Using Permalinks in WordPress

What are permalinks?

The URLs of the content you publish on your site are called Permalinks. Permalinks are what users enter into their browser address bar to view a page on your website. They're also what search engines and other websites use to link to your website. The URL to each page or post should be permanent and never change — which is where the term "permalink" comes from.

You can technically change the structure of your Permalinks at any time, however doing this will change the URL of all of your pages and posts. Changing your URLs can cause 404 page errors on your site if a visitor lands on a page that previously had a different URL. Because of this, we don't recommend changing your Permalinks if you have an established website. It is best to configure your website with the recommended Permalink structure at the very beginning!

By default, the Permalink structure looks like this: http://yourwebsite.com/?p=1234. This URL is not a user-friendly link and is not SEO-optimal. Which is going to be easier to navigate to, http://yourwebsite.com/?p=1234 or http://yourwebsite.com/about?

How to change your permalink structure

To change your Permalinks, go to your WordPress dashboard > Settings > Permalinks. The two Permalink structures that are best and will benefit your site most are:

Post Name (most common)
Or this custom structure: /%category%/%postname%/