## How to Create Custom Permalinks in WordPress (Ultimate Guide)
**By Naveed Ahmed**
As a WordPress expert with over 15 years of experience, I’ve seen the evolution of permalinks and their crucial role in SEO. Creating custom permalinks for your WordPress website isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about improving your website’s visibility in search results, making your content easier to navigate, and ultimately, driving more traffic to your site.
**What are Permalinks?**
Permalinks are the permanent URLs for your individual blog posts, pages, and categories on your WordPress website. Think of them as the address of your content on the internet. A well-crafted permalink is user-friendly, SEO-friendly, and helps both humans and search engines understand what the content is about at a glance.
Here’s an example of a well-structured permalink:
* **https://www.example.com/best-refrigerators-for-tiny-kitchens/**
This URL is much more readable and informative than the clunky URLs used in the past:
* **https://www.example.com/index.php?p=4556**
**Why Create Custom Permalinks?**
* **SEO Benefits:** Custom permalinks help improve your search engine ranking by providing relevant keywords in the URL. This gives search engines more context about your content, making it easier for them to understand what your page is about.
* **User Experience:** Clear and concise permalinks improve your site’s navigation. Users can easily understand what a specific page or post is about just by looking at the URL.
* **Brand Consistency:** A consistent permalink structure across your website contributes to a cohesive brand experience.
**How to Change the WordPress Permalink Structure**
1. **Access the Permalinks Settings:** Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to **Settings > Permalinks**.
2. **Choose a Structure:** WordPress offers several built-in permalink structures. The most SEO-friendly option is **Post name**, which creates URLs using the post’s title.
3. **Customize the Structure (Optional):** You can further customize the structure by using the tags provided, such as %postname%, %category%, %year%, etc.
4. **Save Changes:** Don’t forget to click the **Save Changes** button to apply your new settings.
**Important Note:** Changing the permalink structure after your site has been indexed by search engines can impact your SEO. It’s best to set up your permalink structure before your site goes live. If you must make changes, be sure to set up redirects to prevent 404 errors.
**How to Change the Category and Tag URL Prefix in WordPress**
By default, WordPress uses `/category/` for category URLs and `/tag/` for tag pages. You can change these prefixes to something more relevant to your website.
1. **Go to Settings > Permalinks.**
2. **Enter New Prefixes:** In the “Category Base” and “Tag Base” fields, enter your desired prefixes. For example, you might change “category” to “topics” and “tag” to “keywords.”
3. **Save Changes:** Click the **Save Changes** button to apply your changes.
**How to Change an Individual WordPress Post or Page URL**
1. **Edit the Post or Page:** Go to **Posts > All Posts** or **Pages > All Pages** and click on the post or page you want to edit.
2. **Edit the Permalink:** In the **Permalink** field (under the “Summary” section), you can customize the URL slug.
3. **Update Changes:** Click the **Update** button to save your changes.
**How to Change a WordPress Category or Tag URL**
1. **Edit the Category or Tag:** Go to **Posts > Categories** or **Posts > Tags** and click on the category or tag you want to edit.
2. **Change the Slug:** Under the “Quick Edit” section, you can change the slug (the part of the URL after the category or tag base) to customize its permalink.
3. **Update Changes:** Click the **Update Category** or **Update Tag** button to save your changes.
**How to Change an Author Page URL in WordPress**
WordPress doesn’t have a built-in way to change the author URL base or slug. You’ll need to use a plugin to do this.
1. **Install the Edit Author Slug Plugin:** Go to **Plugins > Add New** and search for **”Edit Author Slug.”** Install and activate the plugin.
2. **Edit the Author Slug:** Go to **Users > All Users**, click on the author you want to edit, and scroll down to the **Edit Author Slug** section.
3. **Update Changes:** Click the **Update User** button to save your changes.
**How to Create Completely Custom Permalinks in WordPress**
To override the default WordPress URL structure for specific sections of your site, you can use the **Custom Permalink Editor** plugin.
1. **Install the Custom Permalink Editor Plugin:** Go to **Plugins > Add New**, search for **”Custom Permalink Editor,”** and install and activate the plugin.
2. **Edit the Post or Page:** Go to **Posts > All Posts** or **Pages > All Pages** and click on the post or page you want to edit.
3. **Create a Custom Permalink:** Under the **Custom Permalink Editor** section, enter your desired custom permalink. It can contain dashes, hyphens, or any other characters.
4. **Update Changes:** Click the **Update** button to save your changes.
**How to Set Up Permalink Redirects and Avoid 404 Errors**
When you change your permalink structure, your old URLs will no longer work, resulting in 404 errors. To prevent this, you need to set up redirects from your old to new URLs.
1. **Install the Redirection Plugin:** Go to **Plugins > Add New**, search for **”Redirection,”** and install and activate the plugin.
2. **Create Redirects:** Go to **Tools > Redirection,** click on **”Add New Redirect,”** and enter the old URL in the **”Source URL”** field and the new URL in the **”Target URL”** field.
3. **Save Changes:** Click the **Add Redirect** button to save your redirect.
**FAQs About Custom Permalinks**
### **H2> Frequently Asked Questions About Custom Permalinks**
**H3> What are permalinks in WordPress?**
Permalinks are the permanent URLs for your WordPress posts, pages, and categories. They determine how your content is displayed in a web browser’s address bar and on search engine results pages (SERPs).
**H3> Why should I create custom permalinks?**
Custom permalinks can be more user-friendly and SEO-friendly. They can help people understand the content of your post from the URL itself. They can also improve your website’s ranking in search results.
**H3> Can I change the permalink for just one post?**
Yes, you can edit the permalink for each post individually from the settings pane of the WordPress block editor.
**H3> What’s the most SEO-friendly permalink structure?**
The most recommended structure is the **Post name** option. This structure creates URLs that use the post’s title. This is easier for humans to understand and is favored by search engines.
**H3> What happens to my old permalinks if I change the structure?**
When you change the permalink structure, the URLs for all your existing posts and pages will change as well. This can affect your SEO if you don’t set up 301 redirects.
**H3> Do I need to set up redirects if I change the structure?**
Yes, we strongly recommend you set up redirects to ensure users and search engines land on the correct URLs after the change. Plugins like All in One SEO and Redirection can help you manage redirects easily.
**H3> What if I want to use a custom permalink structure for a specific post type?**
You can use the **Custom Permalink Editor** plugin to create custom permalink structures for specific post types.
**H3> How do I make sure my permalinks are indexed correctly by search engines?**
Submitting your sitemap to search engines can help them crawl and index your website more efficiently.
**H3> Can I use hyphens or underscores in my permalinks?**
Hyphens are generally preferred for SEO purposes as they are more readable and help search engines understand the structure of your URLs.
**H3> Is there a way to remove the category base from my permalink structure?**
Yes, you can use the **Custom Permalink Editor** plugin to remove the category base from your permalink structure.
**H3> What are some best practices for creating custom permalinks?**
* Use relevant keywords.
* Keep URLs short and concise.
* Avoid using special characters.
* Use hyphens to separate words.
* Maintain consistency across your site.
**Conclusion**
Creating custom permalinks in WordPress is a crucial aspect of SEO optimization. By following the steps outlined above, you can ensure your permalinks are clear, concise, and optimized for search engines. Remember, permalinks are a powerful tool for improving your website’s visibility, user experience, and overall SEO performance.
If you’re interested in learning more about tech news, feel free to visit my website: www.naveedahmed.me.