Are you looking to increase traffic to your website? The use of a permalink can help you increase the number of readers who consume your content! Links are important for any website overall. The type of link, however, is especially important to optimize user accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO). A permalink is an excellent marketing tool to use for your website.
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Introduction to Permalinks
A permalink, shorthand for “permanent link,” is a static link to a website. This means that it stays the same over time, and will always link back to the same page. On the other hand, links to the homepage or blog section of a website are constantly changing as new content is added. Permalinks are useful for accessing particular posts, articles, and web pages.
This type of link is commonly used for blogs, along with databases or other websites used for research. Since permalinks do not change over time, people like students use them avidly for assignments that require different sources and research. Others who read a lot of content online are also aided by permalinks because they allow ease in navigating to blogs or websites.
When you hear the words “link” or “URL,” what picture comes to your mind? A dynamic link likely pops into your head. Dynamic links are lengthy and often include randomly organized letters, words, numbers, and punctuation marks. Because of this, dynamic links are unmemorable and seem to make no sense because of the lack of order they present. On the other hand, permalinks are shorter and simpler. They often consist of one large chunk of text that is followed up with more words separated by dashes.
Link Rot
Have you ever copied a link to look at it again later, only to find an error message saying that the page no longer exists? The dreaded “404 Page Not Found” has appeared on everyone’s screen at some point in time. This describes a phenomenon called “link rot.” Many of us have experienced link rot, however with a permalink, this doesn’t happen.
Permalinks are less susceptible to link rot than dynamic links. Link rot plagues the internet everywhere, causing web surfers to come across links that do not work. This is where permalinks become especially useful. They do not expire and are easy to change if needed. This means that if someone saves a permalink, forgets about it, and then comes back to it a year later, it will still direct them to the same page. As long as no one has changed it, it could be ten years and the permalink will still work! Permalinks are everlasting and stable amongst a sea of constantly changing links, web pages, and more on the internet.
Changing a permalink is simple. On WordPress, for instance, the process only involves seven simple steps. This makes permalinks an asset to SEO because content creators can create the link they want to be shown when people visit their website. In this sense, permalinks are a marketing tool in their own right, with the permalink acting as an advertisement to readers who click on it.
Permalink Example
A permalink is a link to a website or webpage. They do not expire because they link to a specific, unchanging page. The use of databases provides an excellent show of the importance of the permalink. To access databases, the user has to log in with their username and password. This means that each time the user accesses the database, they are viewing a unique page because they have logged in.
Because of the nature of privacy involving usernames and passwords, a dynamic link to the database page would not reload the same page that the user was initially using, because it does not save the user’s credentials. A permalink is useful in this situation because it allows the user to have a link to the same page they were using before without worrying about logging in again. Permalinks save web users the hassle of re-researching, and finding sources more than one time.
For example, a popular database used by high schoolers and college students is JSTOR. When students go through their library homepage and navigate to JSTOR, they are logged in with their username and password. If they were to try and access an article on JSTOR without logging in again or using the permalink, they would not have access to it.
So, if you are ever researching in a database, make sure to find the permalink to the content you are using. Oftentimes, these links may also be called “stable links.” Finding and saving the permalink will allow easy access to content as you come and go on the internet. No need to keep a bunch of tabs open; a permalink will save you the hassle of having to log back in again and allow you to look at the content again in an instant!
Permalink SEO Benefits
Permalinks are a great resource for anyone looking to increase SEO on their website. Because they are so specific and stable, they provide quick results to website users. They make accessing websites easier for web users, and this increases website traffic and use.
Permalinks’ SEO benefits also include the use of keywords. Keywords describe the gist of your content and often replicate the questions or phrases web users look up on search engines. For example, one of the keywords in this post is the question, “how many keywords per web page”? The permalink for this post includes each of these words separated by dashes.
This is the permalink: https://seodesignchicago.com/blogging/how-many-keywords-per-webpage/
Because these keywords appear both in the link and in the blog post, the page will pop up close to the top of the search list when a user types in a question, word, or phrase having to do with the keywords. This describes SEO perfectly. Permalinks are a great tool for optimizing the searches of web surfers all around the globe, uniting them through the keywords they use in their search.
Increase Relevance
Essentially, a web user may look up the word “keyword” looking for information about SEO and how to better optimize their posts to increase web traffic. Permalinks provide more evidence of relevance, as the keywords used in them show the user directly that the words they searched will be in the post they are clicking on. In this way, permalinks guarantee that whatever the searcher has looked up will appear in the post they are accessing.
This relevance is key to understanding how permalinks benefit SEO. These links include keywords, and the use of these keywords makes them appear more to web users in their searches. In this way, these links act as advertising and marketing tools in addition to simple web links. Not only are permalinks helpful in accessing content online, but they boost traffic to the pages they link to.
Improve Link Building
Permalinks are also great for linking to internal and external content within web posts like articles and blogs. This is another reason why they are great for SEO. Not only do they increase traffic to one page, but the use of multiple permalinks embedded within a post allows users to go back and forth between multiple posts at once. This makes posts complex and rich with content. Not only does the page have content about one topic, but it also has links to other related topics.
Have you ever fallen down a rabbit hole on the internet? Permalinks were likely quite useful for you in your research. Websites like Wikipedia use lots of permalinks throughout their posts to link to related content. A link to related content compels the web user to “click” and continue reading what’s on your website. Permalinks effectively make it easier for internet surfers to click around and take in as much content as they like.
The Time for Permalinks Is Now!
A permalink is a permanent link that never expires. It contains keywords that boost SEO and help with user accessibility. Permalinks are an excellent way to bring more traffic to your website! You can use common website platforms to create a permalink. One example is WordPress, which gives content creators many options for their permalinks. As discussed earlier, it is also quite easy to change a permalink on WordPress.
If you are focused on SEO, it is essential to employ the use of at least some permalinks. Ideally, many of your web posts will have permalinks. They will allow for better visibility of your content on the internet, allowing people to see your content within the first page of their search results.
Permalinks are also great for internal and external linking within your content. Using these links within your content will keep readers engaged, help them learn about multiple topics, and increase traffic to other posts on your website.
SEO Design Chicago
If you need help taking your link-building strategy to the next level, SEO Design Chicago is here to help. Link building can improve your ranking on Google and other search engines, which can lead to a lot more traffic to your website. Get in touch with us to learn about our services today!
FAQ:
- Is a permalink the same thing as a URL?
- What is link rot?
- What does a permalink look like?
- Do permalinks help with SEO?
- How do you change a permalink?
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