URL & Permalink Cleanup Complete Guide
Optimize your site's URL structure for better SEO and user experience with ProRank's powerful URL cleanup tools
Overview
ProRank SEO's URL & Permalink Cleanup module helps you create clean, SEO-friendly URLs by removing unnecessary elements and optimizing your site's URL structure. Located under Technical SEO → URL & Permalink Cleanup in your WordPress admin, this Core+ feature provides comprehensive tools for URL optimization.
Clean URLs improve both user experience and search engine crawling efficiency. This module helps you eliminate duplicate content issues, create memorable URLs, and maintain consistent URL structures across your entire website.
URL & Permalink Cleanup is a Core+ feature. A Core+ license or higher is required to access these tools.View licensing options
Key Features
Taxonomy URL Optimization
Remove category and tag base from URLs for cleaner, shorter permalinks
URL Parameter Cleanup
Remove tracking parameters and comment reply parameters that create duplicate content
URL Structure Control
Manage trailing slashes, case sensitivity, and stop words in URLs
Attachment Page Redirects
Automatically redirect media attachment pages to prevent thin content issues
Taxonomy URLs
Category & Tag Base Removal
WordPress by default adds /category/ and /tag/ to your taxonomy URLs. This module allows you to remove these bases for cleaner URLs.
Strip Category Base
Transforms category URLs from /category/news/ to/news/
- Creates shorter, more memorable URLs
- Automatically redirects old URLs to prevent broken links
- Improves URL readability and click-through rates
Strip Tag Base
Transforms tag URLs from /tag/wordpress/ to/wordpress/
- Simplifies tag archive URLs
- Maintains SEO value with automatic redirects
- Creates consistent URL structure across taxonomies
Important: When enabling category or tag base removal, the plugin automatically creates 301 redirects from old URLs. However, you should update any hardcoded internal links and submit an updated sitemap to search engines.
URL Parameters
Parameter Cleanup Options
Remove Reply Parameters
Eliminates ?replytocom parameters that WordPress adds to comment reply links.
- Prevents duplicate content from comment reply URLs
- Reduces crawl budget waste on parameter variations
- Safe to enable - doesn't affect comment functionality
Remove UTM Parameters
Automatically strips UTM tracking parameters (utm_source,utm_medium, etc.) from URLs.
- Prevents analytics parameters from being indexed
- Consolidates link equity to canonical URLs
- Tracking still works in analytics tools
Parameter removal happens server-side before pages are served, ensuring search engines only see clean URLs while analytics tracking continues to function normally.
URL Structure
Structure Control Options
Trailing Slash Control
Choose how to handle trailing slashes:
- Force Trailing Slash: Ensures all URLs end with /
- Remove Trailing Slash: Removes trailing / from URLs
- No Action: Leave as-is (default)
Note: These options are mutually exclusive
Case & Stop Words
Additional URL optimizations:
- Convert to Lowercase: Forces all URLs to lowercase
- Remove Stop Words: Removes common words from new slugs
Stop words: a, an, the, of, in, on, at, etc.
Example URL transformations:
Original: /Blog/The-Best-WordPress-SEO-Tips/
With lowercase: /blog/the-best-wordpress-seo-tips/
With stop words removed: /blog/best-wordpress-seo-tips/
With trailing slash removed: /blog/best-wordpress-seo-tipsAttachment Page Redirects
Media Attachment Handling
WordPress creates separate pages for each media attachment, which can lead to thin content issues. This feature allows you to automatically redirect these pages.
Redirect Options
Disabled (Default)
Attachment pages remain accessible as normal WordPress pages
Redirect to Parent Post
Redirects attachment pages to the post where the media was first uploaded
Recommended for most sites - consolidates content and link equity
Redirect to Media File
Redirects directly to the actual media file (image, PDF, etc.)
Useful for sites that want direct media access
Best Practice: Enable "Redirect to Parent Post" to prevent thin content pages and consolidate SEO value. This is one of the quickest wins for improving your site's overall SEO health.
Implementation Guide
Getting Started
Navigate to Settings
Go to Technical SEO → URL & Permalink Cleanup in your WordPress admin
Start with Safe Options
Begin by enabling attachment redirects and parameter removal - these are safe and provide immediate benefits
Test Taxonomy Changes
If removing category/tag bases, test thoroughly on a staging site first
Monitor & Update
After making changes, update your sitemap and monitor for any crawl errors in Google Search Console
Common Use Cases
Blog Sites
- Remove category base for cleaner archive URLs
- Strip reply parameters to reduce duplicates
- Enable attachment redirects to parent posts
- Remove stop words from new post slugs
E-commerce Sites
- Remove UTM parameters to consolidate product pages
- Force trailing slashes for consistency
- Convert URLs to lowercase
- Redirect attachment pages to products
News/Magazine Sites
- Strip both category and tag bases
- Remove all tracking parameters
- Redirect media pages to articles
- Maintain clean URL structure
Portfolio Sites
- Redirect attachments to media files
- Remove trailing slashes for clean URLs
- Strip unnecessary parameters
- Keep URLs short and memorable
Troubleshooting
Common Issues & Solutions
404 Errors After Enabling Category Base Removal
Problem: Some category links return 404 errors
Solution: Clear your permalink cache by visiting Settings → Permalinks and clicking Save. The plugin will regenerate rewrite rules.
Redirect Loops
Problem: Pages enter infinite redirect loops
Solution: Ensure you haven't enabled both "Force Trailing Slash" and "Remove Trailing Slash". Also check for conflicts with other redirect plugins.
Analytics Tracking Lost
Problem: UTM parameters not tracking in analytics
Solution: UTM parameters are processed by analytics before removal. If tracking stops, temporarily disable UTM removal and check your analytics setup.
Attachment Redirects Not Working
Problem: Media attachment pages still accessible
Solution: Clear all caches (browser, CDN, WordPress cache plugins) and ensure the setting is saved properly.
Best Practices
Recommended Configuration
For most WordPress sites, we recommend this configuration:
Pro Tip: After making URL structure changes, submit your updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console and monitor the Coverage report for any issues. The plugin handles redirects automatically, but monitoring ensures everything works smoothly.