What's a Custom Post Type?

Pages, posts, and a third option

Most websites really only have two kinds of content. Pages are the static parts of the site: your homepage, your services, your about page. Blog posts are the parts that pile up over time in a single feed. That covers a lot of businesses just fine.

But some businesses have a category of content that doesn’t fit neatly into either bucket: something they have a lot of, that keeps growing, and that all needs to look the same way every time it’s added. That’s what a Custom Post Type is for. It’s a purpose-built third content type, structured specifically around that kind of content instead of forcing it into a generic page or a blog post.

What it looks like in practice

Common examples: team members with headshots and bios, past projects or case studies, service locations, restaurant menu items, or equipment for rent or sale. In each case, the business has five, ten, or fifty of the same kind of thing, and every one of them needs the same layout: a photo here, a title there, a few details in a consistent spot.

Instead of a page builder freelancing a new layout every time someone joins the team or a new project wraps, a Custom Post Type gives you a simple form: name, photo, a few details specific to that content type. Fill it in, and the site formats and places it automatically, in the layout already designed for it. No design skills needed, no fiddling with columns and spacing to make a new entry match the old ones.

When it’s worth it

It earns its keep when you have five or more pieces of the same kind of content that changes over time. If your team grows and shrinks, if you’re regularly wrapping new projects worth showcasing, or if your menu or inventory changes seasonally, a Custom Post Type turns “update the website” into “fill out a form,” and keeps everything looking consistent no matter who’s adding it.

If you only have two or three of something and it rarely changes, a regular page usually does the job fine. It’s the repeatable, growing kind of content that a Custom Post Type is actually built for.

Cost and where it fits

A Custom Post Type is a $1,600 add-on, quoted clearly on your proposal before any work starts, the same as every other add-on. (“Custom Post Type” is the actual name of the feature in WordPress, which is why it keeps the word “Custom” even though the rest of our copy tends to say “tailored.”) It can be added at launch or scoped in later if your business grows into needing it.