How to Change Links without Losing Traffic in WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular software solutions for bloggers available because it is both easy to install as well as easy to use. However, there are default settings that may affect the ease of navigation and even more importantly the search engine optimization (SEO) possible for your site. One of the setting for this is the permalink settings. The default setting includes a generic page title in the link that is generated. However, many people choose to change this so the link includes the name of the blog. This will help SEO and make the link more memorable.

However, for older WordPress blogs or for those who already have blog posts using the default system, changing the permalinks may cause some problems. First, if a user has bookmarked or posted the link elsewhere, the old link will no longer work which may detract traffic from your site. Next, it may affect search engine indexing of your site which will directly affect search engine optimization. This can be quite problematic but there is a solution that will allow you to change your permalinks without adversely affecting Google indexing, Yahoo indexing, other search engine results or bookmarked links.

The way to accomplish this change is to use a simple plugin that is available for WordPress. The plugin name is the Permalinks Migration Plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/permalinks-migration-plugin-for-wordpress/) available through WordPress. All you need to do is download and install the plugin to WordPress. There are now two settings you need to define. First, put in the setting you used to use for your permalinks. Then, put in your new format that you will use from now on. Save your settings and all links will revert to your new pages without losing any indexing.

This is a great way to change your site with existing content and site links without adversely affecting your traffic and SEO. Once you are finished setting up the plugin, go to a search engine where you have results (such as Google) and search for a particular link. Even if it shows the old format, click on it. This should automatically redirect you to the newly formatted link title without any problem.

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