Home Page Confusion?
What Is "The Home Page"?
When you type any URL into a browser you are taken to a page that lives at that URL.
But one page of any site is unique and special. It’s the site’s “Home Page”.
A site’s “home” is the site’s TLD (top-level-domain). This is where "the site lives". Whatever page displays at The Home of the site, ie at "The TLD", that page is “The Home Page”.
At one time it used to be called "The Index Page", but the name is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with the "Name" of the page nor the "Title" of the page. It is the function of the page that matters.
And the function is to Display at The TLD.
Decisions need to be made about which page is going to be “The Home Page”.
Decisions:
Which page is the “Home” Page?
The WordPress default for the “Home” page is the “blogroll”. There are actually 3 options available
- Leave as is
- Take no further action
- Modify the blogroll by setting a specified “Welcome” post to be a “static post” (aka “sticky” post)
- Take action “Modify” (see below)
- Replace the blogroll with an alternative “Home Page” aka “static page”
- Take action “Replace” (see below)
Modify The Blogroll
You have 2 options regarding modifying the blogroll to display a fixed (or "sticky") post
- New Post
- Create a new post that you want as the “sticky” post
- Tick the box “Make Sticky”
- Existing Post
- Go to the post that you want as the “sticky” post
- Select “Quick edit”
- Tick the box “Make Sticky”
Replace The Blogroll:
Make the changes in one or other of
- Appearance/Customise/Static Front Page
or
- Settings/Reading
Either way, you then choose “Front Page Displays:-”
- Your Latest Posts
or
- A Static Front Page
- Specify the Front Page
- Specify the Posts Page
Comment below if you need further clarification
Recent Comments
34
Excellent! Crystal clear!
Is there a recommended preference for one over the other or does that depend on the nature of the site?
Thank you, Chris.
Yep, I can see that I'm going to need to know this info very soon with my first WA website. Thanks.
Thanks so much! Everything is so easy...once you know what to do.
Saving this info for later! :)
This cleared some things up and gave me a couple things to consider - I have always had a home static page but I really, really like the sticky blog page- nice option. appreciate you writing this up so easy to see and digest.
Like you, I really REALLY like the "sticky post" option because it gives me both a mini "Introduction page" AND a proper blogroll.
The reason I keep switching back and forth is the fact that the blogroll can't be made "pretty" (with highlighting and colour and images) like you can with a page.
hmmm, good point. I will have to look into this and experiment with it myself. My older sites, I always wanted to make changes to the static page because I wanted it to look like it was evolving with fresh content not just same ol' every time someone returned. Pages are typically more laborious. Anyway, will spend some time soon looking at this. thanks again
Thank you for the information! I was able to make my "Welcome" post sticky on my homepage finally. Exactly what I have been needing to do for awhile but never realized how easy it was. Much appreciated!
I've been thinking about the best approach for my home page. Do you have suggestions re: to roll or not to roll?
That's a matter of personal preference, and depends on how you plan to promote the site. I have actually changed my mind about 8 times and may yet change it again.
On a side note, you mention title and description....are these a part of the indexing equation...i.e., should the be keyword intensive?
There's general agreement that the page should centre on a keyword, and that the keyword should be embedded in the page title, and it should appear once (but no more than once) in the first paragraph of the page.
After that you should forget about it and write the rest of the page naturally. If they keyword naturally occurs, that's fine, don't feel you have to avoid it, but don't make any effort to force it in where it doesn't naturally want to fall.
It's less to do with indexing - that happens naturally - but the keyword is highlighted on the SERP - the searcher sees it more clearly.
Grat insight, thanks! I have to wonder at the moniker key word, as in my niche, its all about key phrases, which can be somewhat clumsy in the flow of writing. Your tips are very useful!!
I hate the word "keyword". I prefer "search string", which I truncate to $string (that's down to my programmer background). I wrote an article on it, but I can't remember where it is.
See more comments
Hi, may i know why is the a HOME page in my website whereas i did not create a page for it? How do i delete it? And if i keep it, how do i type contents to it? Thank you
How To Make Any Page A Home Page - in Word Press Try going through this training....should be of help?
wow! it works! thanks a million.. truly appreciate your kind sharing. God bless
@rosieM Excellent response, on my behalf, thanks.