What Is a Permalink in SEO?

The word permalink shouldn’t be something new to you if you work in SEO. Moreover, you need to know how to create and treat a permalink correctly to ensure a high ranking for your site.

One would think that the permanent link is only a combination of words and, sometimes, numbers. However, it could influence how search engines and users perceive your site.

That leads us to the conclusion - you need to understand the work of permalinks and their structure to get better results on SERP.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

What is a permalink?

We do not want to make it complicated. To answer the question “what is a permalink?” you need to understand that it’s a combination of words - permanent link.

This definition of the notion of permalink might seem simple, but it is what it is.

Basically, it is the URL you see for the page or next to the page’s title on the SERP.

As we’ve mentioned in the very beginning, your permalinks should be SEO- and user-friendly. The way you organize your links influences how search engines and people evaluate your site. If you provide some random letters and numbers as your permanent link, you are highly likely to confuse both crawlers and users.

Moreover, people tend to share content with clear URLs more willingly.

Given this, your permalinks should reflect what’s on the page a crawler or person is going to visit. This way, you help crawlers to index your page more accurately, and users to be confident about what’s they will see on the page.

What is the link structure?

We often say that the permalink is a full URL of your site. Yet, it’s better to say permalink refers to a specific URL structure site owners use to describe a page.

Normally, your permanent link consists of:

• Domain name (and, sometimes, subdomain) - that’s where your site is located. It’s the core of your permalink.
• Path - it’s where exactly the page is located (e.g., /blog, /seo-new, etc.).
• Slug - is the last but not least important part of your link. Slug represents the content on the page. It’s vital to ensure it’s concise, clear, and descriptive.

The combination of these elements creates a certain structure that directs us to a page. And as this structure won’t change, we name it a permanent link.

As you can see, it’s not that hard. Yet, some bloggers or site owners make some mistakes. (Or, let’s say, don’t care about the links much.)

Look at these two permalink examples, and answer which one you are going to click.

Example 1

https://blog.yoursite.com/seo/what-is-local-seo

Example 2

https://blog.yoursite.com/seo/postid?-454345353453

It’s highly likely that you say number one. That’s because you clearly see where you land after pressing the link.

How to structure your URL

For instance, your site or blog URL structure can be as follows:

https://yoursite.com/category/article-name

https://subdomain.yoursite.com/category/article-name

Or

https://yoursite.com/09-25-24/post-name

Or

https://yoursite.com/article-name

These are pretty general yet SEO-friendly examples of permalinks. But you can make a step forward and palpably improve your URL.

The best way to structure the permalink for SEO and users

You already know that URLs are pretty influential.

So, you need to know the best practices for writing your permalinks.

1. The permalink should match your article’s H1 (title) so as not to confuse readers and SEO.
2. The URL should contain a keyword (if your H1 has it, that’s logical your URL will have it, too).
3. Make your permanent links short and clear. Even if your H1 is rather long, try reworking the name for the permalink while keeping the meaning of the content. And don’t forget about the keyword.
4. Utilize hyphens (-) to create your permanent links. That’s because Google treats hyphens as spaces that let the search engine understand your URL correctly.
5. Use one structure of permalinks for all content on your site. That allows users to navigate your site easier.

These are the main pieces of advice we have to share.

Nevertheless, there’s one more tip. Do not add dates or years in your permalinks if you plan to write evergreen content. That allows you to update it more easily without using redirects.

It’s a worthy way to organize your URL structure. Anyway, help readers understand that your content is not outdated. You can add on-page elements “Created on” and “Updated on.” This way, people will see if your content is actual.

Thus, if you run a news site, it’s logical to arrange your permalinks with dates in your general settings or write them manually. Accordingly, your visitor will be able to consume the freshest content if requested.

An expert tip. To ensure your permanent link looks fine in the snippet:

• Don’t use too many directories (e.g., https://yoursite.com/blog/category/article-name.html). A short URL works better (e.g., https://yoursite.com/blog/article-name.html).
• Use breadcrumbs.

How to create a permalink

Now, let’s jump to how to create an actual permalink. First and foremost, you need to have:

• Hosting,
• Domain name,
• CMS.

After this, think of your URL structure. Generally, it will consist of:

• Domain (your site name + sometimes, subdomain),
• Path (where your content is located - if you have multiple categories on your site),
• Slug (an actual name of the page where the user lands).

Stick to the best practices of permalink creation that we’ve described in the previous section.

Where do you create a permanent link?

Normally, you create a permalink in your CMS (WordPress, Hubspot, Drupal, etc.) or custom-made website tools. Also, there are special plugins to help you out.

It’s not complicated to do in WordPress as it’s in-build in the CMS (read in detail in the next section).

Yet, if you have a custom-made admin panel for your website, it might look something like this.

In our admin panel, the URL refers to the permalink. So, we make it clear, with a keyword in it, and without stating a year, unlike H1.

That’s how Internet users see it.

Or, for example, if you need to create a great slug for your permalink in Hubspot CMS, do the following. Go to:

• Settings,
• General,
• Page URL,
• Content slug.

By Hubspot

Or here is the case with another popular CMS called Wix. Creating a permalink will be quite simple. You need to:

• Head to your editor.
• Press Pages & Menu left to the editor.
• Hover over the page you want to work with and press the More Actions sign. The menu will appear.
• Press the “SEO Basics” tab.
• Go to the “What’s the URL slug” sign. Then, type the page slug you want to assign to the page.
• Hit the “Enter” button on your keyboard.

By Wix

Though the approaches to permanent link creation might be different, one thing should stay the same - the CMS you are using should provide this option.

How to set up a permalink in WordPress

Around 835 million sites are built on WordPress. That is, so far, the most famous content management system on the market.

It’s pretty clear why - it offers lots of free templates to create quality sites, various helpful plugins, and intuitive navigation in the admin interface.

So, if you choose this CMS, you need to know how to create a permalink in WordPress. The whole process is pretty straightforward.

1. Log in to your WordPress account.
2. Click Settings in the menu on your left.
3. Choose Permalinks.

Then, you’ll see a special interface where you can set up permalinks in WordPress.

If you read our article attentively, you won’t choose the “Plain” or “Numeric” type of URL as your preferred one. The slugs, in this case, will be too generic. Random numbers in your URL won’t help either Google crawlers or users to navigate effectively.

However, the “Date and name,” “Month and name,” “Post name,” and “Custom structure” options are good to go.

Another great option WordPress provides is different plugins you can install. Some of this can help you fine-tune SEO for your site.

How to use Yoast SEO for WordPress

Perhaps one of the most used and acclaimed plugins you can utilize is Yoast SEO. To install it, go to:

• Plugins,
• Add New Plugin,
• Type Yoast SEO,
• Press “Activate.”

Then, as you create your content, you will see some extensions to the menu where the Yoast services are offered.

The first tab you see as you scroll down the page is “SEO.” The goal is to ensure it’s green.

Scroll down to the part where you see the input box for the slug.

Write a search engine-optimized slug for the page. Ensure it is clear and descriptive. (Of course, it’s a nice idea to support it with a concise and accurate meta description.)

Conclusion

A permalink, by its meaning, might seem a simple thing. A permanent link, that’s it.

However, permanent links play an essential role in SEO. These clear, short, and descriptive URLs help search engine crawlers understand your pages better. If created correctly, permalinks help your site rank higher.

Additionally, we cannot leave the influence of permanent links on users unmentioned. Understandable links get more clicks (especially when shared online or in guest posting articles as bold URLs).

How do you create permalinks for your site? What structure do you prefer? Share your experience and tips in the comments below!