Would it be better for my website to have a new page for every article or should I just make a blog section on my site. Would either one be better for seo? and why? Thanks.
I would create a blog section. Because if you make a new page, everytime you write an article, can you imagine, if one day something happens with your website? you probably will loose those pages, and you do not have the database to back up. Using database is an advantage, because it stores the history of what you wrote.. Plus, if you create a page, it would be in .html page? I would not dare to imagine, creating about hundreds html page ..I would use a blogging software.. Using a blog is a more simple task, just write a post, and it will be stored automatically.. For SEO, as I am aware of, search engines crawl fresh dynamic content faster than static one..
Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and installed wordpress. I have been spending all night on the theme and am starting to get the hang of it ( I have never used wordpress or changed a theme, thats why its taking so long). Almost looks like my site now. I am hoping by the end of 2morrow it will be done!
Since you are new to this and probably in the market for a theme, avoid the free themes. See the warning in my signature line. As for the Page vs. Post and what to use and when, that can be a fine line sometimes. Pages and Posts in WordPress are essentially the same with a few differences. Pages are normally used for static content such as pages for About, Contact, Privacy Policy, Terms, etc. Pages can be set up as a landing page or section page where you need to have some specific calls-to-action above and beyond normal archive, blog, and category pages. Posts are for more transitory, dynamic in nature. Posts get syndicated via RSS, while Pages do not. Sometimes Posts are about something current, and thus will age and become dated material. If you have anything that needs to be kept in the forefront, and does not need to be syndicated, then it is best to have the content on a Page. For example, lets say you programmed a special type of software and want to sell it. You would create a Page for that software and include subPages for your FAQ, Documentation, etc. Anytime a new version comes out for your software, you will create a new Post to announce the updated version and what is new. As for the SEO aspects, there is really no difference between them except that by virtue of the RSS feed a lot of bots will pick up on the new content quickly. This should not be a deciding factor on whether you create a Page or a Post for the reasons I described above. Pages in the long-run (like the software page I described above) have stable, static Urls that are more likely to get linked to. If they are in a Post, the linker will be looking for that actual software page and come up empty. To handle the discovery of Pages, you would always use a Sitemap plugin. The deFacto plugin for that would be Google XML Sitemaps which will auto-generate the sitemap and automatically inform Google, Yahoo, Bing when a page is added or updated. This is not quite like pinging a Post, but close.
Creating individual pages is old school, go with a blog section. You can easily create a homepage, then add a blog section using Wordpress.org.
Very informative. I did end up going with wordpress here. I didnt use a template theme. I coded one myself that matches my site exactly. I Thought it was going to be hard, turns out it is just like doing any other site really. Thanks for all the answers guys!
Fantastic! Learn a little Php and get to know a few WordPress hooks and you'll be having all sorts of fun!
So far this is what I have: slimshock.com/blog tried to make it look a much like my site slimshock.com as possible. I hope the site will be done within the next two weeks or so (depending on my free time). I am glad I took the leap with wordpress. I have worked with Joomla before, but never wordpress or any other blog. I like wordpress because of its simplicity. Thanks agin for your opinions on the matter. I was actually wondering if I set my RSS up correctly? In the upper right corner, is that the way it should be? Should I get a google feed burner account? I have never subscribed to a RSS feed before, and never set one up.
Both layouts (old and WP) where pretty much similar, so you had an easy go of it. Looks seamless! You can actually start moving some of your existing content into WordPress using Add Pages. May have to do either .htaccess redirection, or use a plugin to do it for you. There are a few of them, can't recommend any since I don't use them (old school .htaccess boy). Before you start moving stuff in, you will want to get to move the WordPress "front page" into the root and re-create the home page using a new template for your theme. The instructions can be found in the WordPress Codex (your number one source for information on everything) by visiting Creating a Static Front Page and Giving WordPress its Own Directory While Leaving Your Blog in the Root Directory. Your RSS is set up right. The button is a little large though. And yes, you should use FeedBurner without a doubt. Besides just handling your feeds, they have a lot of promotional utilities, handle email subscriptions (feeds by mail), monetization for feeds, stats, yada, yada. The only thing you have to think about is the "basename" for your feed. Once it is set, it cannot be changed. If you change the name, the old name becomes available again. I made the mistake of changing my feed name, and was not aware that I would lose the old name. Well, some dudes out there monitor that kind of stuff and snatch them up --- and all the subscribers that went with it. Live and learn.
If it is possible something will happen to your documents in the file system, chances are it can also happen to your databases. Just because you have it stored in a database, it is not automatically backed up (unless you have it set up to do so). I use both traditional form of pages, and databases, you need to back up both. You are just spouting nonsense here. I'm aware you posed this as a question, assuming OP would use .html files. You could easily make a simple database table and simple PHP script to output the data. It just seems to me as though your mindset is that only blogs may use a database and that there is no dynamic content outside of blogging software/scripts. Yes, it's easier using blogging scripts (a couple clicks to setup with Fantastico) but if you make the database yourself, you have so much more control over it, you can do everything your way, instead of having to use plugins to get your site the way you want. I'm not saying "Don't use blogs", just don't use them for absolutely everything you do. Personally, I only use them really for content research purposes and stuff I have much less interest in, if it goes well then I transfer it all to a real site.
Much better if you'll make a blog. You can use its RSS feed to promote it. (unlike if you'll make it as individual pages)
Blog it! I always saw you decided to go with Wordpress. That was a good choice as well. Any other new questions about Wordpress or your blog. PM me anytime!
Thanks VOnline! If I have some questions I need answered I will make sure and PM you. I really appreciate that.
Blog is much better than any article pages, If you use any kind of cms like wrodpress or anything else than it's too easy to create one, you need to just post your articles on your blog, nothing else.