Permalinks

Each post or page that you create on your blog has it's own Permalink. This is a link that goes directly to that single item so you can refer to it in content published elsewhere on the internet and the link will take a visitor directly to that single piece of content – even if it is buried deep in the Archives many months or years later.

1. This is one of the occasions when Wordpress default settings are not the best for current search engine optimisation. Do not use the Default.

2. Change your settings to Day and name. As you can see from the example this inserts the date before the post title. With current social networking sites and the demand for immediacy of information there are a number of tools that will not process a feed of information that does not contain the date so that they can verify that it is new and current.

Don't just take my word for it, this was originally a recommendation from Denis de Bernardy, the author of Semiologic, but ultimately originates with Tim Burners Lee, credited with the invention of the world wide web.  You can find his post on 'Cool URIs don't change' on the W3C site – another authority source for all things technical.

3. Don't bother with the Optional settings. There are innumerable sources of SEO information on the internet where people argue endlessly about the 'best' way of structuring your site for optimum search engine ranking and this option panders to these individuals.

Your job is to publish good, relevant content. The Google and other search engine techies understand exactly how Wordpress works and will give you all the recognition you deserve – provided you give them good, relevant content.

Don't forget to SAVE CHANGES.

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