Before I start my explanation of permalinks, I want to show you two examples so you can refer to them as necessary:
An example of a blog’s main URL (which shows all the posts for a given period of time:
https://www.bloggingbasics101.comAn example of a permalink:
https://www.bloggingbasics101.com/what-is-a-permalink/
A permalink is the link to an individual blog post. These are important because if you ever need to link to an exact blog entry (e.g., as part of a carnival), you use the permalink as your link. It’s poor blog etiquette not to use the permalink.
If you don’t use the permalink, you’ll just be linking to your main blog page. The problem with that is that, as you post new blog entries, the newest entry appears at the top of your main blog page and the other entries are pushed down on the page.
The entry your readers are looking for may be down at the bottom of the page or already in the archives; your reader has no idea where to find the entry! If they click over to your site expecting to see a specific post related to a carnival and they see a different post, they may not take the time to find the “real” post they’re looking for.
You can find the permalink link under any blog entry. However, not all blog hosts/designs handle permalinks the same way.
- Typepad blogs: There’s a link that actually says Permalink under the entry.
- Blogger: The link varies. It’s usually the time stamp of the post or the actual post title.
- Other blogs have other links; many times the permalink is the title of a given post.
One way to figure out which link is the permalink of a post (if it’s not obvious) is to put your curser over each link under or above a post. As you hover over a link a little box should come up that says permalink. If it doesn’t, that link probably isn’t your permalink and you should move on to the next link.
Once you find the permalink, click on it and you’ll be taken to a page with just that blog entry on it. Snazzy, huh? Now, to link to that page you just need to copy the URL in the address bar and use it where ever you were inserting your link (e.g., a Mr. Linky or a blog contest).
The easier way
As you might have noticed, I’ve been suggesting people to use WordPress. You probably already know that you can build a blog or make a website with it. In case you are planning to start a blog/website with WordPress (or you already have), then just log in to your WordPress dashboard and look for:
Settings -> Permalinks and use “Post name” – this should be the most user and search engine friendly way of dealing with permalinks. See the picture below:
This post has been updated March 15, 2022.
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really a help full article i just saw your URL at google when i was looking to know about permalink thanks & regards
kapil
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Many thanks that has been useful,
Very informative post, thank you. This is a great blog with plenty of usable information. You have just got yourself an avid new follower. Great work!!
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Thank you for this site. I Googled the word permalink and found multiple definitions and explanations of the word. More important I found this site. A lot of valuable information and tips to make my blog a better product for my readers. Thank you
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Its awesome post. Permalink is important for search engines optimization, readers also need permalinks sometimes to see what exactly they are going to read.
OMG, I can’t believe that I’ve never used this permalink before. Thanks for the enlightment, Melanie! Now I’m gonna start using that!
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I changed some dates to make some posts more visible. I do not remember the original dates or times and now I think I broke the links. Do you know how I can switch it back?
Thanx for this aweosome info
thank you for giving information.. Now, an additional point you may be able to help with is does writing “permalink” in a link make a difference to the search engines?
apkany, no, writing permalink doesn’t help you. You’d want to have the keywords IN the permalink to help with SEO.
thank u madam…please send the ad sense tips..how i earn money online
Can a custom permalink be made after the post is completed? I tried to edit the one that was automatically created, but was unable to do it.
Can a custom permalink on Blogger be made after the post is published? I tried to edit the one that was automatically created, but was unable to do it.
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Its very useful for the bloggers.
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