You are about to publish posts and pages on your website and are annoyed by the WordPress permalink "/?p=987 behind your domain? Then you should adjust the permalink setting in your WordPress dashboard. After reading our article, you will understand how permalinks work and will be able to adjust the permalink structure of your website yourself.
Definition of permalinks
A permalink is used to identify a unique address of a website. Examples of where permalinks are used include
- Post pages, such as blog articles or news pages
- Subpages, such as "About us", "Imprint" or "Our services"
- Archive pages
- Category pages
- Author pages
Each of these pages belongs to the same domain of a website (as a rule). The permalinks, which are part of an individual URL, uniquely identify pages.
A URL such as "https://blog.wpspace.de/beispielbeitrag " usually consists of the following different components:
- https: Protocol
- blog. or similar like .staging, .store, etc.: Subdomain (Third Level Domain)
- wpspace or yourdomain: Domain name (second level domain)
- .de or .com, .net, etc.: Top Level Domain
- /example post or /archive, /category1, etc.: Permalink
The sum of these components then results in the URL via which you can call up a specific subpage of a website.
The permalinks follow a fixed structure, the so-called permalink structure. They are permanent links to a page. Once the permalink structure has been defined for the respective website, it is generally no longer changed.
In your WordPress dashboard, you can set and update the permalink structure of your website with just a few clicks. We recommend that you define the structure at the start of your web project!
If it makes sense to adjust your permalink structure at a later date, you should configure "redirects" to avoid unnecessary redirects to nowhere. You are probably also familiar with such "empty pages": "This page could not be found"
💡 Good to know: Permalinks and redirects are not the same thing! Redirects are targeted redirects that redirect a visitor to another URL.
If you are also concerned with SEO, permalinks are an easy way to improve your ranking. If your permalinks are clearly defined, the URL already shows the Google crawler which topic your page deals with. With smart permalinks, you can improve your positioning in the search results and attract more website visitors.
Exemplary permalinks in WordPress
Permalinks can be very individual and are defined globally for the entire website by default! WordPress offers you six different setting options for your permalink structure:
- Simple: yourdomain.com/?p=123
This is the WordPress default setting. Here, the respective page or post ID is displayed after the slash. - Tag and name: yourdomain.com/year/month/day/contribution-name
The slug for "Day and name" consists of the full publication date (year, month and day separated by a slash) and the post name after another slash. - Month and name: yourdomain.com/year/month/contribution-name
This setting is similar to "Tag and name", except that the tag is not part of the permalink. - Numerical: yourdomain.com/archive/ID
Here your domain archive and the respective post or page ID is used as a slug. - Contribution name: yourdomain.com/contribution-name (our recommendation)
After the slash, your post or page name is used as the permalink. - Individual structure: yourdomain.com/placeholder
Various placeholders are available for the domain plug-in of the individual structure, which you can select directly in the bottom line.
💡Our recommendation: We recommend that you use the "post name" structure for your WordPress website. This way, a visitor or Google crawler can already tell from the URL which content topics can be found on the page.
Instructions: Define WordPress permalink structure
The permalink structure is defined globally for the entire website in WordPress. If you want to change your permalinks, simply follow this step-by-step guide:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard
- Navigate to "Permalinks" in the left-hand menu under "Settings"
- Choose your preferred permalink structure - WPspace recommends choosing the best practice "post name".
- Click on the "Save changes" button and you're done
❗️ Note: If you change the permalink structure in an existing WordPress website, we recommend that you create a backup of your website in advance. This will allow you to revert to the original status in the event of problems.
Instructions: Changing the permalink for individual pages or posts
If you have opted for the "Post name" permalink structure in WordPress, the entire post or page title is always used as the permalink by default. The URL can therefore become very long under certain circumstances, as here:
yourdomain.com/explain-how-you-can-customize-your-permalink-structure
To avoid unnecessarily long URLs, you can customize the permalink for each page and post individually. We recommend that you always carry out this step at the beginning of the page creation process.
If, like most WordPress users, you use the Gutenberg Editor as your blog editor, you can customize the permalink in the right-hand side menu:
- Open your side menu if it is not already open
- Click on the URL
- Replace the existing permalink with your preferred permalink.
💡Tip: When adapting, note the standard formatting of a URL. For example, individual terms should be separated by hyphens (-) and ä, ö and ü should be written out as ae, oe and ue.
If you are not working with the Gutenberg Editor as your blog editor, the permalink is usually placed directly under the post or page title. However, this depends on the blog editor you choose.
Important notes on adapting the permalink structure
If you have already published content on your website, we recommend that you always create a backup of your website before customizing the WordPress permalink structure. You can usually easily create a backup in the hosting interface of your Hosters and import it if necessary.
Before you adjust the permalink structure, you should also think about internal links and 301 redirects. We strongly recommend that you check these after the adjustment.
Internal links
With the help of internal links, you link from one subpage to another subpage within a domain. For example: If I link from this blog post to another post that may be useful for you and both have been published at WPspace is published, it is an internal link.
As these links are usually entered manually, they must also be subsequently adapted to the new permalink.
💡Tip: You can use a plugin like "Better Search Replace", which replaces the existing links with the new link in the database for you. Afterwards, you can use a free link checker tool check your website for broken links.
Links that have not been entered manually do not need to be adjusted manually. The links are updated automatically by adjusting the permalink structure.
301 redirects
With the help of 301 redirects, you show Google that the content has been moved from URL1 to URL2 and avoid visibility losses. Therefore, if your website is already indexed in Google, you should set up 301 redirects to avoid visibility losses.
FAQs about WordPress permalinks
Changing the WordPress permalink is not possible - what can I do?
If you are unable to adjust your permalink structure in your WordPress settings as described in the article, this is probably due to your .htaccess file.
It can happen that the .hataccess file is write-protected and thus blocks the adjustment of the permalink structure. Remove the write protection and then adjust the permalink structure again - now it should work.
Can I change WordPress permalinks afterwards?
Yes, you can adjust the permalink settings for the entire website as well as the permalinks of individual posts and pages.
If your website is already indexed in Google and has regular visitors, I recommend configuring 301 redirects and redirects. You can find out more about this here further up in the article!
Which permalink structure is the best?
We recommend that you choose the WordPress permalink structure "Post name" for your website. In this case, the topic of the subpage is already clear to website visitors and Google crawlers based on the specific page URL.
I have a permalink 404 error - what can I do?
The 404 error means that the page you have called up cannot be found. If this error occurs on several pages, it is probably due to a problem with your .htaccess file.
In most cases, the error can be fixed by adjusting the permalink structure in your WordPress dashboard. So adjust as described in our instructions describe the permalink structure of your WordPress website. Then empty the cache of your caching plugin, if available. The links should then work again.
Conclusion: Customize WordPress permalink structure in 2 minutes
With a permalink, you give your page an individual URL, i.e. your own address, so to speak. Google bots and website visitors can use the permalink to recognize the topic of your page. That's why we recommend the WordPress permalink structure "Post name" as the default setting in your WordPress dashboard. This saves you work, increases usability for website visitors and can also help you rank higher in Google.
If you want to adjust the permalink structure of your WordPress website afterwards, this is possible with just 2 clicks. However, this will involve some work for you! Then check the internal links on your website and use redirects or SEO-friendly 301 redirects if necessary. After the adjustment, you should definitely check your website for broken links!
In my opinion, the permalink structure is a powerful setting in your WordPress instance that everyone should configure and use individually according to their requirements.
