The default WordPress permalink settings control the URL format for all posts, pages, categories, and tags
These settings apply globally, which means the same structure is used for all posts, one for all categories, and one for all tag archives.
For small or simple websites, this is usually enough, but it does not handle custom post types and taxonomies well. Their permalinks cannot be fully customized using only the built-in options.
This guide explains how to use the default permalink settings. If you need more flexibility, custom permalink plugins allow you to set individual URLs or create structures that WordPress does not support natively.
Setting Up Permalinks via Admin Dashboard
What Is a Permalink?
All WordPress sites are built around post types and taxonomies. If you do not set the "
public
" parameter to false when registering them, WordPress generates a unique public URL for each post and term.
In WordPress, these URLs are called permalinks, which is short for permanent links. While all permalinks are URLs, not all URLs are permalinks.
A permalink is a special type of URL assigned to a post, page, or category and always points to the same content. Once set, it should not change so users and search engines can access your content without encountering 404 errors.
Where to Find Permalink Settings?
The default permalink format in WordPress is not SEO-friendly since it includes numbers and query strings in the URL. For example, the default URL for a page may be like follows:
https://example.com/?page_id=123
This format is rarely used, because it does not provide any context about the content of the page. In most cases, it makes sense to choose a different permalink structure that is easier to read than the default setting.
Common Settings for Permalinks
You can find different permalink structures to choose from in the admin dashboard under "Settings > Permalinks". The WordPress documentation contains further information on them.
Plain
This structure uses a query-based URL that includes the post ID. This format is hard to read for visitors and not suitable for SEO.
Example: https://example.com/?p=123
Day and name
This structure includes the full date and the post title. It can be useful for news or time-based content, but the URL can become long.
Example: https://example.com/2026/01/02/sample-post/
Month and name
This format shows the month and year, followed by the post title. It keeps some date context while staying shorter than the above format.
Example: https://example.com/2026/01/sample-post/
Numeric
This structure places a numeric ID in the URL instead of the post title. It offers no context to users or search engines and is rarely recommended.
Example: https://example.com/archives/123
Post name
This structure uses only the post slug. It is the most common option because it is short, readable, and easy to understand.
Example: https://example.com/sample-post/
Moving Beyond Default Settings
WordPress’s built-in options cover most standard needs, but they are limited in how much you can customize the structure. If your site uses custom post types or specialized taxonomies, a plugin can help you manage permalinks with more flexibility.
A plugin designed for managing permalinks can help you:
- Control the URL structure for custom content types and taxonomies, not just posts and pages.
- Simplify bulk editing of slugs across posts, categories, or tags.
- Automatically create redirects when URLs change, preventing broken links and preserving SEO value.
- Handle complex scenarios like removing dates, including custom fields in URLs, or changing hierarchical structures for nested content.
Using a plugin is especially useful if your site grows beyond simple posts and pages or if you want more precise control over how URLs appear to visitors and search engines. This article explains custom permalinks in Permalink Manager, including setup and use cases.
Editing Individual URLs
You can change a permalink in WordPress directly while editing a post or page. The steps are the same whether you use the Block editor (Gutenberg) or the Classic editor. The only difference is where the permalink option appears in the editor interface.
via Classic Editor
The permalink field becomes visible as soon as you open the editing panel in Classic Editor. Under the title field, find the "Edit" button displayed next to the permalink.
via Block (Gutenberg) Editor
The steps are the same when using the Block editor. In the right sidebar, find the "Summary" section. Inside it, you will find the "URL" field. Clicking the displayed link opens a popup where you can change the slug.
Best Practices & SEO Tips for Permalinks
Listed below are some basic SEO tips and ideas to get you started. These suggestions include not just the official Google standards, but also the best SEO advice from industry insiders like Search Engine Journal.
Avoid Unnecessary Changes
Frequent changes to the URLs on a website can hurt search engine optimization. When URLs are changed often, it confuses search engines and wastes their "crawl budget" on pages that no longer exist.
Additionally, if a URL is changed after being crawled before, any backlinks or social shares for that page become broken. This negatively impacts SERP position and traffic from search engines. Stable URLs over the long run are better for maintaining visibility.
Furthermore, if you change a URL after it has been crawled, any current backlinks and social shares will become invalid, affecting your website's rating and traffic.
When creating a new page or post for publication, take the time to carefully select the appropriate URL and use it as the final permalink. Simply put, avoid changing your URLs in the future to avoid a drop in SEO score.
According to John Mueller, one of Google analysts, it is better to keep the old URLs intact as long as it is possible rather than to change them & redirect to new address.
301 Redirect Strategy for Keeping SEO Value
If you must change permalink for whatever reason, make sure to provide a 301 redirect as a fallback. This will signal the search engines that your content has been relocated to a new URL address.
Otherwise, some traffic may still be sent to pages that are no longer relevant. As a consequence, visitors will abandon your website if they discover the link is broken, resulting in a high bounce rate. In other words, your website's organic traffic might be slashed if a large number of visitors from search engines arrive at an error page or a blank page.
Keep Permalinks Simple and Descriptive
Keep your URLs short and simple. A permalink that clearly describes the page content will help with search engine optimization. In general, aim to keep the full URL under 100 characters. Theoretically, shorter, simpler URLs may rank higher in Google search results.
Custom post types like "portfolio" are often registered by WordPress plugins that create permalinks that contain hard-coded generic bases. Unfortunately, these do not appear to be understandable or beneficial from an SEO standpoint. Replace them with new bases (for example, "our-work" "products" and "team") that clearly reflect the structure of your website.
https://example.com/portfolio-cpt/foo-bar-com
https://example.com/our-work/foo-bar-com
Organizing your permalinks into a logical structure is a great way to improve their readability. This would facilitate crawling by search engines and user navigation.
However, keep in mind that while an ordered structure is good, keeping your permalink as short as possible should also be your priority. So, in your permalinks, avoid using any redundant folders or other long naming structures.
Permalink Manager allows the customization of post types' and taxonomies' permalinks. For instance, the plugin allows you to use the same URL structure for custom post type ("Band") items while also adding custom taxonomy slugs ("Genre") to their permalinks.
https://example.com/genres/80s/heavy-metal/ (Custom taxonomy: "Genre")
https://example.com/bands/ozzy-osbourne/ (Custom post type: "Band")
https://example.com/bands/80s/heavy-metal/ (Custom taxonomy: "Genre")
https://example.com/bands/80s/heavy-metal/ozzy-osbourne/ (Custom post type: "Band")
Avoid Overusing Keywords and “Stop Words”
There is no need to repeat the single keyword more than once. If your permalinks uses multi-level categories, you should also consider make their structure flatter.
https://www.example.com/animals-in-europe/birds-in-europe/big-birds/stark/
https://example.com/shop/apparel/women-shoes/high-leather-boots/
https://example.com/european-animals/birds/stark/
https://example.com/shop/women/apparel/footwear/leather/shoes/high-boots/
To make your permalink shorter, you can delete "stop words" like "the", "a", and "an". It is pointless to remove them from URLs that are already well-positioned. Nevertheless, for URLs for new content, it may still be a good idea considering your visitors.
https://example.com/blog/how-to-start-a-big-business-in-a-few-months
https://example.com/blog/start-business-in-few-months
Avoid Underscores and Special Characters
Underscores are uncommon in URLs, and for good reason. Google suggests using hyphens instead of them in one of their official guidelines. Hyphens are favored over underscores because they increase readability for viewers as well as search engines.
What exactly is the practical problem here? You should avoid the underscores, and remember to use the hyphens to separate the words.
https://example.com/kitchenappliances/digitalmicrowaveoven
https://example.com/kitchen_appliances/digital_microwave_oven
https://example.com/kitchen-appliances/digital-microwave-oven
Permalink Manager may be set up to include accented or non-Latin characters in custom permalinks if you wish to use them for whatever reason.
Although Google will be able to index your URL even if it contains spaces, commas, underscores & special characters. Remove them or replace them with dashes or Latin letters for improved reading.
https://example.com/countries,regions/balkan|southeastern-europe/Ελλάδα
https://example.com/countries-regions/balkan-southeastern-europe/ellada
Translate URLs to Reflect Content Language
Google is able to translate URLs on its own, so it can figure out what a page is about. However, URL translation may somewhat increase your user metrics and experience, both of which are ranking criteria.
Given that you are already localizing the content, why not translate the URLs as well? The disparity between content and URL language is not only inconvenient for users, but it also impacts SEO because keywords are dependent on the language of translated page. One of the videos on Youtube's official Google Search Central channel discusses multilingual URLs.
To sum it up, if your website is multilingual, you should translate the permalink bases. This might be extremely beneficial if your target market consists of customers from all around the world. Making your WooCommerce URL addresses have a distinct structure for each language will also aid your clients in navigating around your store.
https://example.com/en/books/history/herodotus
https://example.com/pl/books/science-fiction/stanislaw-lew
https://example.com/de/books/philosophy/friedrich-nietzsche
https://example.com/en/books/history/herodotus
https://example.com/pl/ksiazki/fantastyka/stanislaw-lew
https://example.com/de/bucher/philosophie/friedrich-nietzsche
Do Not Use .html at the End of URLs
Despite what some may think, adding file extensions to URLs makes no difference for search rankings. While the idea has persisted for years with some, Google has never treated extensions as a meaningful signal.
Google Search Central published detailed video that debunks this SEO myth, in case you still need more convincing.
The only exception is if you previously used a CMS that adds file extensions to the end of URLs, such as Magento. In such case, you can keep them after switching to WordPress. That way, any existing traffic to those URLs will not be lost.
https://example.com/music/hard-rock.html
https://example.com/music/hard-rock
Permalink Manager can help you if you switched from a different CMS to WordPress and wish to add .html to your new URLs to reconstruct the previous permalink structure.[/info]
FAQ
What Happens if You Change Permalink Settings After Publishing Content?
If you change permalink settings after content is published, existing URLs may stop working. This can lead to 404 errors for visitors and search engines. To prevent this, you should configure permalinks early and avoid modifying them later. If changes are necessary, old URLs should be redirected to the new ones.
Do WordPress Permalink Settings Affect Existing Posts and Pages?
Yes. When you update permalink settings, WordPress applies the new structure to existing posts and pages. If previous URLs are already indexed by search engines or linked from external websites, you should use redirects to avoid broken links.
Can You Customize Individual URLs Using WordPress Permalink Settings?
No. WordPress permalink settings control the global URL structure only, but individual URLs are limited to slug editing. If you want full control over individual URLs, you need a custom permalink plugin, like Permalink Manager.