Setting Up A Static Front Page And Moving Your Blog To Its Own Page

Is it time to move your blog posts to its own page and set-up a special front page for your blog? I’m going to introduce you to a free WordPress plugin that will easily allow you to build that new front page without touching your current blog design or WordPress theme. Without hiring someone to design a custom WordPress theme or even changing themes.

Then I’m going to show you how to adjust the settings in your WordPress dashboard so everything works right.

I Just Created A New Static Front Page For My Personal Blog

I registered brianDhawkind.com back in 2004. Over the years I’ve gone back and forth on whether it should be a blog or a static webpage used as a branding tool and directory for my other websites.

Today, in my particular case, I think it will serve better as a directory and branding tool. At the same time, I don’t want to keep deleting blog content. So, I’ll keep the blog but change the front page. Great, I feel good about this.

Next, what am I looking for? I want something simple, direct, and responsive. I really like what Pat Flynn has done over at PatFlynn.com. Cool, I’ll use that as a model without copying the entire design. We don’t want a clone someone else’s website.

Fast Forward 12 hours and this is what I have (On the right). I like it.

To achieve the design I wanted without spending a bunch of time and money on a completely new design was important. It’s a secondary site/blog and I certainly don’t have Team Flynn or their money for a custom WordPress theme. Nope, I had to look for a cheap or free alternative.

Enter Page Builder by SiteOrigin

I didn’t spend a lot of time researching page builders but went with Page Builder by SiteOrigin right way. It seemed perfectly capable of everything I was looking for and it is free.

You can see all of the features on the plugin page but I’ll just cover a few of the things I like about the plugin.

☑ It’s free.
☑ I can easily add a video widget, which I plan to do soon.
☑ Page Builder is theme independent so it works with any WordPress theme.
☑ I can customize each row and widget independently.
☑ There’s a button widget which saves time.
☑ The layout options are just about limitless using rows combined with sidebars.
☑ Page Builder by SiteOrigin is mobile responsive. Very important.
☑ I was able to use it on a single page without changing anything else on the site or blog.

I’ll let the video tell the rest about the Page Builder by SiteOrigin WordPress plugin.

Building A Static Front Page Design

Single page directory: For my personal blog, it made sense to create a static single page to direct people to whatever property they are looking for.

Single page – single brand: If I were to use Page Builder by SiteOrigin to create a new front page for Hot Blog Tips, I would highlight content connected to this brand.

(It doesn’t have to be a front page, or even a page – Page Builder works on blog posts as well)

For example, I’d have a big opt-in area for the VIP List. I’d have a section highlighting our Subscriber Digital Asset & Resource Library. I’d might have sections for any featured content, promotions, or specials going on. You get the idea, our design has to be determined by our goals and objectives.

Single one page design: Page Builder by SiteOrigin would also work well for a website where you just wanted a single page for the entire site. This might be a place marker, a sales page (Although you can do much better using LeadPages^$), or just about any page where a single one page design makes sense.

No How-To Tutorial Today

I won’t turn this post into a long tutorial on how to use the plugin. I’m not qualified to do so anyway since I’ve only been using it for a few hours but, trust me, it is very easy to figure out. There are also a ton of videos out there already since this is such a popular plugin.

Moving Your Blog To Its Own Page

If your WordPress theme doesn’t already have the option available to move your blog content to it’s own page, it’s still very easy to do.

Create a blank page (page, NOT post) and title it blog. That was pretty easy, right? That’s all there is too this part. Don’t forget to include your SEO and other page options (I recommend WordPress SEO by Yoast). Just leave the content editor completely blank.

Now go to Settings/Reading and in the “Reading Settings“, look for “Front page displays” at the top.

Now uncheck “Your latest posts” and check “A static page“.

Use the drop down menu (Front page:) to select the new front page you created and the other drop down (Posts page:) and choose the blank page you just created and named “Blog“.

That’s A Wrap

That’s all I have for this post – short and sweet. I hope it helps and, as always, feel free to use Disqus below to ask any questions, add your comments, or share your related story.