How do I change the permalink structure?

A permalink – short for ‘permanent link’ – is the full URL for a page on a website. It could include your domain name, plus a slug (the part of the URL that follows the domain name). As we explain in this article on permalinks, it’s very important to make sure your permalinks are SEO-friendly. But how do you change the permalink structure? That’s what we’ll explore in this article! Please be careful with changing your permalinks if your site has been around for a while. Changing your permalinks if you already have a lot of content can lead to issues such as 404 errors.

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Why you should change the permalink structure

The folks at Yoast explain in this article on why you should change your WordPress permalink structure, we highly recommend you use just /%postname%/ for your site structure. If you are using the default permalink setting (http://www.example.com/?p=123), we will display a notice that recommends changing the structure.

How to change the permalink structure in WordPress

1. Log in to your WordPress website. When you’re logged in, you will be in your ‘Dashboard’.
2. Click on ‘Settings’. On the left-hand side, you will see a menu. In that menu, click on ‘Settings’.
3. Click on ‘Permalinks’. The ‘Settings’ menu will expand providing you additional options. Click on ‘Permalinks’.
   
4. Select ‘Post name’. 
5. Click ‘Save changes’.
6. Use this tool to generate the correct code.
7. Add the code you generated in the previous step to your site’s .htaccess file. Not sure how to edit the .htaccess file? Yoast has a ‘How to’ guide available here.