Optimizing WordPress Permalinks

23-wordpress_logo.pngWhen I first started the blog, I opted for the standard permalink structure that included the date, month and day of the post:

http://www.marketingtechblog.com/2009/08/23/sample-post/

As my blog grew in popularity and I learned more about link structures, I realized that this structure may have some disadvantages:

  1. Searchers could instantly identify if the blog post was old or recent. Who wants to read old content when something newer is available? If searchers can see the date in the permalink structure, they may ignore your older posts even though they’re still relevant.
  2. Some search engine optimization experts believe that each separator (“/”) is indicative of a folder hierarchy so the more the slashes, the less important your content must be (more slashes mean that it’s buried deep in the folder structure). If you can keep each post to a single category, it organizes the content up 2 levels in the hierarchy… meaning it may be more important.
  3. Other SEO experts also agree that utilizing keywords in categories is a great search engine optimization tactic. Be sure to name your categories utilizing effective keywords or phrases, though!

Can you Change the Permalink Structure?

For quite some time, I though I was struck with the permalink structure I originally set my blog up with… not the case! If you’d like to change the permalink structure, Dean Lee has developed a plugin that automatically generates the 301 redirect needed to modify from one style of permalink to another.

If you’d like to learn how to fully optimize your blog for search, be sure to download my ebook, 25 Steps to Success: Search Engine Optimization and Business Blogging.