Creating an effective SEO friendly URL structure is one of the most impactful ways to improve your WordPress site‘s search engine optimization. With the right permalink structure, you can optimize your pages for relevant keywords, improve clickthrough rates, and boost your overall search engine rankings.
In this comprehensive guide from a seasoned webmaster‘s perspective, we‘ll explain what exactly makes a WordPress URL "SEO friendly," break down the different permalink options, and provide actionable tips to implement the best structure for your site based on 15+ years of experience.
Contents
What is a SEO Friendly URL?
First, let‘s define what makes a URL structure search engine optimized.
An SEO friendly URL:
- Is short, clean, and easy to understand for both users and search engine crawlers
- Contains relevant keywords that describe the content
- Omits special characters, numbers, and unnecessary words
- Uses dashes (-) to separate words instead of underscores (_)
For example, a good SEO URL would be:
example.com/keyword-focused-titleWhile a poor SEO URL looks like:
example.com/page.php?id=127&post=4523The SEO friendly URL has a nicely organized structure with keywords, as opposed to a chaotic string of numbers and special characters.
Properly optimized URLs improve clickthrough rates because users can quickly glance at the URL and understand what the page is about before clicking. The URL also acts as an on-page SEO signal to search engines regarding the topic and keywords on that page.
According to Moz, pages with SEO optimized URLs can achieve up to 34% higher CTR compared to pages with generic URLs. This is why putting in the effort to create searcher- and reader-friendly URLs is well worth it.
Exploring the WordPress Permalink Settings
In your WordPress dashboard, you can configure your site‘s URL structure in the "Permalinks" settings page under Settings > Permalinks.
Here are the different permalink options available:
Default – Example: example.com/?p=123
This ugly default structure with query strings is far from SEO friendly. Avoid this option at all costs for SEO.
Day and Name – Example: example.com/2019/10/post-title
Including dates can work for news sites, but overall makes content seem outdated. Not ideal for many sites.
Month and Name – Example: example.com/2019/10/post-title
Still includes dates, which comes with the same downsides as the previous option.
Numeric – Example: example.com/archives/123
Simply uses post IDs instead of titles. Not human or SEO friendly.
Post Name – Example: example.com/post-title
This smart permalink structure only uses the post slug/title. Short, clean, optimized, and SEO friendly.
Custom Structure – Create your own using provided tags
The most flexible option where you can include categories, post IDs, authors etc. along with the post name. Allows for advanced customization.
Recommended: Post Name or Custom Structure
The Post Name setting is recommended for most sites as it generates a simple SEO friendly URL using just the post title.
However, larger sites may benefit from a Custom Structure that fits their content structure. Some examples:
- /%category%/%postname%/
- /%author%/%postname%/
- /blog/%postname%/
Just be sure to always include %postname% to take advantage of title keywords. Never use the Default or Numeric options.
Here are some quick statistics that highlight the advantages of these SEO friendly structures:
- 61% of marketers say optimized page URLs positively impacted SEO [HubSpot]
- Pages with a post name URL structure see ~15% higher CTR than default URLs [Moz]
- Keyword-optimized URLs can double site traffic from search engines [Backlinko]
It‘s clear that taking the time to implement SEO friendly permalinks pays dividends across SEO, UX, and traffic growth metrics.
Tips for Implementing SEO Friendly URLs
Here are some additional tips from my experience as a WordPress webmaster to optimize your permalinks for maximum SEO value:
- Use dashes (-) to separate words, not underscores (_) or spaces
- Avoid excessive long titles – ideally under 60 characters
- Include targeted keywords relevant to each post
- Consider adding city or state names if they match your content
- Don‘t change permalink structure on old sites or you‘ll lose rankings
- Install a redirection plugin like Yoast SEO if you must change an existing structure
- Add tags like /blog/ or /news/ if useful for categorization
- Avoid dates unless you are a news site publishing very topical content
- Consider splintering categories into subcategories for more URL specificity
- Limit the number of variables used in custom structures – 1 or 2 max
- Watch out for identical slug conflicts between posts and pages if using %postname%
- Always use 301 redirects properly if changing permalink formats
Permalink Length Limitations
One technical consideration is that URLs have a maximum character limit depending on the server and browser. Generally, it‘s safest to keep URLs under 100 characters to avoid issues.
So if your custom structure ends up creating extremely long URLs, you may need to adjust and condense it. This is another reason to avoid cramming too many variables into your custom permalinks. Stick to what‘s necessary and drop any unnecessary complexity.
Changing Permalink Structure on Existing Sites
As noted above, proceed very cautiously if you need to change the URL structure on an established site that already has significant traffic and rankings.
Don‘t ever change the permalink settings on a live site without first installing a redirection plugin like Yoast SEO. This will allow you to set up proper 301 redirects so search engines and visitors are forwarded from old URLs to new ones.
Ideally test major URL structure changes on a staging copy of your site first before rolling out to production. Changing permalinks is a direct path to lost rankings and traffic if not handled properly.
Even with redirects in place, transitioning to a new URL structure will disrupt search performance for a period of time. So only make the change if the long-term SEO benefits outweigh the short-term volatility and drop in rankings.
Wrapping Up
An optimized SEO friendly URL structure is a crucial component in improving search visibility and clickthrough rates.
By following the tips and best practices covered in this guide, you can ensure your WordPress site benefits from clean, effective permalinks tailored to your content and audience.
While the specifics will vary from site to site, the core principles remain the same – keep your URLs concise, keyword-rich, and consistent. Avoid anything overly complex or unintelligible to search engines.
With an expert technical implementation and SEO mindset guiding your URL decisions, your content will be much more discoverable and rank higher in search engines over the long-term.
