Adding Keyword Specific News Articles to Individual Pages - Wordpress

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   Barb Hposted 14 years ago

   I have a website powered by wordpress, using the Thesis theme. I would like to add a few relevant keyword specific news items to different pages of my site to help with SEO efforts. For example: on one page I would like to display news articles relating only to “swimwear fashion” and then on another page only articles relating to “summer wedding dresses”. Is this possible? I understand that using JavaScript won’t help because search engines only see a link not the relevant news items. I'm very new to wordpress and have just started working with the thesis theme and I’m having trouble finding information on this subject.
   
   I have posted this question on both the Wordpress and Thesis theme forums and have received no reply.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 14 years ago

   There is a Google News plugin. You can create several feeds for different topics.
   
   You then add a piece of code to the page where you want the news to appear.

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   Barb Hposted 14 years ago

   Marisa, Thanks for the information. It was very helpful.

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   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   You will need to create custom page templates in order to display unique feeds on each page - or you will need to use some sort of rss to html plugin that can be used within a post or page.
   
   The thesis theme forum is great! when you know what you need done but I havent seen many general seo/design conversations there.
   
   Marisa is correct, but you will have to know where to enter the code at a page level or it will display sitewide

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It's child's play, Sunforged, you create multiple feeds on the plugin settings page and then it's just something like <---googlenews---> pasted on the individual page as you write it.
      
      Doesn't need any kind of custom page template.
      
      Lissie has an excellent discussion about the Thesis theme on her blog.  It seems as though the people who think it's great are people who are already knowledgeable, whereas newbies find its customization options too complex.
      
      I think when you're new to Wordpress, there's such a thing as having too many options in a theme, it gets bewildering!

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         sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Which means the feed (with plugin) can only be used within a post? (option 2)
         
         custom templates (child themes) are just used to make design elements like sidebars, under/after content area, footer/header different from page to page within one site.
         
         Beginners to thesis would normally use a thesis skin and be set right out of the box since the majority if not all SEO functions a Wordpress site should have are built into the base install

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            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I put the news on a stand-alone page, but I could put it in a post if I wanted.   
            
            Because I only use one feed, I just create a new page and paste in [google-news], and it's done.
            
            If I had multiple feeds I'd have to paste in [google-news name="feedname"].
            
            Here's how it looks on my belly dance site:
            http://bellydanceoz.com/about-2/belly-dance-news/
            
            The instructions also say "you can use do_action('google_news'); or do_action('google_news', 'feedname'); in themes", whatever that means.

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               sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               This is what I was trying to point out w/ the suggestion of a "child theme"
               
               Page or post - you still must enter within the content area
               
               widget - will appear site wide
               
               I would want to place the feed outside of my content area,since its intended as an SEO addition not something I care to be read or clicked - so I would use a widget (with basic themes) but a widget appears by default on every page of a WP site, so the OP's intention of having a unique feed for wedding dresses ONLY wouldnt work with a basic short code
               
               Any WP site can be coded via css and php to use child themes or incorporate extra functions (the code you include is php which can be added to the theme files one uses)
               
               This is where one of the joys of thesis lies- if you were confronted with this problem, you wouldnt have to learn php and css - you can just use the "hook" system of the framework and the popular openhook plugin to selectively include that bit of code anywhere you like within your layout. and exclude/include it anywhere you like.
               
               its 5am, not sure if that makes any sense? I know its not interesting! but at least there is plenty of info for the OP to pursue a solution that fits her needs.

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Sunforged, I'm nodding off myself so your explanation lost me - but I do understand that you don't particularly want people to read or click the news.
                  
                  That's why the only link to my "News" page appears right at the bottom of my "Useful Links" page, which doesn't appear on my main menu.   No one ever finds it let alone clicks on it - except Google!

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                     Barb Hposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     Marisa Wright
                     
                     Thanks for all your help. It has helped with my new site.

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                  Barb Hposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Sunforged
                  
                  Thank you for all your help. The information has been very helpful.

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   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   I read Lissies comparison of Frugal and Thesis - I have never used Frugal and there were no screenshots of either back end so I couldnt get much from it.
   
   I very much admit that Thesis can have hell of a learning curve.( but the ability to use skins is yet to be offered by any other framework that I am aware of)
   
   In my case, I bought a dev license through the course of some design contracts, the client wanted the the Framework so I charged them for it and learned how to use it.
   
   I also like using Artisteer and well designed themes from elegant themes for my quick niche sites
   
   
   ...but to be fair I can use the exact same install file for all my thesis themes and install it to the exact same level of customization from a simple ftp drag ..Thesis does very much deliver on their stated ease of use, its just not a graphical interface which can probably give some pause to many.
   
   
   I forgot i even use Thesis, i should prob pump some more aff links out there since Im so rabid about it!

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Enough said!  A hell of a learning curve is worth it for a professional like you, who needs to pump out multiple sites, but I can't see why anyone would recommend something that takes so much effort, to a newbie who may never create more than one or two. 
      
      You may well be able to use it at a basic level without understanding the more advanced features - but I find the fact that all the other options exist make me anxious I'm missing something important.  It's like sitting someone down in an aeroplane cockpit and saying "ignore all these other flashing lights, you just need to watch these two dials". 
      
      I like Themegrade.com for finding themes, not sure how accurate their scoring is but at least it gives me an idea.

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