By default, WordPress displays urls for your posts using internal database IDs.
For example: http://yourdomain.com/?post-id=3
While this works, it has two fundamental problems:
- Such urls don’t do anything to tell search engines what your post is about
- Such urls are often harder for people to remember than urls using names
A good solution is to have your urls look more like the following:
http://yourdomain.com/setting-up-search-engine-friendly-urls-in-wordpress.html
This makes use of words that people search on, giving search engines extra ways to get your articles in front of people, and can be easier for people to remember…and give them some information on what clicking the link might take them to.
To setup search engine friendly links in WordPress:
- Login to your WordPress admin panel
- Select "Settings" → "Permalinks"
- Select "Custom Structure" under "Common Settings"
- Enter the custom display method you wish to use.
This site uses "/articles/%postname%.html", causing posts to display at http://www.privateerwebsolutions/articles/<Article-Title>.html - Select "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
This will update your link structures and might take a few seconds.
Once finished, reload your site and you should see much more informative looking links.