Create User-Friendly Permalink For Better SEO
April 14, 2021
Did you know when you add a title to your blog post or page that Typepad uses it to make your permalink? While the title may be great for drawing attention to your post, it may not be the best for your URL. Today, we're going to walk through how to change your permalink (AKA slug) and discuss the benefits of changing it.
Change Your Permalink
On the compose page, you'll see the permalink displayed under the title. The permalink contains your domain, the publish date, and your slug. When you choose to edit the permalink, you are editing the slug.
Pro Tip: A slug is the part of a permalink that comes after the domain extension.
Why Change Your Permalink
As stated earlier, your title may not make the best permalink. Your permalink should be short, descriptive, and SEO-friendly. Let's review these recommendations together.
Short
Your slug should be around three to five keywords. Anything longer and it may become difficult for readers to remember the URL. The full permalink will also look more professional when you sharing it on social sites.
Here is an example from Everything Typepad:
Post Title: Need New Pinterest Followers? Showcase Pinterest On Your Blog
Original URL: https://everything.typepad.com/blog/2021/03/need-new-pinterest-followers-showcase-pinterest-on-your-blog.html
Edited URL: https://everything.typepad.com/blog/2021/03/add-pinterest-widget.html
You can see that we shorten the slug so it's easier to remember.
Descriptive
Make sure your slug tells the reader exactly what they'll be reading about. You'll gain their trust when they see your link describes the information in your post.
SEO Friendly
When thinking of a good slug, make sure to include SEO-friendly keywords. This helps Google and your readers know what the post is about and can approve your rankings.
Tips For Creating Your Slug
Use A Hyphen Between Words
When you enter the words for your slug, make sure to add a hyphen or underscore between them. If you don’t, Typepad will display an error when you attempt to save your new permalink, reminding you what is allowed in the slug. We advise using hyphens, but underscores work as well.
Edit Before You Publish
Edit the slug before you publish your post. If you have published your post and shared it with your readers, any edit will break the original post URL. This is a bad experience for your readers.
Leave Out Function Words
When creating your slug, try to leave out function words as long as the slug still makes sense. Functions words include the, a, an, is, etc.
Don’t Use Punctuation
If you try to use punctuation in your slug, Typepad will give you an error reminding you to only use letters, numbers, hyphens, or underscores.
Now that you know about editing your permalink, take the time with your next post to create a short, descriptive, SEO-friendly slug to improve reader's engagement and search engine ranking. You can use Google Analytics to help track your posts' views to compare older, unedited permalinks to your new, edited permalinks.
Do you have any tips you use when customizing your permalinks? Let us know in the comments!