A permalink is one of the permanent URLs of a blog post or page on a WordPress site. It is also referred to as a pretty link. WordPress URLs use the query string format, which looks like this:
http://www.example.com/?p=233
By changing the settings on the Settings » Permalinks option page, you can convert these query strings into human readable strings.
http://www.example.com/2012/10/woocommerce-for-beginners/
All formats are SEO friendly. Day and name, mon and name, numeric, post name, etc. Any format that is not the default one is SEO friendly. It just comes down to personal preference.
Have you ever wondered what is the most SEO friendly permalink structure in WordPress? New WordPress users often ask us this question. That’s because in the past, WordPress’ default URL structure was not SEO friendly at all. However, that’s changed now. This article explains how you can customize your WordPress permalinks and create SEO friendly URLs.
How can I create a URL that is SEO-friendly?
In order to understand WordPress permalinks, we need to define what an SEO Friendly URL is.
In addition to being easy to read by humans and search engines, SEO Friendly URLs help you rank higher in search engines.
An example of a URL that is SEO-friendly is:
http://junaidtariq.com/how-to-install-wordpress
What does a non-SEO friendly URL look like?
WordPress now uses the post name in the URL, which is the most SEO-friendly URL structure.
Why do beginners still ask us for the best permalink structure?
In the past, WordPress did not use pretty URLs, also known as permalinks. The default was the non-SEO friendly example that we shared earlier.
If you recently installed WordPress, then your site URLs are SEO-friendly.
Your WordPress admin area allows you to easily verify your permalink settings.
Explaining the Permalink Settings Page
The term permalink structure and URL structure are interchangeable in WordPress. Links are called Permalinks (short for permanent links).
Visit the Permalinks settings page in your WordPress admin area first.
Click on Settings in the admin menu, then click on Permalinks. This will take you to a page that looks like this:
WordPress’s permalink settings
There are a number of options available, as you can see.
The plain truth
https://www.junaidtariq.com/?p=123
Name and date
junaidtariq.com/2016/01/22/sample-post
Name and month
http://www.https://www.junaidtariq.com/?p=123.com/2016/01/sample-post
In numbers
http://www.junaidtariq.com/archives/123
Name of the post
Visit https://www.junaidtariq.com/sample-post.
Structures tailored to your needs
Using available tags, you can create your own URL structure.
I will explain a bit about these options, and how they are useful for users and SEO.
WordPress’s default URL structure used to be plain. This is not SEO-friendly.
Having the post name in the day and name option makes it somewhat SEO friendly. However, with dates, the URL becomes too lengthy. It is also possible for your content to become outdated after some time, even if you update it regularly. In the same vein, the month and name option can also become outdated after some time.
The dates in your URL are important if you’re a news publication, since they indicate the date and improve the user experience.
The two structures are only suitable for news sites. Businesses hoping to create evergreen content should avoid them.
Because it is short and pretty, the post name option is the most SEO friendly.
Using a custom structure can be SEO-friendly if you run a larger publication.
Our site uses a custom permalink structure that includes a category name along with the post name. This is perfect for our site because it contains thousands of articles. You will find larger publications follow a similar structure.
You will need to add special tags in the custom structure box to use a custom URL structure. For example, we use:
Posts in %category%/%postname%
Take note of how each tag is wrapped between per cent signs, as well as the trailing slashes before, after, and between each tag.
Using available tags to create a custom URL structure
Using the options we mentioned above will give you the best results. You can copy the URL structure we use on WPBeginner or choose the post name as your URL structure.
There are plenty of other combinations you can create using tags. Here are some of the tags that you can use:
%year% – The year of the post, for example 2016.
%monthnum% – Month of the year, for example, May
%day% – Month’s day, for example 28
%hour% – Hour of the day, such as 15
The minute of the hour is represented by %minute%, for example 43.
%second% – Second of a minute, for example 33
%post_id% – The post’s unique ID number, for example 423.
A sanitized version of the category name (category slug field in New/Edit Category panel). Nested sub-categories appear as nested directories in the URI.
A sanitized version of the author’s name.
After choosing your permalink structure, click the save changes button.
After you save the changes, WordPress will update the .htaccess file and your site will use the new URL structure immediately.
The following is an important note for established sites:
Please do not change your permalink structure if your site has been running for more than six months.
We didn’t use the same structure as you.
You will lose all of your social media shares and run the risk of losing your SEO ranking if you change your permalink structure on an established site.
You’ll still lose your social share counts if you change your permalink structure. You’ll need a professional to set up proper redirects.
If your site uses plain URLs, then you should update your URL structure for better SEO, regardless of how old it is. Yes, you will still lose social share counts, but the benefits far outweigh that.
