If you are looking for the answer to how to create custom permalinks or how to change permalinks in WordPress, then you are in the right place. We often get queries from our blog readers on how they can create a complete custom permalink for their WordPress websites, so we decided to create this write up detailing how you can do it easily.

Before jumping into the details, we would like to elaborate on what custom permalink actually is briefly. 

What is Custom Permalink? 

Permalinks can be defined as the permanent URLs of different blog posts, pages, and other archived pages on your WordPress website.

Whenever you visit any webpage, the address bar on the top of your browser shows the entire link, and a part of that link is regarded as the permalink. You can get a better idea of the permalink from the following illustration:

In simple words, custom permalinks are URL structures that apply to any individual page in WordPress. This URL structure does not affect the remaining structure of the URL.

When you are using WordPress, you are bound to enjoy the flexibility of an SEO friendly URL structure by default. This makes it easier to understand the URL structure from the point of view of human beings as well as search engines. 

Let us give an example below. 

From these two URLs, which one is easy to understand for you?

Option one: www.droitthemes.com/blog/index.php?p=3241
Option two: https://droitthemes.com/antispam-bee-wordpress-plugin

We can say for sure that the latter is easier to comprehend. Because it clearly mentions what the page is talking about, right? The beauty of WordPress is that it allows you to pick from different options.

If you want to check out the different options that are available on your website, you can find them in the Settings > Permalinks page.

From the illustration above, you can see what the different options are you can pick from when it is about displaying the permalink of your page’s or post’s permalink. Along with that, WordPress gives you the flexibility to customize the individual URLs of pages, posts, categories, tags and more. 

In addition, there are many plugins that can help you develop entirely customized permalinks for different sections, pages, and posts of your website. In the following, we will elaborate on how you can create custom permalinks in WordPress. Before that, we want to shed light on the importance of having customized permalinks.

Importance of Customized Permalinks

Readability

Having customized permalinks increases the readability of the link you are using. If the custom permalink mentions the topic on which the post is based on, it will be easier for the reader to have a prior mindset while they are clicking on the link. However, if the permalink is just characters without any meaning, then it reduces the readability of the link.

SEO Friendly

Having a WordPress custom URL will make your post SEO friendly. It will be easier for the search engines to categorize your post and rank it on Google accordingly. This is why it is important to know how to change permalink on WordPress.

Presentable

With a customize website URL makes the overall look and feel presentable. Individuals who know the importance of the permalink will find a proper use of it to be positive. For the overall presentation of any website, having a custom website URL will make your website more presentable than before.

These are the basic reasons for WordPress custom URL or a customized permalink. In the following, we will get into the details of how to change permalinks in WordPress. 

How to Change the Structure of WordPress Permalink?

To bring any changes or to do a WordPress custom URL that is shown on your website, you will have to navigate to the Settings > Permalinks page from the left-hand side menu on your WordPress dashboard. In the following illustration, you can see how the page will look like

From the given URL structures, select one URL structure for an individual post. Along with that, with the help of the tags you can create a custom structure for your URL on WordPress as well.

After you have made the customization, you can make the changes effective by clicking the “Save Changes” button. After you save, the changes will be effective immediately. 

Pro Tip:

●    While designing your custom permalink, we suggest to include the post name in the URL. It is important to make your URL SEO friendly and will help your post to get a good rank on search engines. Along with that, including the post topic on the permalink will give your readers an idea about what the post is about. 

●    If your website and blog are not generating traffic, you can change and update all your permalink with related topics included in the URL. However, if you are getting traffic already, then bringing any change on the permalink will affect the search engine rankings of your website. So in that case, it is better not to change the permalink of your blog and pages. 

From the instructions given above, you can have a clear idea of how to change permalink in WordPress. In the following, we will shed light on how to change permalink for individual pages or posts.

How to Change Individual Pages or Post URL?

After the structure of the permalink is done setting up, the same template will be used all over your WordPress website. However, WordPress does allow you to bring modification in the URL slug or keywords in the URL structure for the different posts, pages other pages you have on your website. 

The customization of the slug segment of the WordPress custom URL can be done easily from the Edit option in the WordPress dashboard of blogs and pages. To edit the slug, go to the post or page section from the WordPress dashboard.

Click on the “Edit” option of the blog or page, and you will see a Permalink field appearing on the right-hand side panel.

From there you can change the slug to a customized permalink. After you have done the necessary changes to the permalink, clicking on the save changes button will update your website URL accordingly. 

How to Create Custom Permalink in WordPress?

The ways we have suggested above allows you to customize the permalinks that you already have. In the following, we will show you how to create a completely custom permalink in WordPress without any hassle. 

As WordPress does not come with this feature built-in, we need to take help of a plugin to guide us through the process. With the help of this plugin, we will be able to create custom permalink easily. 

Adding a plugin to your WordPress site is not a tough nut to crack. If you need assistance to install and activate WordPress plugin, you can check this step by step guide. 
Once you have installed and activated the Custom Permalinks plugin, we are all set to get into the details and set a custom permalink for the pages and posts of your WordPress website. In order to do that, take the following steps.

• However, we will not edit the permalink from the permalink field at the top.
• Look below the post to find a Permalink field below the editor.
• You can customize the permalink as per your requirement, save changes, and the post will have a fully customized permalink

By following the above-mentioned way, you can customize the permalink of your page and posts easily. In the following, we will elaborate more on how to change permalink in WordPress.

If you want to have customized permalink for the different categories that your website have, you can edit them as well. In order to do that, go to Posts > Categories from the menu at the left-hand side of your page. Then find the category you want to edit, and click on the edit button.

On the category details page, you’ll find the option to create a custom permalink for that particular category. You can even create a URL without the category base prefix.You can change the permalink from the slug option as well as from the custom permalink option.

Once you click on the edit button, it will show you details of the page. From the details of the page, you can find the option to create a complete customized permalink exclusive for that category. In customization, you can create the permalink just the way you want to be.

Pro tips:

•  If you want to not include the category tag with the permalink, you can do that too as well.  This will give you a scope of customization to that extent.

Once you click on the edit button, it will show you details of the page. From the details of the page, you can find the option to create a complete customized permalink exclusive for that category. In customization, you can create the permalink just the way you want to be. 

Pro Tips:

•  If you want to not include the category tag with the permalink, you can do that too as well.  This will give you a scope of customization to that extent.

By following the above-mentioned way, you can easily customize the page, post and categories of your WordPress website.

If you are looking for ways to customize WordPress URL and change permalink in WordPress, we hope the article above met your requirement. By following the steps mentioned above, you can easily customize your WordPress website URL. 

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