Update: The sale for the Recently Related plugin for WordPress is now live at just $17.00.
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That’s a bit of a strange name I know, but I think it sums up how the plugin works very nicely.
What it does is actively keep your visitor on your site longer in a completely white hat way.
o Unlike other plugins that use a proprietary algorithm that you can’t control, you get to control which posts are related via the use of standard WP tags.
o Create multiple related posts and recently viewed content via the sidebar widgets and shortcodes.
o You can optionally choose to show titles, images and excerpts.
o You can set default numbers of posts to display.
o Works with your existing tags so no need for any extra work to set up.
o Widgets add related content to any sidebar or footer.
o Shortcode puts related or recently viewed posts on any page or post.
o Your visitors can quickly see the posts they’ve read and related content they might find interesting.
o Examples of use might be (and not limited to) review blogs, affiliate sites, or any website that you’re monetising in some way, or using to build a list.
It’s well known that the longer someone spends on a page, the more likely they are to take the action that you want them to. That would for example typically be to buy, to share or to subscribe.
The same is true if you keep someone on a site for as long as possible. They’re far more likely to subscribe if they find what they’re looking for on your site, and if that’s several examples of what they’re interested in, then they’ll go for it.
The plugin does two key things.
#1 – It enables you to display to the reader content that is related to the post they’ve just viewed.
#2 – It enables you to display content that they’ve recently viewed, allowing them to easily get back to the content they’ve just been looking at.
You can present this content in your sidebars via two new widgets, and / or present it on specific pages and posts via the use of a shortcode.
The best bit is that unlike other plugins that only do part of what Recently Related does, it lets YOU decide what content is related by the use of tags.
What I mean by that is, every other plugin I’ve seen (that only does the related posts thing) uses an inbuilt method to decide what’s related. In other words you have no control whatsoever on what’s displayed to the viewer.
By using tags to identify related content, you get full control. 😉
The recently viewed content comes into play when your visitor returns to your site to find what they were looking at before.
Or maybe they’ve been working their way through a few posts. This just makes it very easy for them to get back to where they were.
-Frank Haywood
This is great! Like you mentioned, it’s more controlled and direct.
Was this a benefit for SEO?
It seems like it might help with that.
Hi Roderick,
Well yes, I think so. Adding tags to posts are a good idea anyway as it allows the creation of tag links. WP does some of these automatically, but you can also create them manually too to cluster groups of related posts. 🙂
-Frank
Hi Frank,
Related content is useful in sooo many ways… 😉
I have collected several plugins of this kind (mostly forgotten in my arsenal), but allowing customization you have developed a very interesting alternative.
Look, I’m wondering:
1) After you select a tag, what other elements are considered to choose the “best” related content? Is there a pattern? The reason I ask it’s because from a SEO perspective it would be better to not always choose the first/the same matches. In other words, showing different combinations of related content on each page when the users (or the crawler) visit our sites looks more powerful. You know, focusing/targeting as much as possible while not repeating too many content is a must for ranking purposes.
2) It doesn’t seem possible to include an excerpt or image+excerpt into the content (using the shortcode). In your video I only see the option to include links. Would you please include the same options provided with the widgets?
Best,
Diego
Hi Diego,
Apologies for the delay in replying, I’ve not been able to be around much this last 10 days.
#1 – I see what you’re saying. No it doesn’t randomise the tags, but I’ll go have a think about the best way of approaching that. I’m not totally convinced that it’s the best way of doing it, so it will need a bit of thought to get right.
#2 – It DOES include the image and excerpt in the shortcodes, but it does so globally when you turn them on in the settings. Maybe we should move that functionality into the widgets themselves.
I’ve also just noticed that it’s picking up the wrong excerpt. D’oh! I’ll get that fixed in the next few days. I would have noticed sooner if I’d been keen on using excerpts myself.
-Frank
Look really good and so useful Frank…love you can anywhere in post add previous seen or related posts ….does previous seen work on cookies or IP?
also, no known conflicts with possible plugins you are aware of right now or any cache plugins?
***Remember we agreed on any of your plugin I can have a comp due to me (re PG magic sticky ads and our emails?) hey this Recently Related Plugin will work for me is that ok for you?
let me know how to get it or email me it.
I presume you will update this and others you have to work with new major wp versions? as you know wp new update main version coming soon (for what’s it worth so boring, v. disappointing and no big deal by countless people out here saying and almost pointless update!)
Hi Craig,
First up, apologies for the lack of contact, with what’s going on at home and some minor illness on my part I’ve not yet had enough time to catch up with everything. I’ve added an order for you and sent the email with your download details this morning, so hopefully you’ll have received it by now.
I know of no conflicts, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any. It’s a big world. 🙄
It doesn’t use cookies or IP, it uses the PHP session of the visitor. In other words, it will only show the recently viewed posts from that session.
As for WP updates, yes. And just as an aside, from a personal POV (and I know I’m not alone in this), I would really like it if WP didn’t do so many updates. One every 6 months would be just fine. The reason being, something breaks almost every time there’s a new update, and I have to then get it fixed and it’s a royal pain. Sometimes it’s a subtle breakage that we don’t notice for ages and other times it’s something big that will take a lot of work to fix. Multiply that by all the other third party plugin creators out there, and these frequent updates are a nuisance. (Let’s not get started on PHP updates – why do they deprecate or alter perfectly good commands?) Twice a year for WP updates would be fine thanks. I’m always very reticent about upgrading my personal WP installations until I’ve had chance to test that the plugins I use work okay on the new version. I’m a great believer in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
-Frank
Frank …
Am I correct in assuming then, that if I used normal tags for each post, it will automatically choose the related posts that have at least one of the same tags?
Or is the plugin set up to use “specific” tags? ( i.e. As in your demo – tag1, tag2, etc.)
Thanks …
Hi Arthur,
Sorry about the delay in replying, I’ve not been with it this last week or so.
You can use any tag you like. 🙂
So this means you can get quite clever with your use of tags, and create a unique one for a related series of posts. Then you could do something like create a page containing a list of each series and reference them all with a tag link like this:-
domain.dom/tag/your-tag-here
I imagine that this would greatly improve the SEO for this set of posts as well as making it more convenient for your readers to be able to find them all.
-Frank