What is a Permalink?
You could guess what permalink stands for, and you would be correct. To be technical, the permalink definition is a permanent link. Typically used in blogs, and things of the like, a permalink is the link used to access a very specific piece of content. This is not a homepage link but think of it rather as a post-specific link.
SEO Compatibility
The goal of a permalink is to get the reader where they want to go while still being SEO-friendly. If you have a link with loads of misunderstood words and symbols, your audience will be readers and searchers will be far less likely to gravitate to your link. The default permalinks are far less attractive to those searching the web, so optimizing them for your blog is super important. Incorporating your keyword research into not only your blogs to make them SEO compatible, but your permalinks as well will drive more traffic to your site.
Permalink Definition vs Dynamic Link Definition
Just as the names suggest, a permalink will stay the same throughout the life of the link while a dynamic link is flexible. Dynamic links have variables that are generated through scripts and can create long, drawn-out character phrases after the forward slash. They are typically very easy to decipher from one another, with permalinks being easy to read and understand, while dynamic links look like the alphabet, number, and symbol keyboards are all jumbled together in one long rope.
Structure
The name of the game with permalinks is simplicity. You can add a main keyword rather than using what is automatically spun up for a permalink. This makes it much more attractive to the person searching, and will, in turn, be more compatible with SEO as mentioned above.
Ideally, you will want to add the keywords that you researched for the post into your permalink to optimize it even further. Because they are generated automatically, you will have to edit them yourself. In order to edit it, you will definitely need to make sure your settings are entered correctly to be able to change the details. For WordPress, they default to whatever the URL generates itself. Be sure to change those to give them a more personable feel.
Part 1
Domain
The beginning of a permalink is the domain name, which generally does not change. For example, in www.myblog.com/permalink-basics, myblog would be the domain. Permalink-basics would be the slug, which we will get to later. This is why it is so important to love your domain name because it will appear for every single post, even when you have an article or post title that is super fun and specific. Those fun names will come after the domain.
Part 2
Slug
If you are not familiar with slugs, they are a part of the permalink. Slugs are what make URLs easy to read, rather than having a bunch of gibberish in a line. While the permalink itself is what connects you to the specific content you are looking for, the slug is what explains where you are going.
We will use the same example from above, in www.myblog.com/permalink-basics, permalink-basics would be the slug or the easy-to-read, descriptive part. The slug will always begin after the forward slash. Slugs can also be comprised of numbers. But words are typically much easier to read and understand quickly for your audience.
Conclusion
Permalinks are an essential building block for gaining more and more readers for your blog. These helpful basics will give you the foundation you need to make them the best they can be for your website.
