How to Change Product Permalinks in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide

Changing product permalinks in WooCommerce might seem daunting, but it’s actually quite straightforward. Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your product pages. Getting them right is crucial for SEO and user experience. A well-structured permalink is easy for both search engines and customers to understand, improving your site’s ranking and making it easier for people to find your products.

This guide will walk you through the process, explaining why you might need to change them and offering solutions for common problems.

Why Change WooCommerce Product Permalinks?

There are several reasons why you might want to change a product permalink:

SEO Optimization: You might want to incorporate relevant keywords into your URLs for better search engine visibility. For example, changing `/product/123/` to `/product/amazing-widget/` is more descriptive and SEO-friendly.
Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent URL structure across your website enhances brand recognition and improves user navigation.
Error Correction: You might have made a mistake in the original permalink (e.g., a typo) and need to correct it.
Improved User Experience: Clear and concise permalinks make it easier for customers to understand what a product page is about before even clicking on it.

Methods to Change WooCommerce Product Permalinks

There are two main ways to change your product permalinks in WooCommerce:

Using the WooCommerce Settings (for global changes or bulk editing): This method is suitable for adjusting the overall permalink structure or making changes to multiple products at once.

Manually Editing Individual Product Permalinks (for single product changes): This is best for altering the permalink of a single product.

Method 1: Changing Permalinks Globally (using WooCommerce Settings)

This affects all *future* products. Existing products will need individual updates (see Method 2).

Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Permalinks.

Choose your preferred permalink structure from the dropdown menu. Options usually include:

/%postname%/ (Recommended – uses the product’s name in the URL)

/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/ (Uses year, month, and product name)

/%postname%.html (Adds .html extension to the URL)

Save changes.

Important Note: Changing the permalink structure globally will *not* automatically update existing product URLs. You’ll need to use Method 2 for those.

Method 2: Manually Changing Individual Product Permalinks

This method allows you to change the permalink for a specific product.

Navigate to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard.

Select the product you want to edit.

On the product edit page, scroll down to the Permalink section (usually located in the “Product data” meta box).

Enter the new permalink in the field. Make it descriptive and concise, incorporating relevant keywords. For example, if your product is a “Red Leather Wallet,” a good permalink would be `/red-leather-wallet/`.

Update the product.

Example: Real-Life Scenario

Let’s say you sell handmade jewelry. You initially named a product “Necklace 1” with a permalink `/necklace-1/`. This is not very descriptive. By using Method 2, you can change this to `/handmade-turquoise-necklace/`, which is far more informative and SEO-friendly.

Important Considerations:

301 Redirects: After changing a permalink, always set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This prevents broken links and ensures that search engines maintain the ranking of the product page. You can use a plugin like Redirection for this.
Avoid using special characters: Stick to lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens in your permalinks.
Keep it concise: Long permalinks are harder to remember and share.

By following these steps, you can effectively manage your WooCommerce product permalinks, improving your website’s SEO and user experience. Remember to always test your changes after implementing them!

How To Change Product Permalink In Woocommerce