Website ranking is an important factor that determines the success of a website. To improve your organic search visibility and rank, you need to start with creating an SEO-friendly WordPress URL structure as it is the most popular way to optimize your website. It also makes your WordPress website indexing easier.
A URL is a permanent link to your post and page, so it does not change with time. Also, WordPress has a default URL structure, which is not optimized. Thus, choosing the perfect SEO-friendly permalinks is essential for SEO marketing.
What is an SEO-friendly WordPress URL?
URLs must be in human-readable form. If the URL is well-organized and has a unique permalink, it makes it easier for search engines and visitors to navigate your site and refer to your content.
Creating an SEO-friendly URL post installing WordPress has been the focus of digital marketing experts for a long time. You need to focus on the main elements of the URL to create a perfect structure for your site to rank in the top pages of Google.
How to Make Your WordPress URLs SEO-Friendly?
1. Use Keywords
Your SEO strategy would be incomplete without the use of proper keywords in posts or tags. Similarly, you need to use the right keywords in the URL to optimize your site. Most SEO experts skip using the keywords in the URL structure, which is not right.
There are two main ways to include keywords in your URL structure.
- On a manual basis, you need to implement a single function and include the main keyword in the functions.php file.
- Through a plugin, you need to install an SEO smart link to add keywords to your WordPress URL.
Note: Don’t over-optimize your URL for keywords as that won’t help you much in your strategy.
2. Canonize Multiple URLs
You need to canonize two or more URLs through the 301-redirect process. If you need to preserve both the versions of URLs, use the rel=canonical feature. This is just the standard process, so keep in mind that you aren’t duplicating or splitting your ranking signals.
Through this, your website will have a much better ranking, and you’ll be able to earn more visibility if you rank them separately.
Don’t mark few URLs for canonical on the same web page. Also, don’t link the duplicated URL within your website because it’ll affect the structure.
3. Make it More Readable
SEO optimized URL should be easy to read with the right structure. The optimization process of the URL comes much later when you need to ensure users of the site click on a particular blog post and read the content on the page.
Most search engines now rely on the behavior signals and data coming from the users to identify the ranking of your web page. It is all about the right engagement value that dictates the whole process.
If the URL is more readable, then it helps to put more emphasis on the engagement. Readable WordPress URLs generate more traffic on the site as well.
4. Match URLs and Titles
When the keywords and URLs are unmatched, it accounts for frequent bounce rate. You need to make a clear connection between titles and URLs to optimize your website for search engines.
You must match the URLS with the respective posts on the site. There is a good reason why you should do this – readers are informed of the content that you’re going to provide them just by looking at the URL of the website.
Using the keywords in the URL will give them an idea about the post and boost user engagement.
5. Don’t Use Stop Words
Most headlines and titles consist of stop words – and, an like, etc. You don’t need to include these words in your URL structure, which will make your URL easier and shorter.
It also gives a recall value to the users who visit your website. Don’t show prolific grammar usage in URLs because even if you exclude these keywords, it will present the information in the same way. The meaning won’t change, and the readers will get the point that will benefit your site.
6. Choose a User-friendly Permalink Structure
You need to use a permalink structure that is relevant to your WordPress website. Google recognizes content with certain search phrases. Make sure to use it according to the settings on the page.
The most common settings for optimization include – day, month, numeric, post name, and custom structure. All these options can be set according to your website’s need.
But, you need to pay attention to the custom structure. Use the WordPress specific tags to customize your URL. You can add multiple categories and tags with large websites to give Google information about your content. It all depends on how granular you want to get.
7. Focus on Single Root Version
There are different variations of your root domain that can render as functional URLs and can be identical versions of your pages. It means the home page of your site is based on domain configuration.
Domain variations can use HTTP or HTTPS. It can use the ‘www’ in the URL, but some sites skip the use of it. By choosing the primary version of the HTTPS structure, you’ll have other versions of 301 redirect globally to the primary version you select.
The primary version will help you in ranking and consolidation. It’ll add the link value to the single version of the domain and website. Focus on the HTTPS version – use an SSL certificate – as it’s now a major ranking signal in Google algorithm.
Google also requires this version to secure its data in Chrome. This version can help to improve the overall customer experience on the website.
To Conclude
Optimizing your site’s URL is not something that requires time and effort. By following the above simple tips, you’ll be able to optimize your site’s URL most effectively. Readable and user-friendly URLs have a special place in search engines.
The more complicated your URL is, the more it’ll get difficult to rank your site. You need to focus on the right keyword strategy and apply it most appropriately. Don’t overstuff the keywords in the URL, just pay special attention to the long tail ones.
Put your efforts into making your URL more secured by using the HTTPS version. Search engines rank sites that follow special security measures and WordPress offers the best advantages for web development.
