What is a Permalink?

In WordPress, a permalink is a portmanteau of “permanent” and “link.”

Another way to say “permalink” is just a plain “link” because permalinks are simply URL addresses of each individual post, page, or media file on your WordPress site. These can then be linked to by posts that you’ve created on your website or by a third-party website.

Despite being called “permanent” links, it is possible to change the link URL. Therefore, it is recommended that you never edit the link URL after publishing the content! If you change the permalink, then any existing link to that URL will no longer work and be considered “broken.”

You edit an individual permalink by viewing the individual post/page/media file and editing its slug (for a post or page) or the URL (for a media file).

Depending on the version of WordPress that you are using, you may be able to set up how Permalinks are automatically generated by clicking on “Settings” and then “Permalinks” from the administration page. WordPress allows you to create strings that automatically append a post slug containing the post’s name and/or number and/or day and/or month information.

Before you click on “publish” for a post or page, you can manually edit its permalink by modifying its slug. Search engines have no preference for how a permalink is formatted. The only requirement is that a permalink cannot have any spaces in its name.