Permalink

Your permalink is the address people bookmark, share and cite. Search engines also use it to identify the page. If you change it, you need a redirect from the old URL to the new one.

Words in the slug are a small relevance signal and mostly for readers. Keep URLs short, lowercase and hyphenated. Skip stop words like “and” or “the”. Avoid dates unless the content is tied to a date, for example a pattern like “/news/YYYY-MM-DD-release-notes”.

WordPress calls URL formats “permalinks”. You will find the setting under Settings, Permalinks. Common patterns include Post name and Date and name.

• Use Post name for most sites: “/pricing”, “/blog/how-to-choose-a-plan”. It is readable and short.
• Use Date and name only if posts are time sensitive and you keep dates visible to readers.
• Avoid long category chains in the URL unless categories are few and stable.

Example fixed page: “yourproduct.com/guides/getting-started”, not “yourproduct.com/YYYY/MM/DD/how-to-get-started-with-yourproduct-guide/”.

• Scan your main navigation and top posts. Are the URLs short, lowercase, hyphenated and stable?
• Check internal links. Do menu and blog links point to one clean URL, with no tracking parameters?
• In Search Console, open the Pages view in the Performance report. Look for duplicate paths that suggest an old and a new URL for the same content.
• Click a few old links from social or newsletters. Confirm they load the intended page and do not 404 or redirect in loops.
• Keep a list of canonical URLs for core pages like “/pricing”, “/features”, “/blog/”. Use that list when you add links.

Choose a stable base for each content type. For evergreen pages, use the root where possible: “/pricing”, “/features/integrations”. For articles and guides, use one folder like “/blog/” or “/guides/”.

• Slug: 3 to 6 words that match the topic, like “how-to-export-data”.
• Lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens only. No underscores.
• No dates in slugs unless the content is dated. If you must date, keep it consistent.
• Do not stuff keywords. Write for recognition, not density.
• One canonical URL per page. Avoid serving the same content at both “/post” and “/post/”. Pick one and redirect the other.

1. 1

   Map old to new

   Export a list of current URLs. Add the new target for each one. Include case variants and trailing slash variants if they exist.

2. 2

   Add 301 redirects

   Create one permanent redirect from each old URL to the new canonical URL. Do not chain multiple hops if you can avoid it.

3. 3

   Update internal links

   Replace old paths in menus, footers, posts and sitemap. Link only to the new canonical URLs.

4. 4

   Submit and test

   Update your XML sitemap. Use a redirect checker to spot chains and loops. In Search Console, inspect a few changed URLs and monitor coverage.

5. 5

   Leave redirects in place

   Keep them indefinitely. People will click old links for years.