Changing WordPress default permalinks to a “Post Name” structure is crucial for better SEO, user experience, and readability. Default URLs in WordPress are often unattractive and not informative (e.g., ?p=123). By switching to post name permalinks, the URLs become more meaningful and descriptive (e.g., example.com/sample-post), which helps search engines understand the content better, leading to improved rankings.
Additionally, this format is more user-friendly, making it easier for visitors to remember and share, enhancing your site’s visibility and accessibility. But the problem occurs when you switch to a new permalink structure (Dashboard -> Settings -> Permalinks), your old links archived by search engines or shared on social media become a broken link to your website.
In this lesson, you will learn about auto-redirecting old permalinks to new ones. You can simply change your default WordPress permalinks, switch to SEO-friendly post-name permalinks, and then automatically redirect old permalinks to new ones in one click with the help of a plugin.
WP Permalink Redirect is a WordPress plugin that automatically process permalink redirection on your website. All you have to do is install-activate it and that’s all. The plugin has no configuration page, it immediately starts to work upon activation.
Upon activation, the plugin also removes duplicated content issues and redirects your visitors to the new permalink using a 301 i.e. permanently redirect status code. You can even confirm its working with Google webmaster tools. It also takes good care of website pagination of taxonomies like categories and blog lists to allow them to work normally on your WordPress site.