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What Is the Difference Between a Page and a Post?

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When designing a website in WordPress, you have two basic options to share the content you are creating. You have the option of creating a page or a post. There are different advantages for each of these options and it is important to understand the key differences as you begin to plan and design your website.

Pages

  • Static Content
  • Provides timeless information or evergreen content
  • Can set up subpages
  • Custom features and design

The biggest advantage is that you can custom design each of the pages. This allow you to create a static page with information about specific product or aspect of your website. You can use the custom plug ins to create a design that works well for whatever purpose you have. For example, if you are creating an author website, you may have a page with information about the author, another page with information about each book or book series, and another page with contact information on it. These pages will stay the same over time and not need to change.

Posts

  • Posts are timely
  • Post are archived by month
  • Posts work well in RSS feeds
  • Posts encourage comments
  • Posts work well in social media

Posts are the blogging portion of your website. They are timely and allow you to share up-to-date or current information that may become stale eventually. Since the posts are archived and published with a clear date, you do not need to worry about keeping everything evergreen. Another big advantage is that posts allow comments which allows you to interact with customers. Depending on your type of business this can be a big advantage. You can also use the blog posts as part of an RSS feed, which makes keeping in contact with your customers much easier.  Thinking about the author website example, a post would be a good place to announce new visits to a bookstore, share teasers about upcoming books and share news with your readers.

Choosing Between Posts and Pages

A website designed for a business will likely have both pages and posts as part of it. A page can be set up for each type of service that the business offers or to list different types of products. The contact information should be on a page since it should not change. However, aspects of your website should be able to interact well with social media. The posts or blog portion of the site can be used to announce new items or to share news about the store.  As you design each new piece of content or page look at the purpose behind it and decide which tool works the best for you.

Pros and Cons of Plugins

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WordPress is one of the most versatile options when it comes to web design. It is also one of the most popular platforms available. One of the advantages of WordPress is the number of plugins that are available to help with running your website. A plugin is a piece of code or software that you can insert into your website to help you complete a number of tasks.

Pros of Plugins

One of the biggest advantages of plugins is that programming exists that can help you accomplish different goals with your website. Some of the plugins are designed to help with things like measuring your analytics, increasing sign ups to your newsletter or working with your email distribution system to make sure your customers are having a positive experience.

Plugins also make including social media on your site very easy. The plugins can connect your customers to your social media site s and help to build out your brand as your customers share your information with their friends and family. It is essential to harness this potential and plugins make it easy to do.

Cons of Plugins

One of the biggest disadvantages to using plugins is that it can make your website vulnerable to hacking or open to security issues. Generally, this happens with older plugins that are not kept updated by your web designer. These security issues can be quite serious. However, you can avoid them if you take the time to update the plugins on a regular basis. Additionally, if you choose a paid version over a free version, you are less likely to run into security issues since patches can be issued if vulnerabilities are revealed.

Another issue is possibly installing too many plugins. This can lead to a few different issues. For example, plugins from different designers may not interact together well. This can make them less effective or slow down your site. The solution is to choose to use plugins from one creator to have your site run more smoothl.  Additionally, if you notice lag after installing a plugin, it may because the coding on that plugin is not written well, and you may want to consider a different option.