{"id":40176,"date":"2022-09-04T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=40176"},"modified":"2022-09-02T13:34:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:34:42","slug":"wordpress-slug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-slug\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About the WordPress Slug"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Let us talk about slugs. No, not every gardener\u2019s least favorite invertebrate: <strong>WordPress slugs<\/strong>. A slug is a feature of all websites, including WordPress-ran ones, and an important attribute of posts, pages, categories and tags, among other things. Even if you are a novice user, <strong>there is no way you haven\u2019t encountered them<\/strong>. However, even if you are a seasoned user, there may be things you are not aware of which still affect the functioning of your website. Slugs have effects which relate to SERP rankings and user experience.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]But let\u2019s start at the beginning: what is a WordPress slug, exactly? How can you set or change them? How do they affect your website? We will answer all of these questions, and more, in this article. Here\u2019s what we\u2019d like to talk to you about:<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#what-is-wordpress-slug\">What Is the WordPress Slug<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-set-wordpress-slugs\">How to Set WordPress Slugs<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#wordpress-slug-and-seo\">The WordPress Slug and SEO<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#wordpress-slug-and-ux\">The WordPress Slug and UX<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#additional-tips\">Additional Tips on WordPress Slugs<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;new-top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"what-is-wordpress-slug\"><\/a>What Is the WordPress Slug<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The slug is a part of a URL. It is located behind your <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-is-a-domain-name\/\">domain name<\/a>. The slug should not be confused with a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-are-wordpress-permalinks\/\">permalink<\/a>: the slug is only a part of a permalink \u2013 the last part. It is essentially a URL-friendly name for a post, page, category, or tag.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Still not clear on what it is? Here\u2019s a slug example. This is from our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/jpg-vs-jpeg\/\">the difference between JPG and JPEG<\/a>:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Slug\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Since every page must have a slug, it is only logical that WordPress generates slugs automatically. So, if that\u2019s the case, why bother learning about slugs in the first place? The reason is, as usual, that you can make them work better for your website and its users.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]When WordPress generates a slug automatically, it does so following user-defined settings. You can find these settings if you navigate to <strong>Settings\/Permalinks<\/strong> from your WordPress dashboard.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Settings-Permalinks.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Settings Permalinks\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Settings-Permalinks.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Settings-Permalinks-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Settings-Permalinks-768x555.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Settings-Permalinks-620x448.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;78px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-set-wordpress-slugs\"><\/a>How to Set WordPress Slugs<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]One way of going around it is to use the <strong>Permalinks<\/strong> settings described in the section above. The settings there come in two groups: <strong>Common<\/strong> and <strong>Optional<\/strong>. All the <strong>Common<\/strong> options are pretty much self-explanatory: you can select which data to add to a number generated or use a post name as a basis for slug generation.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The <strong>Optional<\/strong> settings let you choose a base for <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-taxonomy\/\">tag and category<\/a> pages: basically, to add a different \u201cname\u201d to your categories and tags.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]All of the above is explained in great detail in the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/support\/article\/using-permalinks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WordPress support article on using permalinks<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]There is another way of generating slugs, though: you can do it yourself! To change the slug of a post or page, simply find said page or post on the <strong>Posts<\/strong> or <strong>Pages<\/strong> page and select <strong>Quick Edit<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Quick-Edit.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Quick Edit\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Quick-Edit.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Quick-Edit-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Quick-Edit-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Quick-Edit-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The <strong>Slug<\/strong> field should be immediately below the <strong>Title<\/strong> field. Once you are happy with it, click the <strong>Update<\/strong> button.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"429\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sluga-Update.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Slug Update\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sluga-Update.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sluga-Update-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sluga-Update-768x340.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sluga-Update-620x274.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You can change a category\u2019s slug the same way you would <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-rename-wordpress-categories\/\">change a category name<\/a>. The settings you need can be accessed by navigating to <strong>Posts\/Categories<\/strong>. Similarly, the requisite settings for tags can be found under <strong>Posts\/Tags<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you are running a website with multiple contributors, each of them may have their own slug. In order to give them one, though, you need to install a free plugin called <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/edit-author-slug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Edit Author Slug<\/a>. After having <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin\/\">installed and activated the plugin<\/a>, navigate to <strong>Users\/All Users<\/strong> from your WordPress dashboard and select a user to edit.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-Users.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Slug Users\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-Users.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-Users-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-Users-768x440.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Slug-Users-620x355.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]On the user settings screen, you will find a new <strong>Edit Author Slug<\/strong> section, provided you are authorized to do so. There you can select which slug to use for the user edited.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"609\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Author-Slug.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Author Slug\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Author-Slug.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Author-Slug-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Author-Slug-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Author-Slug-620x390.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Note that all slugs must follow certain rules:<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\">only lower case letters may be used<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\">dashes must be used instead of spaces<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]However, even if you do \u201cbreak\u201d these rules, WordPress will correct the slugs for you.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"wordpress-slug-and-seo\"><\/a>The WordPress Slug and SEO<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Now, your post or page <em>must<\/em> have a slug \u2013 it\u2019s part of its URL, and URLs are mandatory and unique. So it can just be a long, nonsensical string of numbers, right? Right. But here\u2019s why you should still do it: SEO.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If a post or page contains a keyword in its URL, it is <strong>likely to rank better on search results pages<\/strong>. You can even use your target keyword, but be careful: if multiple posts are supposed to rank for the same keyword, this may prove difficult.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"wordpress-slug-and-ux\"><\/a>The WordPress Slug and UX<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Since a majority of modern internet <strong>users are far less likely to type in URLs<\/strong> nowadays, it matters much less if the URL is easy to remember, logical, relevant, or even legible. The users are far more likely to click on a link or scan a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-use-qr-codes-with-wordpress\/\">QR code<\/a> in order to reach a website or a page that they need. Still, even if you disregard SEO, your users may appreciate <strong>knowing at a glance what the page is about<\/strong> \u2013 especially if they are prone to opening multiple tabs at once and then forgetting what they were supposed to be researching for, say, an article on WordPress slugs.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"additional-tips\"><\/a>Additional Tips on WordPress Slugs<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]With all that out of the way, let us go over a few additional things you might want to have in mind when considering changing WordPress slugs.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Be Careful About Stop Words<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Stop words are words which search engines often ignore, both in search results and in queries. They are typically articles, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions \u2013 words such as <em>a, an, the, yes, no, and<\/em>, and more, in English, for instance. It will, of course, be different in other languages. From the point of view of the search engine,<strong> they do not change the meaning of a query.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Many SEO plugins will have the option to <strong>automatically remove stop words<\/strong> from slugs. And while this shortens the slug and makes it better for your users and for your SEO, it may actually turn out to be harmful if you are writing an article on, say, the melodic stylings of the British prog rock sensation Yes.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Use Redirects<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If you change a slug, you will have changed the URL as well. If your own or some other website links to, for instance, a post you optimized a slug for, <strong>the link is now broken<\/strong>. Broken links are bad for your website in different ways, and detecting and <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-find-and-fix-broken-links-in-wordpress\/\">fixing broken links<\/a> is something you should be doing on a regular basis. However, if you yourself change a slug, you know you should also probably set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-create-301-redirects-in-wordpress\/\">301 redirect<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Avoid Dates<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Not only are dates rich in numbers and <strong>arguably a little more difficult to parse<\/strong> than words, recent articles are much more likely to attract attention from search engine users. Now, yours may be the case of <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-is-pillar-content\/\">pillar content<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-is-evergreen-content\/\">evergreen content<\/a>, which <strong>stays relevant for a long time<\/strong>, but a user may not be aware of that and skip what would otherwise be a worthwhile read.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">In Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As you can see, slugs are a somewhat important part of how users see your website, but a hugely important part of how search engines do. In this day and age, countless multitudes of internet users are spoiled for choice and bombarded with attention-grabbing content. If you want your content to reach them, you need to do all you can, and not knowing your way around a feature as important as a WordPress slug is not an option.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the WordPress slug, and how does it affect your website? These, and other questions answered in this comprehensive guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16990,"featured_media":40194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[293,294,13],"class_list":["post-40176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-slug","tag-url","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}