Get a FREE e-course "Make Money Blogging". Learn:

          
  • How to start a blog: Keyword research, installing WordPress, themes & plugins
  • How to get more traffic to your blog
  • How to make more money from your blog
  • Tips, tricks and step-by-step instructions that even a 10 year old can follow!
Completely FREE. Also get access to my newsletter. Absolutely no spam, guaranteed.

Name:

Email:


Post Versus Page in WordPress: When to Choose What

 

Post Vs Page in WordPress

Post Vs Page in WordPress

You know how to publish a post in WordPress, and you also know how to publish a page.

But let’s answer the underlying fundamental question: When should you put your content in a post, and when should you put it in a page?

If you have been wondering about this, you are at the right place – read on!

 

When to Use a Post in WordPress

WordPress posts are listed on your blog in a reverse chronological order – most themes list your latest post at the top, followed by your older posts.

This is WordPress’ default behavior, and it tells us a lot about the intended use of posts – they are used for transient content.

Now what does that mean?

Using WordPress Posts

Using WordPress Posts

It means that posts can be used for content whose importance is temporary – for example, news articles.

It doesn’t mean that posts are less important pages – in fact, most of your valuable content of your blog would be written as posts. Its just that the content in posts keeps getting buried by WordPress as you write newer posts, and ultimately goes to the archives.

Thus, after you have written enough new posts, the only way to for readers to reach your older posts is either through your blog’s search function, or through results in search engines like Google.

This means that any information that needs to be available to your readers all the time should not be in posts – all other information is published using posts.

 

When to Use a Page in WordPress

Pages are static in nature – they do not get buried as you publish newer pages. In fact, most themes do not even display pages unless you specifically include them in your menus.

Static Content in WordPress Pages

Static Content in WordPress Pages

Therefore, pages are used to publish content that is permanent in nature – something that you always want to show your visitors. For example, your “Contact Us” or “About Us” pages.

You can also display other useful information using pages. On my blog, I am also displaying the tools and services used by me and the most popular posts as pages.

Pages are static, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change them – just like posts, pages can (and should) be updated as and when the information contained in them changes. For example, if your phone number changes, you can go ahead and update your “Contact Us” page just like you would update a post.

 

Post, Page and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Google and all other search engines treat posts and pages equally – they make absolutely no distinction between the two.

In fact, there is no difference between the slugs (URLs) of posts and pages, which means WordPress itself does not differentiate much between them, except for certain things like where & how they are displayed. Even under the hood, posts and pages are stored in the same table by WordPress!

Therefore, you should not choose between posts and pages while keeping search engine optimization or SEO in mind – it makes absolutely no difference!

 

A Side Not on Posts, Pages and SEO

WordPress Post Page and SEO

WordPress Post Page and SEO

Although there is inherently no difference between using posts or pages when it comes to SEO, your site structure might make a difference.

Many of your pages – like your “About Us” page – would be linked to from your homepage and from most of your posts. Thus, search engines might treat them as more important than other posts on your blog.

But you need to understand that this is because of your link structure, and not because they are pages!

 

Examples of Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Products and Services Offered
  • Advertising Related Information
  • Most Popular Posts
  • Most Commented Posts

 

Examples of Posts

  • Anything other than the above!
Enjoyed reading this post? Get articles about blogging, WordPress, getting traffic, making money, and more. Plus, get a FREE e-course "Make Money Blogging".
Just provide your details, and get started instantly!
No spam, guaranteed.
Name:
Email:

 

 

My blogs are hosted reliably at HostGator

I run 20+ blogs, and each of these is hosted at HostGator. I have been using their service for a long time, and have never experienced any downtime. They also have a very responsive customer service team.
 
HostGator provides the most reliable and fully featured WordPress hosting service. Their plans start as low as $3.96 per month for unlimited hosting - try out HostGator now!

Speak Your Mind

*