The Definitive Guide to WordPress Slugs: What They Are, Why They Matter & How to Optimize Them
If you‘re a WordPress site owner, you‘ve probably encountered the term "slug" at some point. But what exactly is a WordPress slug? How does it impact your site‘s SEO? And most importantly, how can you optimize your slugs to boost your rankings and attract more organic traffic?
In this in-depth guide, we‘ll answer all those questions and more. By the end, you‘ll have a solid understanding of what WordPress slugs are, why they are a critical component of on-page SEO, and actionable steps you can take to craft search-friendly slugs. Let‘s dive in!
WordPress Slugs vs Permalinks: What‘s the Difference?
First, let‘s clarify some terminology that often gets used interchangeably: slugs and permalinks. While related, they are not exactly the same thing.
A permalink (short for "permanent link") is the complete, permanent URL of a specific page or post on your WordPress site. It‘s what people will use to access and link to that piece of content.
The slug is one part of the permalink – it‘s the piece at the very end that identifies the specific post or page. Typically, the slug contains relevant keywords separated by hyphens.
Here‘s an example permalink broken down:
https://www.example.com/blog/10-tips-for-writing-great-slugs
- https:// – the URL protocol
- www.example.com – the domain name
- /blog/ – the directory or path to the post
- 10-tips-for-writing-great-slugs – the slug
So in summary:
- Permalink = full, permanent URL
- Slug = the part of the permalink that identifies the specific post/page
Now that we‘ve clarified the terminology, let‘s look at why slugs are so important for SEO.
Why WordPress Slugs Matter for SEO
Your permalinks, and specifically your slugs, play an important role in on-page optimization for a few key reasons:
1. Slugs help indicate page content to search engines
The words you choose to include in your slug provide context to search engine crawlers about the content of the page. A well-crafted slug incorporates the primary keyword you are targeting for that page. This helps search engines understand what the page is about and rank it accordingly in relevant search results.
2. Slugs appear in search results
Your page‘s full URL, including the slug, is typically what will show up in organic search results under the page title. A clean, descriptive slug with relevant keywords helps the page look more attractive and clickable to searchers. Compare these two results:
example.com/blog/10-tips-for-writing-great-slugs
vs
example.com/blog/p=123
The first communicates the page content much better and is more compelling to click on.
3. Slugs are used in breadcrumb navigation
Many WordPress themes and SEO plugins automatically generate breadcrumb navigation using the words in your permalinks and slugs. Breadcrumb links help both search engines and users understand the structure and hierarchy of your site.
Having clear, keyword-rich slugs makes your breadcrumb links more useful. It also allows you to work in more keywords for better SEO.
4. Slugs make your site more user-friendly
Clean, readable URLs are simply better for user experience. They give people a clear idea of what they‘ll find on the page before clicking through. Messy URLs with numbers, symbols and no clear keywords look spammy and confusing.
Well-crafted slugs make your site look more credible and professional. They can even have a positive impact on your click-through rates from search.
Bottom line – your WordPress slugs are not something you want to ignore or leave up to chance. Taking the time to strategically optimize them can pay off for your SEO, user experience, and organic traffic. Next, we‘ll look at some best practices for slug optimization.
7 Best Practices for Writing Optimized WordPress Slugs
When it comes to writing SEO-friendly slugs for your WordPress posts and pages, follow these key tips:
1. Include your primary keyword
Make sure to incorporate the main keyword you want the post or page to rank for. Put it as close to the beginning of the slug as you can while still sounding natural. Most SEO experts recommend keeping it to 1-2 keywords per slug.
2. Keep it concise
Aim to keep slugs short and sweet. Avoid stuffing in too many keywords or using filler words. A good rule of thumb is to keep slugs under 60 characters if possible.
3. Use hyphens to separate words
Always use hyphens rather than underscores between words in your slug. Google recommends this and has stated that it views hyphens as word separators. Underscores make your slug look messy.
4. Make it readable
Your slug should make sense to a human and clearly describe the page content. Don‘t just string a bunch of keywords together. Write it like a concise, compelling headline.
5. Use lowercase letters
Uppercase letters can sometimes cause issues with duplicate content and multiple versions of a URL. Keep everything lowercase to be safe.
6. Leave out stop words
Words like "a", "and", "the", "in", etc. are unnecessary in slugs. They just take up space. Leave them out and focus on the important keywords. The only exception is if removing the stop word would make the slug confusing or unreadable.
7. Update slugs carefully
It‘s best to optimize your slug when first publishing a post or page. Changing slugs after the fact can break existing links from other sites or social media. If you do need to update a slug on an existing page, make sure to set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.
Let‘s look at some examples of optimized slugs vs poorly constructed ones:
Good WordPress slugs:
– 10-seo-tips-for-WordPress
– how-to-write-a-blog-post
– best-free-WordPress-themes
Bad WordPress slugs:
– 1390-seo-tips-4-wp
– how_to_write_a_blog_post_that_your_readers_and_google_will_love
– uncategorized-2
As you can see, the good slugs are concise, include clear keywords, and are easy to read. The bad ones are messy, stuffed with keywords or lacking them entirely.
Consistently implementing these slug best practices across your WordPress site will strengthen your on-page optimization and make your URLs more search-friendly. But how exactly do you customize your slugs in WordPress? That‘s what we‘ll cover next.
How to Edit Slugs in WordPress (Step by Step)
WordPress makes it very easy to customize your permalinks and slugs. Just follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to Settings > Permalinks
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings > Permalinks.
Step 2: Choose your permalink structure
Under Common Settings, you‘ll see several options for permalink structure:
[Screenshot of permalink settings]For the most SEO-friendly structure, choose "Post name". This will set your permalinks to use just the slug.
You can also create a custom structure using the available tags. For example, adding categories or the post publish date. In most cases, post name alone is the best choice.
Step 3: Save your changes
Once you‘ve selected your preferred permalink structure, hit "Save Changes" at the bottom of the screen.
Now that your global permalink structure is set, you can customize the slug for each individual post or page as you create it:
Step 1: Edit the post/page
Open up the WordPress editor for the post or page you want to edit the slug for.
Step 2: Locate the slug
Below the post title, you‘ll see the permalink for the page with the slug at the end. Click the "Edit" button next to it.
[Screenshot of post editor]Step 3: Customize the slug
Type in your optimized slug, following the best practices covered earlier. WordPress will automatically convert capital letters to lowercase and spaces to hyphens.
Step 4: Save/update the post
Once you‘re finished, save or update the post/page and your new slug will be live!
Repeat this process for each post and page to fully optimize all the slugs across your WordPress site. It‘s a good habit to get into customizing your slug every time you create a new piece of content.
Troubleshooting: What to Do If You Change an Existing URL Slug
As mentioned earlier, it‘s best to optimize your slug when first publishing a page, as changing URLs after the fact can potentially break inbound links or create duplicate content issues.
However, if you do find yourself needing to update a slug on an existing page, you‘ll need to set up a redirect. A redirect tells search engines and browsers that the page has moved and automatically forwards any traffic to the new URL. This preserves your existing rankings and authority.
Here‘s how to set up a redirect in WordPress:
Option 1: Use a Plugin
The easiest way to create redirects is with a WordPress plugin. There are many free redirect plugins available, such as Redirection or Simple 301 Redirects.
Just install your chosen plugin, go to its settings and input the old URL and the new URL you want to redirect it to. The plugin will handle the rest!
Option 2: Edit Your .htaccess File
If you‘re comfortable editing your WordPress files, you can add redirects manually in your .htaccess file.
First, connect to your site via FTP and download a copy of your .htaccess file to edit. Add the following code at the bottom of the file:
Redirect 301 /old-slug/ https://www.example.com/new-slug/
Replace /old-slug/ with the slug you want to redirect FROM and https://www.example.com/new-slug/ with the complete URL you are redirecting TO.
Upload the edited .htaccess file back to your server and the redirect should now work. Make sure to test it!
Setting up a redirect will ensure that you don‘t lose any traffic or authority when updating an old URL. It‘s an important step to include in your workflow if you are going back and optimizing slugs on existing content.
The Takeaway: Optimize Your Slugs for Better WordPress SEO
Your WordPress slugs may seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of your site optimization – but they can actually have a big impact on your SEO.
Crafting concise, keyword-rich slugs makes your site more understandable to search engines and more user-friendly for your visitors. Well-optimized permalinks and slugs:
- Provide important context to Google about page topics
- Help your pages look more attractive in search results
- Improve your site‘s navigational structure and breadcrumbs
- Create a better, more professional user experience
Fortunately, WordPress makes it very easy to customize your slugs. Just remember these key tips:
- Include 1-2 keywords
- Keep it short and readable
- Use hyphens, lowercase letters and leave out stop words
- Update old slugs carefully and set up redirects
If you put these practices to work on your site, you should see an improvement in your rankings, organic traffic, and overall user engagement.
Don‘t let your slugs be an afterthought – make them a priority in your WordPress SEO strategy. A little slug optimization can go a long way!
