Blogger How

Blogger introduced permalink customization. Advantages of customizing post URL and some frequently asked questions about this update.

Blogger never gave importance to the term permalink until recently. They changed their mind because Blogger is now focusing on Search Engine Optimization(SEO). They are giving such options to compete with other blogging platforms like WordPress. WordPress has this options very long ago. With this addition Blogger is making this year as a "SEO year".

Blogger introduced the customization of permalinks as a new update. We can change the posting address(URL) of the blog using this feature. Most of us not aware of the importance of the permalinks in SEO. Google's search algorithms take many things in to account. One important point is how relevant are your post URL. Google is scanning the URL of the post and picks up the keywords. More keywords means more relevant. It will give your post a boost in search results.

Blogger is limiting URL length to maximum of 40 characters. So we can't include more than 5 words in a URL. Blogger automatically created the URL(permalink) using our first words of post title. They may include conjunctions and other irrelevant SEO keywords. Because of that, important keywords went out of the way.

By this Blogger update, we can change the permalink while post editing. Now this is not included in your default blogger account. You have to login to Blogger Draft.

How to change the permalink of a post?

• Login to draft.blogger.com. You can make Blogger draft your default by checking the box.
• Select your blog and click on New post.(#)
• On the side bar, under post settings there is an option Permalink. Click on it and select Custom URL. Enter your new URL there.(#)

Here I am going to discuss some relevant FAQ about Blogger and Permalinks

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a permalink

A: From Wikipedia: A permalink, or permanent link, is a URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives. Because a permalink remains unchanged indefinitely, it is less susceptible to link rot. Most modern weblogging and content-syndication software systems support such links. Other types of websites use the term permanent links, but the term permalink is most common within the blogosphere. Permalink is a portmanteau word made from permanent link. Permalinks are often simply stated so as to be human-readable.

Q:What is the importance of this Blogger's permalink feature?

A: Automatic url of this post is given below. In this, the word and is not important in the case of SEO. So I changed the URL in to some thing which conveys my ideas and improves keyword density. Look at my URL. Now this is "Blogger-permalink-frequent-questions.html"

Automatic url: http://www.bloggerhow.com/2012/07/customize-blogger-permalink-and.html

Q: Is this available for everyone?

A: Yes. But through Blogger Draft only.

Q: Can I change the whole url?

A: No. you can only change the last part. Month and year is not changeable.

Q: Can I change peramalinks of old posts?

A: Yes. First take Edit Post, then Revert to draft and Permalink. Change the URL as you like. If this link is indexed by google, visiting old link will return 404 error. So avoid this method. It may actually results in bad ranking.

Q: Only SEO is important in the case of permalink?

A: No. But SEO is more important than any other things. It also gives readability to your address. By reading the URL, readers can guess the content.