The basic functionality of WordPress allows its users or visitor to read all post from the newest till the oldest ones. The forum follows a reverse chronological format or order, where you will be able to read the latest article or any post first. The problem appears when a blogger or a content writer on WordPress publishes articles and blogs on a regular basis. In this case, you might need to think about redirecting users to random posts in WordPress.
Due to too many posts being published every single day, your visitors might not be able to figure out the older articles easily. This calls for a redirection so that the visitors could read through a random post or an article that you may wish them to go through or provide something they are looking for.
Your blog archives get filled with older posts which might prove to be a difficulty for your readers to find out. Now, in order to increase the count of views for each of the articles and random posts, you may choose to display them in the sidebar of any latest blog, so that your target audience could get an easy access to the older posts, alongside reading through the new ones.
In case, you are looking for an effective way that helps you in redirecting users to random posts in WordPress, here are the most effective steps to be followed in order to rope in maximum viewers for your older blogs and articles on WordPress.
Install Redirect URL to Post
This is the first and foremost step to be followed in order to initiate the task of redirecting users to a random post on WordPress. The Redirect URL to Post is a WordPress plugin which would provide a URL to directly take you to a random post, in a single post view mode. The idea is to enter your WordPress site’s URL and add? redirect_to=… in the end.
The plugin would help in the redirecting users to the first similar post, in accordance with the selected format or order. For example, you are a blogger who happens to publish contents on custom writing tips and academic guidelines on the different subject matter. In case you wish to enlighten your readers with a comparatively older post on programming help, then what would you do? This is where the plugin would come into play. You simply need to use the following commands which are nothing but the probable values for the redirect, offering different functionalities in terms of redirecting posts.
- Use random for the selected URL to redirect users to a random post.
- Use oldest or first and the URL will redirect to the oldest or the first post of yours on WordPress.
- Use latest or last for the URL to redirect to the newest WordPress post of yours.
Follow the “Thank You” Message
Once you are done installing the plugin and activating the extension, take a close look at the “Thank you for installing Redirect URL to Post!” message. You will be able to figure out certain query parameters for post redirection, like the ones mentioned in the step discussed above.
Now that you need to redirect users to random posts, simply copy the “random post query parameter”, and add it to the pages in the form of a link. Every time the users would click on the links added, they would automatically be redirected to some other random posts.
Create a Separate Button for Random Posts
Lastly, this is yet another effective suggestion that can help you in redirecting users to random posts in WordPress. You can simply create a separate button for your users to get redirected to different blog posts.
You have to add a shortcode (redirect_to_post_button), and that’s it. The random post button will be displayed accordingly. This is nothing but a simpler way to help your users get redirected to other posts with just a single click of their mouse button.
Additional Takeaway
Since this blog of mine is partially dedicated to all the bloggers across the world willing to redirect their readers to different random posts published by them earlier, here are a few amazing and helpful WordPress plugins, requisite for your blogging aspirations in 2018.
Akismet
This WordPress plugin deletes all junk comments and spams automatically.
Wordfence Security
You may have secured your WordPress site with a strong combination of passwords. But that is not sufficient to restrict external intervention and every other potential security threat. The Wordfence Security is a firewall and malware scanning tool that would detect and defend your blog from the clutches of all potential threats in the long run.
Contact Form 7
This is yet another effective WordPress extension which would help you in creating contact forms in the Contact Us section of your blog.
WP Super Cache
Installing and using this particular WordPress plugin will help you in the matter of generating static HTML files from the WordPress blog. The plugin works well for all cached files and serves them in three different modes, namely, Expert, Simple and WP-Cache caching.
Google Analytics by Yoast
Instead of hiring and investing in a Google developer in order to add Google Analytics to your site, one can choose to rope in this plugin. You don’t need to open an extra tab every time and overload your screen space unnecessarily. This add-on might just make things much easier and simpler to execute.
Summary
Simply take a look at the steps and suggestions as discussed above in order to start redirecting users to random posts in WordPress. In this world of digitization, in almost every field, a blogger or an e-commerce executive aspiring to become a successful entrepreneur in the near future cannot simply ignore the importance of roping in WordPress plugins, apps and various extensions available.
It is to be remembered, blogging is all about coming up with new ideas, serving your readers and every other prospective user with something fresh, engaging and relatable every time. Thus, roping in plugins, and installing smart tools in order to ensure maximum exposure of your blogging efforts should always be prioritized for a satisfactory Return on Investment.
