core

Slug (WordPress Glossary)

A slug is the URL-readable identifier for a WordPress page, post, category, or tag — the part that appears after your domain name in the browser address bar.

Slug

A slug is the URL-readable identifier for a WordPress page, post, category, or tag — the part that appears after your domain name in the browser address bar.

Answer capsule: A WordPress slug is the URL-safe text segment that identifies a specific page or post. For a post titled “Best WordPress Hosting Plans,” WordPress auto-generates the slug best-wordpress-hosting-plans. It appears in the permalink structure and directly influences how search engines read and rank the URL.

What does a slug look like in WordPress?

If your site is wpschool.com and you publish a post called “How to Install a Plugin,” WordPress generates the URL wpschool.com/how-to-install-a-plugin/. The slug is how-to-install-a-plugin — lowercase, hyphens replacing spaces, special characters stripped.

WordPress has auto-generated slugs from post titles since version 2.0 (released 2005). As of 2026, that behavior is unchanged for all core post types.

Where to edit a slug in WordPress

In the block editor (Gutenberg), open the Settings panel on the right side, select the Post tab, and look for the Permalink field under the “Summary” section. Click the slug text to edit it inline.

In Classic Editor, the slug field appears directly below the post title once you save a draft — labeled “Permalink,” with an Edit button next to the generated URL.

We see this field overlooked constantly on client sites: the default slug often includes stop words (“a,” “the,” “how-to”) that add zero SEO value and make URLs longer than necessary.

Why slugs matter for SEO

Search engines read URLs as ranking signals. A slug containing your target keyword — wordpress-speed-optimization rather than post-1847 — gives Google a direct text signal about the page topic before it even crawls the content. Google’s URL structure documentation confirms that simple, descriptive URLs are preferred.

After managing 200+ client sites, the pattern is consistent: posts with keyword-matched slugs outrank structurally identical posts with numeric or verbose slugs in competitive niches, all else equal.

One gotcha we surface regularly: changing a slug on a published post breaks any existing inbound links unless you set up a 301 redirect. WordPress does not create the redirect automatically. Install a redirect plugin or add one manually in your .htaccess before editing a live URL.

How to write a good slug

  • Use your primary keyword, lowercase, hyphens between words
  • Remove stop words: “the,” “a,” “and,” “of”
  • Keep it under 5 words where possible — /wordpress-slug-guide beats /a-complete-guide-to-wordpress-slugs-for-beginners
  • Never use underscores — search engines treat them as word joiners, not separators
  • Permalink — the full URL structure WordPress builds around your slug
  • 301 Redirect — required when you change a published slug
  • Custom Post Type — slugs apply to all post types, not just posts and pages
  • Taxonomy — categories and tags have their own slugs editable under Settings → Permalinks
  • SEO-friendly URLs — broader URL optimization beyond the slug itself

Additional reading:

Last verified: April 2026

Back to Glossary