WordPress is an amazing CMS which lets us do lots of things with no coding knowledge. If you are using any other content management system other than WordPress.
There are plenty of other available but the level of customizability is less when we compare it to WordPress. Not only when it comes to customizability but also SEO (search engine optimization) can be done well on WordPress websites.
And URL structure is also considered as one of the factors which Google considers while assigning the ranks in the SERP pages.
We should keep the URL of the post simple and user-friendly.
But how to differentiate between a user-friendly and non user-friendly URL?
Basically, URL like example.com/12448-article/ is considered not to be user-friendly.
And example.com/post-name/ kind of URL is considered as user-friendly.
In this guide of mine, I will be telling you about how you can change old post URL in WordPress. This guide will be all about the steps which are involved in changing the URL of a post which is already published on your website.
The main intention behind this guide is to change old post URL in WordPress without losing SEO.
If you follow this guide to change the URL then your rank will not be lost it will be transferred to new URL.
How to Change Old Post URL in WordPress Without Losing SEO?
The basic concept of changing the URL of an already published post is about the redirection of URLs. If you understand this concept of redirection then it will be very simple for you to change old post URL in WordPress.
What is Redirection of URL?
When you are visiting any of the paths online, it can be on any website like example.com/article-1/ without any action by your side if you are taken to another URL path like example.com/article-2/ then it is nothing but the redirection of URL.
There are mainly 5 types of URL redirection which are mentioned below.
| HTTP Status Code | HTTP Version | Temporary / Permanent |
| 301 | HTTP/1.0 | Permanent |
| 302 | HTTP/1.0 | Temporary |
| 303 | HTTP/1.1 | Temporary |
| 307 | HTTP/1.1 | Temporary |
| 308 | HTTP/1.1 | Permanent |
Which Redirection Should We Use?
Now you know what is the redirection of URL and it types. But now the real question is which redirect should we use to change URL of old post in WordPress? Here as we don’t want to lose the SEO value and ranking of our post so we will be using the permanent 301 redirect.
Google and other search engines use the above-mentioned HTTP status codes if you add 301 redirect then the search engine bots will follow the same.
Even if you are changing the domain of your WordPress website or using the change of address tool you have to add 301 redirect.
Steps to Change Old Post URL in WordPress:
So now here are the steps which you have to follow to change the URL without losing the SEO value and ranks of your already published post.
The first thing you have to do is install a WordPress plugin which is a very light one. This plugin will not affect the smooth functioning of your WordPress website.
And that plugin is Redirection, but if you don’t want to install additional plugins on your WordPress website. Then you can add 301 redirect via .htaccess file.
After installing and activating the plugin you can easily add the redirects and manage them. You can access the control area of this plugin from Dashboard > Tools > Redirection.
Now all you have to do is enter the old URL which you would like to change and the new URL as well. Do make sure that you select the 301 permanently moved as the HTTP code.
After you enter the new and old URL click on Add Redirect button. Other settings like title, position, and group can be selected according to your wish.
All the traffic that is coming to your old URL will be automatically redirected to your new URL without anything to be done by your user or visitor.
But now you have to use the Fetch as Google option to fetch the new URL.
Let’s Wrap Up the Things
So this was how you can change old post URL in WordPress without losing SEO and rankings. I hope you are clear with all the information mentioned in this guide. If you have any kind of doubts in your mind then you can comment down below.