WordPress and Architecture

Website Architecture is the organization of (sometimes complex) online content into categories and the creation of an interface for displaying those categories. It is very important that your website architecture is compatible with your target market. Your site structure should be easy to navigate, and flow well for the people you intend to provide a product or service to.¹

There are some basics to WordPress architecture that are very important. Understanding the difference between Posts and Pages in your WordPress website will make a difference in how your site content is organized. Your website’s architecture is very important to your online success.

A Basic Layout

All websites should have the same basic layout: A header (top), navigation (can be top or side), content area, and a footer (bottom). When deciding where to put your navigation, keep in mind that studies have been done on “eye tracking” of websites, and where the visitor’s eye typically goes when surfing. These studies continue to show that most people view a website from left to right in an F shaped pattern.

Pages

The pages of your WordPress website should contain static content. Static content is text that informs your visitors and that will not change (or will change very infrequently). Things like “About Us”, “Contact Us”, and “Services” are considered to be static content. Static content CAN and should still be categorized and organized within your site. For example, a Services page could contain an overview of your company’s services (and say for example a Mission Statement). If you have enough content, you could then create a static page for each of your services…making them “children” of the Services page.

While we’re on the topic of Content Families: A Parent Page is a top level page. A Child page is a page that is organized beneath another page. An example would be: “Social Media Marketing” as a child of “Services”.

The best way to keep Pages vs. Posts straight is to remember that Pages are relatively static. You will rarely change their content (minor changes such as prices or phone numbers, etc.), and they are informative sections of your site that generally describe your business.

Posts

If your WordPress website is not primarily a blog to begin with, it’s a great idea to take advantage of the posting ability and add a Blog page to your site…or change it up and call it News or something quirky.

WordPress Posts are wonderful little things! They provide you with a nearly limitless way to keep your site updated and your visitors engaged. Setting up Categories will help keep your posts organized…making them easier to reference later, and even helping your visitor to understand them better. And yes, your post can be in more than one Category.

Basically, a post is an informative article or opinion piece that you provide to your readers to keep them engaged in your website. Posts keep them coming back, get their reactions (through comments), and even get them to SHARE! You can write a post as often as you like…several times a day, once a month…it’s up to you.

REMEMBER: If you’re going to post opinion pieces, don’t forget that the Web is a big place, and with the advent of Social Media, your words will have the ability to travel (and be shared) far and wide. Try not to post something that could reflect negatively on your business, especially if your posts are linked in any way to your business website.

Incredible Flexibility

Your WordPress website does not have to contain any posts at all. If your site is more of a brochure for your business, and you don’t have a desire (or the time) to engage your visitors on a regular basis, then there’s no need to post.

However, do keep in mind that posting to a blog or news section on your site and being social, keeps your visitors coming back…AND keeps the search engines coming back as well!

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¹ from Website Design.