Having your own website is becoming more and more common in this day and age. I talk a lot about blogs here, but you can apply just about everything I talk about to regular websites as well.
But sometimes we need a site that isn't a blog. Sometimes we don't want to update our sites regularly with posts. One of the great things about using WordPress is that you can easily have your own website, blog or otherwise.
A blog is a dynamic site, meaning, it changes regularly. A website that doesn't change (a "traditional" or "regular" website) is referred to as static. WordPress can do both easily.
When to use a static site
Even if you have a blog, you still might want a static website for:
- An online home for your virtual business. Do you offer services from home but your blog isn't the best place to let people know what you do? From freelance writers to virtual assistants, WordPress is great tool for setting up your business.
- A product site. If you've written an ebook or created some other type of product, a dedicated site for that product is my recommendation (I explain why here). For example, the sales page for my ebook, Tell Your Time is at TellYourTime.com. People can go directly there without having to hunt for it among my blog posts. Also, having its own site means I can add more information on different pages.
- An author site. Maybe you're a writer and would like one place to feature all of your books, speaking engagements, etc.
- An online "hub" or "home." As you spend time online, many people get to know you by your name. For many of us, our real name is not the same as our blog name. As we venture into other projects, some might not even know us by our main blog name. So, if someone googles Amy Lynn Andrews or goes to AmyLynnAndrews.com, they'll go to my hub site which outlines all the projects I've got going.
- An online site for an offline business. Are you a business owner in the real world but you need a website? From hardwood floor installers to house cleaners to lawyers to consultants, this is perfect.
- Your resume. Highlight your forward thinking by making your resume available online.
If you want to set up a static site, follow my instructions here: How to Start a Blog (or Website). Then, make these simple adjustments to make your home page static and instantly turn it into a "regular" site:
Can't see the video? Watch it here.
Video Notes:
- Create the page you want to serve as your home page by going to Dashboard –> Pages –> Add New. Publish your page.
- Go to Dashboard –> Settings –> Reading. Select the page you just created from the dropdown menu under "Front page displays" –> A static page –> Front page. Save your changes.
- If you would like to add a blog to your site but still want your home page to not display your latest posts, create a page (again, Dashboard –> Pages –> Add New) entitled "Blog" or something similar. Do not type anything in the post window. Hit Publish.
- Go to Dashboard –> Settings –> Reading. Under "Front page displays" –> A static page –> Posts page, select "Blog" (or whatever you named it). Save your changes.
- You can customize your navbars using the Menus (Dashboard –> Appearance –> Menus).
I've been reading a lot about passive income lately (actually off a link from one of your previous posts). I'm wondering if having a static front page might be something to check into. My blog has 3 subjects: Good Deals, Good Food and Good News. I wonder if people come for Good Food and Good News if they get turned off by all the store match ups on my blog. I'm wondering if a static page as the front page with an explanation might work better and then direct people to other areas… I'm also wondering if there is a way (and/or if I should) do separate email lists for the 3 topics.
Thanks again for wonderful blogging news, Amy. You're one of my first stops each morning!
Experiment! It might be a good way to direct people to the information they want to see.
If you wanted to do separate email newsletters for each topic, FeedBlitz is a great tool to set that up.
Awesome timing! I'm planning on setting up a not for profit website this week so this will be perfect info. Thanks Amy!
Yay! Glad it came at a good time.
My blog is up and running. But we need a home page that is static. Since I already have posts when I assign a home page can I assign where all those post go to a different page or is there a chance I will lose them in the change? Have been planning making the change just haven't been brave enough to try.
Make sure your blog is backed up, but you should just create a page "Blog" and Publish it just as I did in the video. The posts I had in the video were older posts too.
Leslie, I just tried the same thing you've commented on and it worked out fine. My old blog posts were saved and showed up on y new page, and my new blog posts get directed there, too. One thing I found that does NOT work is taking an already existing page and trying to get your posts to all show up there. As long as you create a brand new page for your posts to go, you should be fine!
Thanks for jumpin' in Stacy!
Hey Amy or Stacy- I noticed that in the video when Amy added the "blog" page it seemed to change the url of her previous blog posts, is that correct? Will that be a problem for links coming into my blog posts? Thanks!
Thanks so much Amy and Stacy. I am on vacation next week and am going to tackle that project. I feel braver about it now. I'm getting there.
Oh you can totally do this!
Would new posts still go to feedburner? I am wondering if this would work for me? I mostly wanted my site to be recipes but it kind of became random trying to post until I got enough recipes. Lately, I have been thinking I need another sister site just for recipes, but this might work instead?
Great info and right on point for me. I'm in my first week of blogging so still figuring things out, and the page thing has got me pretty perplexed. I'm going to keep digging until I figure it out, but this is very helpful. Thanks!
Hi Amy, I changed my front page to a static page and on the nav bar it says, "Home." (Which is what I want.) But on the page iteself, I still see the word "Home" appear before my text starts. Is there a way to get rid of the page title? (I'm using Twenty Ten.)
You can go to your page and delete the title. Don't delete the permalink, but if you remove the title, it should work.
I did try deleting the title (which did delete the url.com/home, but it is ok because now it is just the main url which is fine). But after I did that, it no longer showed up in the nav bar as an option. Not sure how to get around it.
What if I want my home page (www.website.com) to be my main static page? I can't figure out how to do that.
I did this, but it created 2 menu items. So, now I have a "home" menu and a "welcome" menu which are identical. How do I delete one of these? The template had a home menu to begin with. But, it doesn't show this "home" page in my pages, so I can't edit it.
It depends on how your theme is set up and whether or not the Home link is in the Menu or in the code. If you see it in your Menu, you should be able to delete it by clicking the down arrow next to it in the menu list and then click the "Delete" link. If you don't see it in your Menu list, you'll have to remove it from your code. You might try contacting the theme author to ask where they put it. I hope that helps!
Thank you! I did just have to remove the line of code and it fixed the problem. Thanks!
Thanks Amy..for the tips..it works here
Thanks for you help..