some smart SEO considerations.

To recap:

  • Use CSS for a quick, non-destructive solution.
  • Edit PHP templates for complete control.
  • Choose a plugin if you prefer an easier, no-code route.

Always remember: the goal isn’t just to hide things, but to do it in a way that supports your user experience and search performance. Whether you want a cleaner design or a sharper SEO strategy, hiding WordPress tags can be a smart move—if done thoughtfully.

Have any questions or other WordPress tips to share? Drop them in the comments below!

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