Permalinks, I think

I am so very knew to all of this, so please bear with me and thank you for all of your help.

I posted an article to my website and then googled it to see where it ranked and I actually ranked in the top 30 for one of my keyword phrases...I'm not complaining, I'm still learning.

Anyway, in examining the other results I noticed for instance that the othersites had a link structure like this:

http://www.sitename.com/category/key...-aritcle-title

and mine is like this

www.sitename.com/?cat=41

Does mine show up that way because of the permalink settings? (I'm hoping I am asking about the right thing) Which begs two other questions:

One: Is it important to have the title show up in the URL, especially if it is keyword friendly? (My gut reaction is "yes!")

Two: If so,how do I fix it to give the more "keyword phrase" friendly URL? I'm using WP on my website.

Hey Nelson,

Here is the link with the answer you're looking for, including how to change the permalink structure (and to what):

http://www.clicknewz.com/783/smart-permalink-structure/

Notice the permalink structure ^ ? :)

You might also like this related post:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1993/how-to-write-a-blog-post/

*Note to self: search Lynn's blog for answers before asking questions.*

Thanks Lynn. I had read and regularly refer to the article on How To Write A Blog Post. It hadn't seen the article on permalinks. Thanks for the info.

No problem - you're welcome to ask here. I'm sure there are others that are glad you did! That said, it's been said that the search box at ClickNewz is one of the best kept secrets on the internet :cool: lol

This is great, common sense advice. But sometimes I don't have common sense at first...

I tried the suggested permalink structure on a brand new blog, and before I made the first post, I changed the permalinks. Changed the permissions (which updates the .htaccess, thank you very much) and everything.

And then I edited the "Hello World" post. And none of the links worked.

I came here to see if someone could diagnose the problem, and as I typed the word "edited" I realized what I had done wrong.

You have to delete the "Hello World" post and "About" page, and add new ones. Don't edit them.

Just in case someone else is a little slow on the uptake...

Okay, I lied. They don't work. I'm getting an internal server error - on not one but two sites - started two new blogs today. It has to do with the permalink structure, because when I change it back to one of the standard ones, everything works.

Could it have to do with the theme I'm using? Or the All-in-one-SEO plugin? (I'm only using that and Askimet.)

I'm stumped.

Hmm Kayla, that is odd. Can you show us what permalink structure you're actually using?

Be sure that you're using

/%post_id%/%postname%/

And put the above permalink in the custom structure box and be sure to check it off on the left side too and then click save changes, blue button at the bottom of the permalinks page.

If you did all that, I'm not sure what to recommend but I'm sure someone will be along to help!

It may be a conflict. I'm not sure...

It usually works without issue, and updates your .htaccess file if you select that option. Hopefully someone can assist.

Probably a user error! :) Someone is looking at it for me. Thanks!!

Yep - user error. And it is diagnosed and fixed thanks to Bridgett Raffenberg (http://www.InspiredDesignStudio.com), who is a member of this forum.

Thank you Bridgett!

The problem was that I had uploaded an .htaccess file that already had something in it.

Funny that the thing I bragged about above was the cause of my ills. Just goes to show that pride really doth go before a fall. :)