In Brief
There’s no strict right or wrong way to use pages and posts – WordPress lets you choose
Most websites use pages for static, permanent content (About, Contact, Services) and posts for regular updates
Posts use categories and tags to organise content, while pages use a parent-child hierarchy
Both pages and posts can rank in Google – search engines don’t favour one over the other
The typical small business website combines core pages with a blog section for fresh content
You’re building your WordPress website, and you’ve hit a familiar stumbling block.
The dashboard shows two options that look almost identical: Pages and Posts.
Both let you add content.
Both have similar editors.
So which one should you actually use?
This question catches out plenty of small business owners. You might have built your entire site using posts, only to wonder why your Services section has a date stamped on it.
Or perhaps you’ve steered clear of posts altogether because you don’t consider yourself a blogger.
The good news? Once you understand what each content type is designed for, the choice becomes a bit more obvious.
This guide breaks down the differences with practical examples, so you can structure your WordPress site properly from the start.
Table of Contents
What Are WordPress Posts?
Posts are built for content that’s regularly updated or organised by topic.
When WordPress launched, posts were the heart of blogging. Today, they remain the right choice for any content that benefits from appearing in date order.
Think of posts like the updates you’d share on social media or in a newsletter. They’re relevant now, but that relevance fades over time.
A post about your spring sale makes sense in March but looks outdated by June. An article covering the latest Google algorithm change is valuable when it’s fresh but may need updating as things move on.
When you publish a post in WordPress, it automatically appears on your blog page with the newest content at the top. This reverse date order means visitors always see your latest work first.
Key Features of Posts
Posts include several features suited to regularly updated content:
- Categories and tags help you organise posts by topic. You might use categories like “Business Tips” or “Industry News” and add tags for more specific subjects.
- Publication dates show automatically, telling visitors when you published the content. The author’s name displays by default too.
- Comments come switched on, giving readers a way to engage with your content and ask questions.
- RSS feeds pick up your posts automatically, so subscribers receive updates whenever you publish something new.
What Are WordPress Pages?
Pages hold more static content that forms the backbone of your website.
Unlike posts, they’re not tied to a specific date or listed chronologically. Your About page doesn’t expire. The information on it should stay relevant whether someone reads it today or two years from now.
Pages are the permanent fixtures of your website. They hold the essential information visitors need:
- who you are
- what you offer
- and how to contact you
Most websites have a handful of core pages that rarely change, even as the business grows.
When you create a page in WordPress, it sits outside your blog entirely. Pages won’t appear in your blog feed or RSS.
Instead, visitors typically find them through your navigation menu or internal links.
Key Features of Pages
Pages work differently from posts in several ways:
- No categories or tags means pages aren’t grouped by topic. Each page stands alone as its own piece of content.
- Hierarchical structure lets pages have parent-child relationships. Your “Services” page could have “Web Design” and “SEO” as child pages sitting beneath it, creating a logical structure for your site.
- Navigation menus are where pages belong. Visitors expect to find your core pages in the main menu at the top of your site.
- Comments stay off by default because pages aren’t designed for discussion or feedback.
The Key Differences at a Glance
| Feature | Posts | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | Categories and tags | Parent-child hierarchy |
| Date displayed | Yes | No |
| Author shown | Yes | No |
| Comments | On by default | Off by default |
| Appears in blog | Yes | No |
| RSS feed | Included | Not included |
| Best for | Regular, dated content | Static, permanent content |
Which Should You Use? Practical Examples
Here’s the thing: there’s no strict right or wrong answer here.
WordPress won’t stop you creating your About page as a post, or publishing blog articles as pages.
The software doesn’t care. Your website will still work either way.
So the choice is genuinely yours. Some people run entire websites using only pages.
Others use posts for almost everything. Neither approach is technically wrong.
That said, most WordPress websites follow a similar pattern because it makes the site easier to manage and helps visitors find what they’re looking for. Understanding how the majority of sites work gives you a solid starting point, even if you decide to do things differently.
How Most Websites Use Pages and Posts
The typical small business website uses pages for its core structure and posts for regular content. Think of pages as the permanent signposts that tell visitors who you are and what you do.
Posts are the ongoing updates that keep the site fresh and give people reasons to come back.
A local accountant’s website, for example, might have five or six pages (Home, About, Services, Contact, Privacy Policy) that rarely change.
If they also write helpful articles about tax deadlines or bookkeeping tips, those would be posts.
The pages stay fixed in the navigation menu while the posts appear on a blog page, newest first.
This isn’t a rule you must follow. But it’s the pattern you’ll see on most business websites because it works well for both site owners and visitors.
When to Use Pages
With that pattern in mind, here are the content types that usually work best as pages:
- Homepage – Your main landing page introducing your business
- About Us – Your company story, values, and team information
- Contact – Address, phone number, email, and contact form
- Services – What you offer and how you help customers
- Portfolio or Gallery – Showcasing your work
- Pricing – If you display set prices for your services
- Terms and Conditions – Legal information
- Privacy Policy – GDPR compliance information
These pages form the permanent structure of your site. Visitors expect to find them in your navigation menu and access them whenever they need to.
When to Use Posts
And here’s the content that typically works better as posts:
- Blog articles – Tips, guides, and educational content
- News and announcements – Company updates and industry news
- Case studies – Client success stories (though some prefer pages for these)
- Event information – Upcoming workshops or webinars
- Seasonal promotions – Sales and special offers
- Industry commentary – Your thoughts on trends and changes
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a blogger, posts give you a way to publish fresh content that helps with search visibility and shows potential customers you know your stuff.
Why the Typical Approach Works Better
You can absolutely ignore the conventions above. But here’s why most people don’t, and what can go wrong if you mix things up:
Creating service pages as posts buries your core business information in a chronological blog feed. When someone searches for your services, they might land on an outdated post instead of your current offerings. Your services also get pushed down every time you publish something new.
Using posts for everything often happens when people start with WordPress’s blogging features and don’t realise pages exist.
The problem? Your homepage and About page end up with publication dates attached to them, which looks odd and suggests the content might be out of date.
Forgetting to add pages to navigation leaves important content hidden. Unlike posts, pages don’t appear anywhere on your site automatically.
If you create a Contact page but forget to add it to your menu, visitors won’t find it.
Mixing up date order can confuse visitors.
If you use posts for your core services alongside blog articles, your service information gets shuffled down the blog page whenever you publish a new article. Visitors scrolling through your blog might miss it entirely.
While building a website is an opportunity to create something new, exciting and interesting, it also needs to be familiar enough that visitors feel comfortable staying for a while.
What About SEO?
Both pages and posts can rank well in Google. Search engines don’t favour one content type over the other.
What matters is whether your content is useful, relevant, and well-structured.
That said, how you use each content type can shape your SEO approach:
Pages work well for cornerstone content you want to rank for competitive keywords. Your Services page targeting “electrician in Birmingham” should be a page, not a post.
Posts support your main pages by adding fresh content that signals activity to Google. A blog post about “how to spot faulty wiring” can link back to your main electrical services page and help it rank better.
The strongest approach for most small business websites combines both: core pages for your main services and information, plus regular posts that demonstrate expertise and attract visitors searching for related topics.
Can You Convert a Post to a Page?
Yes, you can change a post into a page (or the other way round) if you’ve made a mistake. The simplest method is to create a new page, copy your content across, then delete the original post.
If you have several items to convert, plugins like Post Type Switcher let you change content types without copying and pasting. This saves time if you’ve built your entire site using the wrong content type and need to restructure.
Tip: Quick tip: After converting, check your URLs. The old post URL will break unless you set up a redirect. A simple redirect plugin can point the old address to your new page so you don’t lose any search traffic or bookmarks.
Making the Right Choice
If you’ve read this far, you probably already know which content type suits what you’re creating. Trust that instinct. Most people overthink this decision when the answer is usually obvious once you understand what pages and posts are designed for.
And if you do get it wrong? It’s not a disaster.
You can always convert content from one type to the other, set up a redirect, and carry on. Plenty of website owners have restructured their sites after realising they’d been using posts where pages made more sense.
The main thing is to start creating content.
A website with “wrong” content types that actually gets built will always beat a perfect structure that only exists in your head. You can tidy things up later once you’ve got something live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Plenty of business websites consist entirely of pages, particularly if you don’t plan to run a blog or publish regular updates. WordPress works perfectly well without using posts at all. Simply build your site structure using pages and add them to your navigation menu.
At least one category is required for posts, though WordPress assigns a default “Uncategorised” category if you don’t pick one. Tags are optional. For small business blogs, 3-5 broad categories will organise your content without overcomplicating things. Tags add specificity but aren’t essential.
Neither is inherently better. Google ranks content based on quality, relevance, and user experience, not whether it’s technically a page or post. Use pages for your main service content and posts for blog articles. A well-structured site using both appropriately will outperform one using the wrong content type throughout.
Go to Appearance, then Menus in your WordPress dashboard. Select the pages you want from the left panel and click “Add to Menu”. Drag them into your preferred order, then save. New pages don’t appear in your menu automatically.
Your homepage is the main entry point to your website. Your blog page is where your posts appear in date order. WordPress lets you choose which page serves each purpose in Settings, then Reading. Many sites have a custom homepage with a separate blog page for articles.
Either can work. If you publish case studies regularly and want them organised by date with categories, use posts. If you have a fixed set of case studies you’ll reference from a portfolio page, pages with a parent-child structure might suit you better.
Parent and child pages create a URL hierarchy. A “Services” parent page could have “Web Design” and “SEO” as child pages beneath it. This creates URLs like yoursite.com/services/web-design and helps you organise related content logically. This structure can also help search engines to better understand your site and how things are organised.
There’s no limit. WordPress can handle thousands of either content type. Create as many as your website needs. Most small business websites have 5-15 pages and anywhere from zero to hundreds of posts, depending on their content strategy.