You have a website that is based on WordPress and you want to provide an awesome content, right? You are on the right track to success. Yet, you still feel lost while trying to figure out the best way to serve that content: is it via pages or posts?
Both pages and posts in WordPress are default options for content types. Yes, they are extremely similar, but they serve a different purpose for the website.
What is the difference between posts and pages?
First, let’s clear out what posts and pages actually are.
Posts are content entries listed in reverse chronological order on your blog’s home page. In general, posts are used for timely content, such as news articles or blog posts, and are organized by category and tag. The option to categorize and tag the posts makes them a great choice for website sections where the content is updated on a regular basis.
On the other hand, pages are static content types, and they are meant to be permanent. Pages are used for content that is not time-sensitive, and has a long-lasting value for the visitors. Such examples are the About or the Contact page. Moreover, pages are used to organize the main content and give the website its structure.
So, in summary, what are the main differences between the posts and page
Time
Posts are mainly used for a content that is time sensitive and currently attractive, while pages are used for permanent content that visitors can reference to at any time.
Social media
Posts are meant to be shared on social media, because they are the prefect tool to interact and engage with your audience. Additionally, posts include a comments section right below the content, and pages don’t have that feature.
Structure and organization
Posts can be categorized and tagged, which is a recommended practice since tags and categories help visitors and Google’s bots and allow an easy navigation. On the other hand, pages are hierarchical and organized as child and parent pages, and don’t feature tags.
Authors and dates
By default, posts display authors names and published dates, which makes them more personalized. Contrarily, pages are universal, and they belong to the website, so they don’t include any information about the author or the date.
What is better for SEO – posts or pages?
Both posts and pages allow an effective search engine optimization (SEO) of your content and website. Your business goals and the specific content you will create to achieve those goals will determine whether you should use posts or pages.
Following is a short list of factors to keep in mind when choosing your content type.
- Posts can be categorized and tagged, and as a result, they allow the search engines to easily understand the topic of the content, hence, improve its relevance to specific search queries.
- Since pages are static and are not listed in reverse chronological order like posts, you may need to work more on the SEO front when you publish content using pages. Still, pages are a good choice for important information that you want to remain easily accessible on the website, like contact information or business hours.
- When it comes to SEO, the most important factor is to create high-quality and relevant content that provides value to your audience. By providing such content, you will attract new visitors, and you will retain the old ones, which overtime will lead to your organically improved rankings on the search results.
To recap: both posts and pages offer unique options for you to publish your content. Pages are effective when it comes to a content that should be long-lasting, while posts are excellent for articles, blog posts, news, or updates. Whether you use posts or pages, you should pay more attention to the content itself – make it unique, valuable and informative.
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