Looking to add related posts to WordPress? Then you’ve come to the right place.
In essence, related posts give readers more of what they love and helps keep them engaged for longer.
Let’s briefly discuss the main benefits of interlinking related content, then we’ll explore various ways to get the job done!
Main Benefits
Increase overall engagement: As you might imagine, readers are more likely to keep reading related content if it’s readily available for consumption. This is especially true if it perfectly matches the subject they’re currently reading.
Better user experience: Why learn only certain details when readers can absorb all there is to learn about a subject? This is where related content comes in. It also lessens the need to manually search for it throughout your blog.
More potential revenue: This is never a guarantee, but if your content is genuinely useful, it’s easier to create rapport and loyalty with your audience. This could lead to financial growth over time.
With that said, let’s explore three main ways in which you implement related content throughout your blog…
Leveraging anchor text: This is something most bloggers do by default, but new authors may overlook it due to a lack of experience.
This simply consists of linking a piece of text to another part of your blog (aka, simply backlinking within articles).
How to: Visit the WordPress text editor and highlight the text you’d like to convert to a link. Then, click the “chain” icon and paste the destination URL into the ensuing URL field.
In-between / End of posts: You may also add related posts in a less subtle way, making them stand out more than the above text-anchoring method.
For example, this is what it could look like:
Related Post: 3 Ways to Skyrocket Your Engagement With Readers
How to: Type the text you’d like to link/anchor, but place it between paragraphs or anywhere within your article (as already explained above).
The above manual methods would require you to add related posts to each and every article you create. Thankfully, this doesn’t take long and you have greater control over your content placement.
For example, you may choose to place related content both in the middle and at the end of each article – in addition to using a bigger font or bolding some words to make it stand out.
Plugins are great for handling this entire process automatically, as they can auto-insert content and often abide by your exact needs (depending on the plugin in question). Let’s look at some prominent options:
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP): This plugin has remained active for a number of yeas and its reputation only gets better.
In addition to showing readers related posts, pages, and even custom post types, YARPP uses a [shortcode] to let you insert said content just about anywhere. There’s a lot of options to explore, so check it out and customize it to fit your needs!
Contextual Related Posts: Another popular plugin with tons of options to play with. You can select posts from specific categories, display them anywhere within articles, and even on the sidebar through a widget.
The tool also allows you to change the overall style / display to help related content stand out.
Jetpack: This popular plugin enables related posts to be shown at the end of your articles. This is a great option if your blog already has a ton of previously-published content, as the work is essentially done for you.
It also displays the content’s date, thumbnail, and even lets you select from a grid / list layout. Keep in mind, however, that it only shows content at the very bottom and you cannot place it elsewhere (as of this writing).
How to: Visit Jetpack>Settings>Traffic tab to enable the Related Posts module.
Other related posts plugins include:
I highly doubt you would actually switch themes simply for the sake of using a ‘related posts’ feature. If you’re already in search of a new theme, however, it wouldn’t hurt to keep some of the following in mind…
Themify Themes: Most of their themes come with a built-in related posts module.
Thrive Themes: You may add posts as a sidebar widget.
MH Themes: Related posts are shown based on tags (hence, ensure you tag all published articles beforehand).
Total theme: A bit more advanced than others, but the related posts option works just as well.
Other tips:
Avoid displaying too many related posts, as this can actually overwhelm readers and reduce engagement.
Inserting posts manually is by far the best option, enabling you to display highly relatable content with greater control. Plugins do a good job at this, but nothing beats relying on your own judgment.
Some of these plugins may prove a bit resource-intensive (such as Jetpack). Try out the plugin that works best for your blog and web host.
There Ya Go…
Giving people more content to read is never a bad thing. So, how will you go about keeping readers engaged with this nifty feature?
Author: Elvis Michael
Elvis Michael is an avid blogger and e-trepreneur, endlessly exploring new ideas and effective ways to inspire.
