How You Can Add Featured Post in Your WordPress Website (Without Plugins In 2020)

Looking to add a featured post section or a recently published blog section on your website? If yes, then you have landed on the right article where we are going to walk you through some of the important steps that will help you to add a featured post section in different web pages of your website.

Today every website owner wishes to convert their first-time visitor either by encouraging them to make a purchase or getting their email id. If your website is producing user intent-based content or content that solves users burning problems then your website has got the full potential to accomplish the final goal. 

But it can be only achieved only when you have a blog post appearing on your home screen or on different pages of your website. Blogs or text content can offer a convincing reason on how your product and services can benefit users and how they can use it in their day to day life?

Yes, it’s not essential that every person visiting your blogs will convert but your compelling content can encourage them to share their email id which can result in a future conversion. There are various ways to add featured posts using custom codes but in this blog, we are going to make use of a plugin that can make your job easier. 

Using a featured post plugin enables you to add a slider and showcase your recently published blog or some of the high-quality content having great potential to convert a site visitor into paying customers. Not only that but you can also use these types of the plugin to display a post thumbnail in your right sidebar. 

In this article, we are going to help you determine why websites need featured post sections in their homepage and how you can add featured posts in your website

If your admin is loading slowly then make sure to check our blog on 6 Ways To Speed Up Your Slow Admin In 2020

Why do websites need to add featured posts in the sidebar? 

sfwpexperts.com-add-featured-image-in-your-wordpress-website-In-2020

While creating a website most of the people either leave the empty space in the sidebars or add some unessential design that makes the website unappealing. Sidebars in the web pages are the non-content area which means you have full liberty to experiment with free space. 

Most of the website makes use of the sidebar to add a newsletter sign-up form but gone are those days when site visitors used to fill the form after visiting the website. Now you have to offer something useful in order to get their email address. Blog posts are one among them.

By offering high quality and problem-solving content you can encourage users to either make a purchase or fill the signup form.  Most of the website and bloggers have started to add featured posts on their web page to showcase their best content or recently published content with a goal to persuade users to perform the desired action. Not only that but these types of elements also help websites to drive more traffic on the blogs. 

For example, if your blog is not ranking on the top of the page but somehow with the right strategies your homepage or product page made it on the top in SERP. Once they start visiting your website they will come across the featured post section. If your content title and context relate to user problems then they will not hesitate to click on your article which will help you to drive more traffic.  

Below we are going to highlight how you can add featured posts in the sidebar. 

How can you add featured posts on your website? 

Featured plugin plugins allow you to present your content in an appealing format that encourages site visitors to take action on your thumbnail or the slider. So below we are going to highlight different methods that you can use to add featured posts on your website. 

1. Add featured post in sidebars 

Adding a featured post section to your sidebar is an easy and straightforward process. The main advantage of using featured posts in the sidebar is that you don’t have to use any kind of plugin or access any code to follow the process. So let’s identify how you can add featured post in your web page sidebar

  • Go to you dashboard 
  • Navigate to the Appearance section in the left sidebar
  • Under appearance click on the Widget tab 
  • Select a text widget form the available widget section 
  • Drag and drop it under “Main sidebar” option 

After adding the text widget into your web page sidebar next use its visual editor to customize it 

  • You can click on the edit tab to add the title of the post you like to feature 
  • Next, select the title and create an anchor link by selecting the add link button displayed on the top menu 
  • After performing the above process click on the Save button  
  • Click on the update button and go back to your website to check your widget or featured post appearance. 

2. Adding featured post section the sidebar using Menus 

Another way to add a featured post in your sidebar is by using the menu. This option is considered a bit indirect but offers you the ability to add and handle featured posts more easily. You can create a separate navigation menu in the sidebar and start showcasing your featured post.

Using this method you can easily include a new post in the list just by using drag and drop features and without editing the widget.  Below we are listing steps to add featured post using Menus:

  • Gop to your dashboard
  • Navigate to the Appearance section under that click on menus option 
  • Click on the “create a new menu” option on the right side of the screen  
  • Next, a new tab will appear where you can find tabs like pages, post, custom link, and more 
  • You can enter the name of your section “Featured Post”  so that you can easily identify the section to add it to other pages. 
  • After declaring the name you can click on the “Create Menu” option 
  • Once you hit the create new button will automatically create a new. 
  • Next, you can expand the post tab where you can select which post you to feature on the list.
  • If you wish to add a recently added post then you can select it from the “most recent tab” or you can search by the name.  
  • After selecting the post you can click on the “Add menu button which helps you to add the post in your feature post list. 
  • Using the Edit option you can easily customize your title   
  • And using its drag and drop feature you can place your featured post in different sections. 

Once you are done creating your featured post menu next comes placing it in the right sidebar.

You can do it by navigating back to the appearance section then click on the widget tab under appearance. In the right corner, you will find an option called the main sidebar. Pick the navigation option the drag and drop under the “Main Sidebar” option.  

Provide a title for the sidebar menu and after that select the section that you have created in the “Select menu” option. After completing all the processes make sure you are saving your effort by hitting the save button. 

3. Add featured post using Guttenberg 

The featured post is not limited to only the home page but you can also make use of it in the blog section or on other pages. You might be using page editors to create a new page, add new layouts on the homepage. But you can also use it to add featured post sections on your blog page or different pages in your website. 

  • Simply you have to navigate to the page where you like to showcase or add your featured post section. 
  • Next in the page edit screen, you can click on the “+” symbol to add a new block button after that you can add a list to your content area (to display your content or blogs).  
  • Add the title of the blog you are looking to feature on the list 
  • Next, select the text you have added and click on the link section in the toolbar to create a link to your post. 
  • After performing the above step you can click on update to view the changes. 

One of the best features offered by the Gutenberg block editor is that it allows you to reuse the same block on different pages and posts. You can obviously edit the content or post it inside the list. 

To reuse the recently created post you can simply click on the three dots displayed vertically in the top menu. In the drop-down menu click on the “Add to reusable blocks”. After that, you will be asked to write a name to make you recently created a blog easily discoverable. Click on the Save button. 

Now here is the thing whenever you wish to add a featured post section in your blog you can navigate to add a new block. In the reusable tab, you can find your recently saved featured post. Click on it and add it to your webpage. But here is the thing if you edit the list it will automatically get updates in other pages as well. 

Conclusion: 

By now you might be aware of how you can add featured posts in the sidebar without using any plugin. But here is the thing: adding plugins specifically for featured posts makes your website look more appealing and enhances your website appearance. 

You can make use of the above-mentioned methods to display some of the best performing blogs that help you to drive more conversions and sales. In our upcoming blogs, we are going to highlight some of the best-featured post plugins for that you can use to engage your blog appearance. 

If you are looking to create a fully functioning and conversion-centric website for your business then make sure to hire the best website design company for your business. SFWP Experts is an award-winning website design company working with a highly experienced professional who has produced more than 500+ as well as custom coded websites for different industries.