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For most new WordPress sites, choose Settings → Permalinks → Post name, then click Save Changes. WordPress will create short URLs from each page or post’s slug, without database numbers or publication dates. Write slugs in lowercase, use hyphens between words, and keep them descriptive. Use /%category%/%postname%/ only when your category hierarchy is stable and genuinely helps readers understand where a page belongs. Use a date-based structure when the date is part of the content’s identity, such as a news archive; dates are usually unnecessary for evergreen guides.

What a WordPress permalink is

A permalink is the permanent web address assigned to a WordPress post, page, category archive, or other public resource. WordPress documentation describes the idea plainly: “The URL to each post should be permanent and never change — hence the name permalink.” The setting you choose controls the pattern WordPress uses when it builds those addresses.

Permalinks matter to people first. A reader can understand /wordpress-permalink-settings/ before opening it, while an address containing only an internal number gives no context. Readable paths are easier to copy, share, audit, and recognize in search results. They also make site maintenance easier because you can infer what a link should contain from its subject.

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A permalink structure is not a magic ranking switch. Search engines can crawl several valid URL patterns. The practical SEO benefits come from clarity, consistency, stable addresses, and avoiding avoidable duplication or migration errors.

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The best setting for most new sites: Post name

In the WordPress admin, open Settings → Permalinks, select Post name, and click Save Changes. A post titled “WordPress Permalink Settings” might receive a URL such as https://example.com/wordpress-permalink-settings/.

Post name is the strongest default for a general blog, documentation site, portfolio, service business, or publication whose articles are intended to remain useful over time. It removes dates and database IDs from the path, keeps the address comparatively short, and lets the slug describe the page directly.

When Post name is the right fit

  • You publish evergreen tutorials, reference pages, product documentation, or service pages.
  • Your categories may be renamed, merged, or reorganized as the site grows.
  • You want article URLs that remain useful when a page is updated years later.
  • You need a simple convention that editors can apply without deciding how taxonomy belongs in every URL.

What Post name does not solve automatically

WordPress creates the pattern, but editors still need to choose a good slug. A long title can produce a long path, and changing a slug after publication can break links unless the old address redirects. Decide the canonical wording before publishing when possible.

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WordPress permalink structures compared

WordPress offers Plain, Day and name, Month and name, Numeric, Post name, and Custom structure choices. The table compares their practical trade-offs rather than claiming a universal ranking advantage.

Structure Example Readable Stability when content changes When it makes sense
Plain /?p=123 Low; the address reveals no subject Usually stable, but not descriptive Compatibility or temporary setups where human-readable paths are not a priority
Day and name /2026/10/18/sample-post/ Moderate; the date is visible Dates remain tied to the original publication date News, daily reporting, or archives where the day is part of the identity
Month and name /2026/10/sample-post/ Moderate; the month is visible Dates remain tied to the original publication month Periodical publishing where month-level chronology helps readers
Numeric /archives/123 Low; the ID carries little meaning Usually stable, but opaque Sites that specifically need compact ID-based paths
Post name /sample-post/ High when the slug is written well Strong if the slug is treated as permanent Most new general-purpose sites and evergreen content
Category and post name /guides/sample-post/ High when the category is meaningful Coupled to category changes; migrations are more disruptive Large, stable information architectures where the hierarchy helps navigation

The examples use a fictional domain and date to show the pattern. Your site’s domain, language, and publication date will differ.

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Should you use category and post name?

The custom structure /%category%/%postname%/ can communicate hierarchy at a glance. A path such as /security/wordpress-login-hardening/ tells a reader both the subject and the section. That can be useful for a substantial documentation library or a publication with durable, reader-facing sections.

Category in the URL is an information-architecture decision, not a universal SEO requirement. Adding it makes every URL longer and binds the address to a taxonomy term. If an article moves from “Guides” to “News,” the URL may change. Renaming, nesting, or consolidating categories can therefore create a migration even when the article itself has not changed.

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Use a category segment when all of these are true

  • Categories have clear names that are unlikely to be renamed or reorganized.
  • Readers benefit from seeing the section in a copied or printed link.
  • An article belongs to one primary category for URL purposes.
  • Your team has a redirect process for future taxonomy changes.

Prefer Post name when any of these are true

  • Your categories are mainly editorial filters rather than permanent sections.
  • Posts can reasonably belong to several categories.
  • You expect a redesign, merger, or internationalization that could alter category names.
  • Short, durable URLs are more valuable than hierarchy in the address.

Do not add a category token merely because it appears more descriptive. Navigation menus, breadcrumbs, internal links, and headings can express hierarchy without putting the taxonomy into every permalink.

Are dates in WordPress URLs bad for SEO?

Dates are not inherently a search-engine penalty. They are a signal to people about chronology and can be appropriate for time-sensitive publishing. WordPress’s built-in Day and name and Month and name structures make that information explicit.

The trade-off is durability. A date in an evergreen tutorial makes the address longer and can suggest that the page is obsolete when the content remains useful. Updating the article does not automatically change a date-based path, so the visible date may also stop matching the reader’s idea of “last updated.” Removing dates later requires redirects for the old addresses.

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Choose Day and name for

  • Daily news or event coverage where the exact day distinguishes one report from another.
  • Chronological archives in which publication date is part of the record.
  • Sites whose editorial workflow and archive navigation are explicitly date-led.

Choose Month and name for

  • Monthly magazines, newsletters, or reports where month-level grouping is meaningful.
  • Archives that need chronology but do not require a day in each address.

Avoid dates for

  • How-to guides, documentation, service pages, and reference material intended to stay current.
  • Sites where editors frequently refresh old articles and want the URL to remain topic-focused.

How to choose a readable slug

The slug is the page-specific part of the path, usually derived from the title. Write it for a person who sees the URL without the surrounding page.

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Use ordinary, specific words

Prefer /wordpress-permalink-settings/ to /post-123/. A slug such as /fix-wordpress-404-errors/ is clearer than a string of internal labels. Keep only the words needed to identify the subject; removing a word is worthwhile only if the meaning remains unambiguous and the shorter form will not collide with another page.

Separate words with hyphens

Google recommends hyphens between words. Use /wordpress-permalink-settings/, not /wordpress_permalink_settings/. Hyphens make word boundaries visible in copied links and are the conventional separator for readable paths.

Keep case consistent

Use lowercase slugs. URL paths can be case-sensitive depending on the server, so /About-Us/ and /about-us/ may not behave as the same address. A single lowercase convention prevents duplicate-looking links and difficult-to-diagnose 404s.

Limit parameters and tracking data

Use a clean path for the canonical page. Query parameters may be necessary for filtering, pagination, or campaigns, but do not put needless parameters into the primary link people share. Campaign links should resolve to the same canonical page rather than becoming alternate permanent addresses.

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Reserve words that need special treatment

WordPress has reserved paths and existing pages, categories, tags, authors, and feeds. Before choosing a short generic slug such as /news/ or /about/, check that it is not already used by another public resource. A collision can cause WordPress to append a suffix or route visitors somewhere unexpected.

Set the permalink structure on a new WordPress site

  1. Plan the convention. Choose Post name for most sites. Choose a custom structure only if the category or date is part of your lasting information architecture.
  2. Open the settings screen. In the dashboard, go to Settings → Permalinks.
  3. Select the structure. Choose Post name, or select Custom structure and enter a deliberate pattern such as /%category%/%postname%/.
  4. Review category and tag bases. Change the default bases only when a clearer public term improves navigation. Avoid adding prefixes that do not help readers.
  5. Save the setting. Click Save Changes. WordPress applies the selected structure and refreshes its rewrite rules.
  6. Test representative pages. Open a post, page, category archive, tag archive, and feed if your site uses them. Confirm that each returns the intended content and that internal links use the new pattern.

On a new site, this is the safest time to settle the convention because few external links and search indexes depend on the old pattern.

Changing permalinks on an established site without breaking links

A structural change is a URL migration, even if the visible content does not change. Search engines, bookmarks, emails, social posts, feeds, and other sites may still request the old addresses.

Before changing the setting

  1. Back up or export the site. Keep a recoverable copy of content and configuration before changing rewrite behavior.
  2. Inventory current URLs. Export published post, page, category, tag, media, and feed URLs where they are publicly linked. Include important campaign and partner links.
  3. Design the destination pattern. Decide the exact new slug for each important resource. Do not rely on an automatic title conversion when a clearer, stable slug is possible.
  4. Build an old-to-new map. Record one destination for every old URL. Preserve equivalent content; do not send unrelated old pages to the home page merely to avoid a 404.

Apply and redirect

  1. Open Settings → Permalinks, select the new structure, and click Save Changes.
  2. Issue permanent redirects from every old address to its exact new equivalent. A redirect should point directly to the final URL, not through several intermediate URLs.
  3. Update internal links, navigation, breadcrumbs, canonical tags, XML sitemaps, feeds, downloadable documents, and campaign links.
  4. Leave redirects in place long enough to cover established bookmarks and external references. Removing them immediately recreates the broken-link problem.

Verify the migration

  • Request a sample of old URLs and confirm that each redirects to the intended new URL.
  • Open the new URLs and check for a successful response, correct content, and the expected canonical address.
  • Crawl the site for 404 responses, redirect chains, mixed old/new internal links, and duplicate paths.
  • Review sitemap and feed output so they contain the new URLs rather than obsolete addresses.
  • Watch server and search-console reports for unexpected spikes in not-found responses.

Google recommends redirects when consolidating non-preferred URLs, and WordPress training materials likewise emphasize redirecting old sources after a permalink change. The important operational point is to map and test the old paths; simply saving a new structure does not repair links published elsewhere.

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Common permalink problems and fixes

New URLs return 404 errors

First revisit Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes again. This refreshes WordPress rewrite rules even if you do not change the selected option. If the problem persists, check whether the web server is configured to pass requests to WordPress and whether a security or caching layer is serving stale responses. Test a post, a page, and an archive separately so you can identify whether the failure is global or limited to one rewrite rule.

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Some old links work and others do not

Compare the failing URLs with your old-to-new map. Common causes include changed slugs, category moves, trailing-slash differences, uppercase characters, and attachments or feeds that were omitted from the redirect list. Add a direct redirect for each genuine legacy address rather than creating a broad rule that sends unrelated pages to one destination.

Redirects form a chain or loop

Inspect each hop. The old URL should redirect directly to the final canonical URL, and the final URL should return the page without redirecting back. Remove overlapping rules that alternately add and remove a category, date, or trailing slash. Clear caches after correcting the rule, then retest from an uncached request.

Category changes unexpectedly alter URLs

This is an inherent cost of putting %category% in the structure. Either restore the intended primary category, create a permanent redirect from the previous path, or reconsider whether category belongs in future URLs. A taxonomy used as a flexible filter is usually a poor URL component.

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Duplicate-looking URLs appear

Check for uppercase variants, alternate trailing-slash forms, parameterized links, and multiple paths that reach the same content. Choose one canonical URL, link internally to it consistently, and redirect or otherwise control alternate forms according to your site’s configuration. Keep the sitemap limited to preferred URLs.

A practical decision framework

Question If the answer is yes Recommended direction
Will readers use the page for months or years? The content is evergreen. Post name; omit dates.
Is publication chronology part of the record? The archive is news- or issue-driven. Day and name or Month and name.
Are categories stable public sections? Names and hierarchy are durable. Consider /%category%/%postname%/.
Do posts move between categories? Taxonomy is frequently reorganized. Prefer Post name.
Is the site already indexed and heavily linked? Changing paths has a real migration cost. Keep the current structure unless there is a clear benefit; if changing, plan redirects and verification first.
Does the path need to be understood when copied alone? Links circulate in email, documentation, or support tickets. Use a lowercase, hyphenated, descriptive slug.

Recommended checklist

  • Select Post name for a new general-purpose WordPress site unless chronology or stable hierarchy is central to the product.
  • Use lowercase, descriptive words separated by hyphens.
  • Keep the slug short enough to scan, but do not remove words that make its meaning unclear.
  • Do not add dates or category names solely to appear more SEO-focused.
  • Treat every published URL as an address that should remain permanent.
  • Back up before a structural change.
  • Map every old URL to its exact new destination and issue permanent redirects.
  • Update internal links, canonical tags, sitemaps, feeds, and campaign links.
  • Crawl the site and inspect old URLs, new URLs, 404s, and redirect chains after saving the change.

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