Boosting Engagement: Easy Steps to Display Related Posts on Your WordPress Site

September 23, 2025 | Cats: The Blog

Increasing reader engagement on your WordPress blog doesn’t have to be complicated. One of the most effective strategies is to add related posts to your articles. This not only enhances user experience by providing them with additional valuable content but also increases the time they spend on your site, which can positively impact your search engine rankings. Hereโ€™s a straightforward guide to help you integrate related posts into your WordPress blog effortlessly.

Why Add Related Posts?

Before diving into the “how,” letโ€™s talk about the “why.” Displaying related posts helps keep your audience engaged by suggesting relevant content that complements what they are already reading. This can lead to a decrease in bounce rates and an increase in page views. Additionally, related posts can help in boosting your SEO efforts as they contribute to the internal linking structure, thereby enhancing your siteโ€™s crawlability and indexing.

Using Plugins to Add Related Posts

The simplest way to add related posts to your WordPress blog is by using plugins. There are several plugins available that can automate this process, saving you time and effort. Here are a few steps to get you started:

  1. Choose the Right Plugin: Select a plugin that is highly rated and well-supported. Popular options include Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP), Related Posts for WordPress, and Contextual Related Posts. These plugins offer various customization options which can be tailored to fit the look and feel of your blog.
  2. Install and Activate the Plugin: Once youโ€™ve chosen your plugin, install it by going to your WordPress dashboard, clicking on ‘Plugins’, then ‘Add New’. Search for your selected plugin, install it, and donโ€™t forget to activate it.
  3. Configure Settings: After activation, configure the settings according to your preference. You can usually select how many related posts to display, whether to show excerpts or full posts, and decide if you want to include images.
  4. Place the Related Posts: Most plugins will automatically display related posts at the end of each blog post. However, you can usually customize this setting and choose different areas where you want them to appear based on your design preferences.

Manually Adding Related Posts Without Plugins

If you prefer not to use a plugin, you can manually add related posts by tweaking your themeโ€™s PHP code. This method requires a bit of coding knowledge:

  1. Edit Your Theme Files: Access your themeโ€™s files by navigating to ‘Appearance’ then ‘Theme Editor’ in WordPress. You need to modify the single.php file or whichever file corresponds to displaying individual posts.
  2. Add Custom Code: You will need to insert a code snippet that queries posts with similar tags or categories. Hereโ€™s a simple example of what the code might look like: 
    <?php
$related = get_posts(
    array( 'category__in' => wp_get_post_categories($post->ID), 'numberposts' => 5, 'post__not_in' => array($post->ID) )
);
if( $related ) foreach( $related as $post ) {
setup_postdata($post); ?>
    <ul>
        <li>
            <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
        </li>
    </ul>
<?php }
wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
  3. Test Your Changes: Always make sure to test your site after editing code to ensure everything works smoothly and your related posts are displaying as they should.

Adding related posts to your WordPress blog is a fantastic way to enhance user engagement and keep visitors on your site longer. Whether you choose to use a plugin or add related posts manually, the effort can lead to significant benefits in building a loyal audience and improving your SEO performance. Start implementing this feature today, and watch your blog’s interaction levels soar!

Related Posts

Recent Posts