A Guide To Perfect Custom Post Type And Taxonomy Urls

The Core Problem: Ugly Default URLs

WordPress automatically generates URL structures for custom post types and taxonomies. However, the default URLs are often long, unreadable strings of question marks, numbers, and other non-semantic characters such as:

http://example.com/post-type/?p=123

http://example.com/taxonomy/?term=456

These messy default URLs provide a poor user experience, hurt site navigation, and present challenges for search engine optimization. Descriptive permalink structures are critical for usability.

Issues with Default URLs

Default auto-generated URLs for custom post types and taxonomies lead to three core problems:

Poor Usability – Long “ugly” URLs are difficult for visitors to read, remember, and interact with.
Hurt Navigation – Non-semantic URLs lack the context and descriptions needed for intuitive site navigation.
SEO Challenges – Search engines favor descriptive URLs with relevant keywords for indexing and ranking pages.

The Solution – Custom Permalinks

The solution is to register thoughtful permalink structures when defining custom post types and taxonomies. This guide will teach you how to implement custom URLs with WordPress best practices for usability, findability, and SEO.

Anatomy of a Custom URL

Before diving into how to register custom URLs, let’s breakdown the anatomy of a well-crafted WordPress permalink structure:

Custom URL formats contain four main components:

Base URL – The homepage URL that all other pages stem from.
Post Type Slug – A descriptive keyword identifying the type of content.
Taxonomy Slug (optional) – For taxonomy archive pages, the taxonomy name.
Post Slug – Unique descriptive identifier for each individual post.

Getting these four elements right is key to perfecting URL structures for custom post types and taxonomies…

1. Base URL

The base URL, also called the “root domain”, is the foundation that all other site pages build on. A base URL follows this format:

http://example.com

Best practice is to register a base URL that matches your site’s brand name for strong association. Short, memorable domains have higher trust and value.

2. Post Type Slug

The post type slug defines the overall section that content lives within, such as:

```
http://example.com/products
```
```
http://example.com/services
```
```
http://example.com/blog
```

Post type slugs identify the type of content you are viewing at a high level.

3. Taxonomy Slug

Taxonomy slugs enable site visitors to drill down into specific categories and tags, for example:

```
http://example.com/products/top-sellers
```
```
http://example.com/products/on-sale
```

Taxonomy slugs help filter and organize content under custom post types.

4. Post Slug

Finally, the post slug identifies the specific page or post being viewed. Post slugs should use descriptive keywords, like:

http://example.com/products/best-mountain-bike

http://example.com/services/kitchen-remodeling

Crafting semantic, unique post slugs is key for findability and preventing duplicate content issues.

Registering Custom Post Types and Taxonomies

When defining custom post types and taxonomies in WordPress, it is essential to register readable permalink structures right from the start. Here is a step-by-step guide to registering custom URLs:

1. Define Arguments

First, when registering a custom post type or taxonomy with register_post_type() or register_taxonomy(), specify permalink arguments:

'rewrite' => array(
  'slug' => 'products',
  'with_front' => false,
),

This structures the permalink slug, visibility settings, trailing slashes, and more.

2. Craft Slugs

Next, carefully craft the rewrite slugs. Keep slugs short, semantic, and easy to remember. Use dashes to separate multi-word slugs:

'slug' => 'product-reviews'

Descriptive, consistent slugs improve navigation and clicks.

3. Hard Flush Permalinks

After defining post type and taxonomy registration arguments, visit the Permalinks settings page and click “Save Changes” to hard flush permalinks.

Flushing rewrites WordPress rewrite rules and applies new URL structures. Always flush after updating slugs.

4. Confirm URLs

Finally, test front-end pages and posts to confirm your new custom URL formats are working correctly.

Troubleshoot 404 errors, long index.php file structures, or overlapping slug conflicts at this stage.

Crafting Descriptive Permalink Structures

Beyond setting raw slugs and endpoints, let’s explore what makes a carefully-crafted, optimized custom permalink structure in WordPress.

Ideal semantic URL formats improve usability and conversions by…

Using Keywords

Include relevant keywords visitors may use to find that content – e.g. http://example.com/services/social-media-marketing

Reading Left to Right

Structure URLs to read left to right – e.g. http://example.com/blog/category/post-name

Being Scannable

Use dashes and short slug segments so visitors can scan and digest URLs.

Avoiding Stop Words

Leave out pronouns, articles, prepositions unless critical for context – e.g. http://example.com/red-beanie

Indicating Hierarchy

Show parent-child relationships between nested page structures.

Crafting semantic, easy-to-say-aloud URLs results in higher engagement and satisfaction.

Examples of Custom URL Formats

Let’s look at several examples of excellent custom URL structures for common WordPress post types and taxonomies.

Analyze these URL format best practices for customizing your own permalinks.

Portfolio Items

For portfolios, use a project name or number for unique identification:

http://example.com/portfolio/project-red

Staff Member Profiles

For staff directories, reference team members by name or ID:

  
http://example.com/team/john-smith

Products

For eCommerce product pages, include the product name/SKU:

http://example.com/shop/black-backpack-932

Events

For events, reference the event name/date fields:

http://example.com/events/smith-family-reunion-2025

Take inspiration from these samples for implementing intuitive, usable URL structures.

Redirecting Old URLs

After updating existing custom post types or taxonomies with new URL formats, any old URLs already indexed by search engines will result in 404 errors.

To maintain SEO value, it is critical to redirect old URL patterns to your new custom permalink structures. Here’s how:

1. Export Old URLs

First, use a plugin like Redirection to export a list of all URLs currently on your site.

This captures your existing URL dataset prior to permalink changes.

2. Update Permalinks

Next, update the custom post type or taxonomy registration arguments with your improved rewrite rules and slugs.

Don’t forget to hard flush permalinks afterwards.

3. Redirect Old to New

With your list of old URLs, manually create redirects from outdated patterns to the updated equivalents.

Use 301 permanent redirects to pass SEO value to new URLs.

Redirecting maintains a smooth transition for visitors and search bots as you enhance custom permalink structures.

Common Permalink Pitfalls

Troubleshooting custom post type and taxonomy permalinks require vigilance of these common issues:

%Postname% Variable

By default, the %postname% tag does not work with non-post post types. Specify custom rewrite rules for all CPTs.

Index.php Appears

Index.php default structures could indicate an improperly registered rewrite rule.

Trailing Slashes

Inconsistent trailing slashes create duplicate content for search engines to index.

Conflicting Slugs

Identical CPT and taxonomy slugs generate overlap errors and failed rewrites.

Carefully planning rewrite settings and testing URLs helps bypass issues.

Perfecting Custom URLs for Any Site

While each WordPress site’s URL needs vary, this guide provides a model for implementing excellent custom post type and taxonomy permalinks.

Key takeaways include:

Start by addressing UX flaws in default non-semantic URLs.
Understand the anatomy and roles of URL segments.
Strategically register rewrite arguments when defining custom entities.
Craft descriptive, clean URL structures.
Redirect outdated URLs to maintain SEO.
Troubleshoot bottlenecks around index.php, slug conflicts.

Optimized custom post type and taxonomy permalinks takes repetition and testing – but results in self-documenting URL formats visitors and search engines comprehend.

By mastering the balance of art and science in implementing semantic URLs, you enable more findable, crawlable WordPress sites.