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Page Versus Blog Post—And When Do You Use What?
Do you know the difference between a blog post and a regular website page post? If so, do you know which one you should use for different circumstances? Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the key differences between blog posts and normal web pages, as well as when it’s most appropriate to use what.
Blog Posts
Blog posts are articles published on blogs. They are great for conveying ideas in an easily understandable, semi-casual way. Blog posts are typically written with the intention of providing information or entertainment. The following are some of the ways in which blog posts differ from conventional web pages.
Social Media Friendly
Unlike some other forms of web content, blog posts are meant to be shared on social media. If you want to capture the attention of a growing audience, especially among the younger generation, sharing your blog posts on social media is the way to go. Some WordPress themes contain built-in social media sharing functions and commenting functions for blogs, making it easy for users to upload content.
Organized Using Categories and Tags
One of the things that makes blog posts unique is that they can be categorized and separated with tags. For example, if you run a blog about gardening, one of your sub-topics might be vegetables. In that case, you could simply mark posts about vegetable growth with the tag “vegetables” so that they’re organized and easy for users to find when visiting your site. This is especially useful as you grow your blog. While there are no default categories and tags for pages, they can be added through a WordPress plugin. With tools like Elementor, you can also add a search function to page posts so you are not limited to blog post types.
Author and Date of Publication
Another key difference between blog posts and web pages is that blogs display the author and date the post was published. This information can be useful, but the downside is that your blogs could appear out of date. You might choose to reuse a blog that’s two years old but still contains relevant information—however, site visitors won’t necessarily know that. They might just see the publishing date and assume you’re running on old content, so it’s important to refresh your blogs as much as possible and note new changes so that people know that the information is more recent, or at least still relevant to the current day.
Another downside is that newest posts are displayed at the top, and thus older posts are archived based on month and year, where the site visitor will need to dig with their search – unless the posts are organized by categories and tags.
However, displaying an author and date for an event announcement is more ideal. Because then the reader can see what the date of the post was and quickly determine if the event is still relevant near term.
Page Posts
The main differentiator between blog posts and page posts is that the latter is used for static content. Unlike blogs, which are regularly updated, page posts exist for the primary purpose of providing business details, links, menu items, and other website-critical information.
Can Be Optimized for Social Media Using Plug-Ins
Blog posts are made to be shared on social media, but this is not always the case with regular page posts. It is now possible to add social media buttons to easily share page posts through WordPress plug-ins. The plug-in will largely depend on what features you’re using and what type of post you’re trying to share.
No Categories or Tags
Page posts aren’t organized according to tags like blog posts are. Instead, they follow more of a hierarchical structure and are organized as child-parent pages. Dropdown menus are a good example of this hierarchy, as they organize sub-topics under a wider heading. With tools like Elementor Pro, however, you can organize your page posts into categories, which is a crucial feature to have as your site expands and you add more content. Users should be able to easily navigate your site and find what they need.
Author and Publication Date Not Listed
Web pages do not usually list the author and publication date. This is because they contain static information or information that isn’t regularly updated. Some use page posts to repurpose and repost content, which is a flexibility I enjoy.
SEO
Blog posts and web pages are both great for boosting SEO, but for different reasons. Regular web pages contain more links and rank for head terms, whereas blog posts typically rank higher for long-tail keywords, which are larger, more specific keyword phrases designed to drive traffic, such as “organic food stores near me.” This is because web pages are lighter on content than blog posts, relying on links and competitive phrases for ranking purposes. You can improve your SEO performance the most by using both types of content, as they each work in different ways to drive traffic.
Ease of Use
I find the process of building blog and page posts on WordPress to be the same. Generally speaking, WordPress is considered a great platform for creating both kinds of posts, as it is flexible, user-friendly, and doesn’t require any sort of deep technical skill. Another thing to be aware of is that for regular web pages you can use page builders. We don’t recommend using page builders for blog posts. This can complicate the process more than is necessary and is why you typically see text-only blogs as opposed to blogs with fancy layouts and designed sections.
Conclusion
Blog posts and web pages are both important for conveying information and driving SEO, and it’s important to understand which type is best for your business under different circumstances. In reality, you need both blog posts and web pages for your digital marketing efforts.
For instance, if you are hosting an event, you will most likely want to use a blog post because it contains a date and lets people know when the event is happening–unless, of course, you plan on announcing your events via social media, in which case you would not need to bother with blog posts for these events. However, if you are planning to repurpose content, then a page post would be best.
Engage 2 Engage is here to help with all of your online marketing needs, including web pages and blog posts. Our team of marketing experts knows when and how to leverage these two types of posts. Learn more about how we can help your business grow by checking out our Marketing Programs!
