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In this tutorial, we cover how to change Permalinks for your WordPress website. WordPress will automatically create Permalinks that include the date and time. You can change these Permalinks and customize them to suit your specific style. Remember: you cannot have duplicate URLs or Permalinks for your WordPress site.

Each Permalink must have a unique slug; ‘slug’ is a short term from news media used within an agency to identify an article – the part of a URL that appears after the last “/.”

To change your Permalinks, ensure you have activated “Hosting Configuration” under “Settings”. If you cannot see the Activate button, it has already been activated.

First, you must be logged in to your Hosted.com Account.

Hosted.com Login Page

1. Login to your Hosted.com account with your username and password.

Hosted.com Client Portal - Dashboard

2. Click on “Manage Services”.

Hosted.com Client Portal - Manage Services

3. Select “WordPress Hosting” from the drop-down menu.

Hosted.com Client Portal - WordPress Hosting

4. Click “Manage” on the right of the screen

Hosted.com Client Portal - Manage WordPress Hosting

5. In “Product Information” followed by “Control Panel” you will see cPanel on the right

6. Click “Login”.

Hosted.com Client Portal - cPanel Logged In

7. Click on your domain name to go to your WordPress Admin area.

Change Permalinks In WordPress - WordPress Dashboard

8. On your WordPress Dashboard:

9. Go to “Settings” and select “Permalink.”

Change Permalinks In WordPress - Permalink Settings

10. Select one of the available structures and click “Save Changes.”

The available structures are self-explanatory. They include:

  • Plain
  • Day and name
  • Month and name
  • Numeric
  • Post Name
  • Custom structure

Additional Information

  • A Permalink or “permanent link” is the unique URL assigned to a specific webpage, post, or content piece published on the net. When you enter this URL into your browser or click on it as a hyperlink, it takes you directly to that page.

As mentioned above, every Permalink consists of two parts: the Domain name e.g., “www.domainname.com” and the Slug.

  • The Slug can contain the name of the post, date, category, etc. An example of a Slug after a Domain Name looks like this: “www.domainname.com/article-date/
  • While WordPress will automatically generate and assign a default Permalink for a new website or post, it can be beneficial to change it from the default structure to a custom one. Search engines and users prefer a clean, descriptive URL structure to randomly generated numbers and letters.

For example, the custom permalink: https://www.example.com/webpage-article-blogpost is much easier to read than the default one: http://www.example.com/index.php?id_tag=364f41730f1.

  • Search engines use Permalinks to recognize content on web pages and index them. A clear, consistent Permalink structure can help search engines index your page correctly, boosting your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and potentially attracting more traffic.
  • User experience is another important factor. Well-structured Permalinks should indicate to users where the URL will lead and the content they can expect when they click on it. This makes them more likely to trust it and click on it.

When you need to structure or change WordPress Permalinks for your WordPress website, keep the following in mind to help with your site’s SEO and give a better user experience to your visitors:

  • URLs should be short and descriptive while avoiding unnecessary words like “a,” “the,” “on,” and “of.” When separating words, use dashes, not underscores, for readability.
  • Using all lowercase letters can help prevent error messages, such as a 404-page error if users enter a URL variation.
  • Try to include dates, categories, or tags for new content. Keep in mind that you may need to shorten longer titles.
  • Incorporate keywords in your Permalink. Keywords are the words or phrases users type into a search engine to find content. Doing so can help signal search engines that your URL is a relevant resource to direct users to and improve your page’s ranking.
  • Configuring your WordPress Permalink settings in advance will help maintain consistency. Using the correct Permalink structure before publishing any pages or posts will help keep your website’s content organized and stop you from having to make changes later.
  • Remember: changing Permalinks incorrectly in your WordPress site, can cause broken links, negatively affecting your SEO and user trust, so make sure they are formatted properly.
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