When to Use WordPress Posts vs. Pages When Creating Content
After reviewing some of the websites posted at https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/getting-started/please-give-me-feedback-on-my-website/ - it appears to me that there is a confusion regarding the use of WordPress posts vs. page when creating content.
Thought it might be useful for my fellow WA members, I decided to write a little bit on the difference between WordPress posts vs. pages and categories vs. tags.
Pages
Simply put, pages are static content - content that doesn't change over time. They are meant for one-off type of content e.g. About Us, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, etc.
Posts
Posts on the other hand are entries listed in reverse chronological order, be it on the blog home page or any other page you set in Settings - Reading.
These entries can be grouped together using Categories.
So, if your niche is about dog puppy for instance, you might want to classify your blog posts into the following categories:
- puppy diseases
- puppy foods
- puppy toys
- etc
This to help your visitors to find related content on your site easily. It also helps search engines understand what your website is all about.
WordPress has this thing called Tags to classify your posts even further. Tags are similar to Categories but they are usually used to classify your posts in greater detail.
The use of tags is entirely optional but each post must be attached to at least one category.
By default WordPress created the "Uncategorized" category which you can rename to something else.
Using the above example, Tags for the Puppy Diseases Categories might include:
- respiratory disease
- bowel disease
- skin disease
- etc
When to Use Pages vs. Categories
If the content is one-off such as About Us, Our Products, Our Services, etc, then use pages.
But if you'll be adding more content to it then use posts and classify those posts using Categories.
That's it for now folks. I hope this helps. Best wishes to your online business endeavors...
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Recent Comments
6
Thanks for the comments. I think what you are saying is pretty much what I have in mind. I intend to post helpful tips as well as new product information. New product information will also be added to the appropriate pages where applicable.
I am developing my website around my hobby of RC model planes and most of my content will be as valid in 10 years time as it is today. Presumably it would be best to put this info into pages and keep my posts for new developments and technology that are fresh to my marketplace. http://rookiercflyer.siterubix.com/ Comments welcome.
Hi Carol & Colin. Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate it.
So sorry for not replying to your post sooner. I was out of town for a week and couldn't get a reliable internet connection while I was there.
I can see your point in regards to using page instead of post for your website. It's a good one!
One thing you might want to consider though is your readers' perception of your site. If they keep on seeing only say 10 pages on your site, they may think that there's no new content on your site. When in fact there is, because you continuously update your pages.
Therefore, instead of updating a page, I believe it's better to create a new one. In my humble opinion, a post serves this purpose better than a page.
Thanks a lot for a short and good post on this topic. Ive spent some time thinking about this my self, since my content mostly will be rapid updates. I actually like the sub-page option in Wordpress.
Keep ut the good work!
Hi Fredrik, glad to know you like the article.
A child like any other page is meant for static content. So, it's more suitable if you use it to create Our Team page under the About Us page for instance.
Having said that, there's no rigid rule per se when it come to using post or page. Basically you can use it anyway you like. After all it's your website.
It's just that especially for a business website we need to take into consideration the user friendliness of our site as well as SEO.
Nice to meet you. Hope to see you again soon.
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Jewel, I have posted a blog on my website but it does not show my whole blog. At the bottom of the blog it says "read more", but nothing comes up.
I'm also having problems with categories. I have read this several times and I am still having problems. I guess i'm too stupid. My website is: baking-with-joanne.com. I was hoping to get this site up an running so I can get some income coming in.
Thank you for all your help. Jo-Anne