Many website providers now offer a blogging platform. In the past, we would just create pages and call them a blog but a blog is really a rolling, updated page WEB-LOG that keeps evolving and changing. When a new post is created, the previous post pushes down the list and therefore can eventually be irrelevant. (I'm not saying every post will be irrelevant but for the sake of this post, that's what we'll go with.)
Here's my take on the difference between a page and a post and when to use each one.
A PAGE-
A page on your website should be static. That means it's sticky, it stays, it's relevant all the time (and can be changed when the information changes). A page should be like a main buyers or sellers page on the website, accessible from the homepage and/or the menu. It might be a community page that doesn't change. Chances are most communities are not going to change the date they were developed or completely change their HOA rules, prices, styles, and amenities. A neighborhood page usually won't change too much over time and if it does, you just go back in and update it (Which is a great idea as well but I'll get to that in a minute.)
Side Note: And this doesn't have to be real estate related either. We manage a tree care site and focus on his key areas and then link to it with new or revolving information about that area, reviews, changes, etc... This can work for mortgage sites, appraisers, attorney, construction, inspectors, condo sales, pretty much anything!
A page on your site should be clear, authoritative and comprehensive. This page should be the end-all amazing information that can be added to but doesn't go out of style. There really isn't an expiration date on a page. It simply is the facts.
A POST-
A blog post, like in the rain here or on your website is relevant for the time and may have an expiration point. Good posts like this would be events, grand openings, news and media information, updates to a community and changes that can evolve over time. Think of it this way, in a year will this post still be relevant? I know what you're thinking.. then why am I even talking about this on the AR post? Because literally these SEO tactics and strategies can change over time and right now (And for quite a while in the past) these have worked well.
Now, here's how to manage both.
I'm going to give you an example:
WestBloomfieldHomes.com - He has three major city pages. These are the focus areas. Of course, there are topics in each of these areas and this is where additional pages and posts come in.
The Main Page of West Bloomfield won't change. It's on his menu and accessible from the homepage. This page is authoritative because it has just about anything one would want on the city, schools, parks, restaurants, moving companies, neighborhoods, golf courses, lakes, and listings. The listing revolve because they have a code that pulls from his MLS so not only can buyers check out the town, but the latest and most recent listings.
Then within this page, we add more pages that won't change, a school page, park page, and neighborhood pages. As we create new pages we add them to this page, creating more content and even more authority to this page. On the subpages, we link back to the main West Bloomfield page to create a parent page for all subsequent information about that city.
Here is another example: This Mercer Island page is chalked full of information about neighborhoods, listings, and everything about Mercer Island
Related Post: Why you should update old posts and pages
Now, blog posts would come into play here when we talk about topics with an expiration date on the city. This could be Christmas events, local grand openings, new restaurant reviews, testimonials on a new sale, new listings, etc... Ideally, we would have a sidebar that rotates the posts on the main city page as well. (we prefer not to on this page)
You not only create an amazing city page, but it keeps evolving, but never expiring. It stays on the menu and you keep adding to it with new content pages you make, new community pages or neighborhood pages and likewise, link to it from blog posts about the area or market report. Before you know it, 100 other posts and pages on your site are now linking to this main, amazing city page and people are finding content all over the place. But again, the main information all stems from this one static page.
So, although ActiveRain doesn't have pages per se, you can use these blog posts to link back to that amazing page on your website that constantly evolves but never expires. Expiring pages can link to it, but should not be the other way around. You wouldn't want a post about Holiday events from 2014 to be one of the main links on that city page because it's outdated. But that holiday post should absolutely link to the main city page. That make sense?
I know it's confusing, but the more you hone and perfect that one main page on your site, the better it will rank. Oh, and don't forget to promote it regularly on social media too because new people will always be finding that page and it needs to be AMAZING!.
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