The custom URL alias for a document is an indispensable detail in website operation, it not only concerns the SEO performance of the website, but also directly affects user experience and brand image.In AnQiCMS, you have powerful flexibility to manage these aliases and ensure their uniqueness in frontend links.

Flexible definition, making the URL more meaningful

Imagine a chaotic, disorganized URL made up of numbers and symbols, compared to a clear, meaningful, and directly reflective URL of the content's theme. Which one is easier to remember and share?There is no doubt that the latter is true.AnQiCMS knows this and therefore provides a convenient feature for customizing URL aliases.

When you create or edit articles, products, categories, tags, or content models in the AnQiCMS backend, the system will provide you with a 'custom URL' or 'URL alias' field.This is the place where you assign a unique 'ID card' to each content.

  • Custom URL for documents, categories, and tags:No matter whether you are publishing a new article, creating a product category, or defining a keyword tag, the system will automatically generate a pinyin alias based on the title you enter.For example, if the title of your article is “AnQiCMS project advantages”, the system may automatically generate “anqicms-xiangmu-youshi”.Of course, you can completely modify it manually according to your own needs, such as modifying it to a simpler and more SEO-friendly 'anqicms-advantages'.This custom URL, usually composed of letters, numbers, and underscores, avoid special characters, and keep it concise and clear.

  • Content model URL alias:For the content model itself, such as the "article" model or "product" model, you can also set a URL alias for it.This alias is usually the English name of the model, such as “article” or “product”.It is different from the custom URL of the document and category because the URL alias of the content model is used as the basic component of the URL structure for all content items under it.Once set, it affects the frontend links of all content under the model, so it is usually recommended to set it to a concise and universally applicable English word, and not to change it easily afterwards.

Ensure uniqueness: System intelligence and manual optimization

It is crucial to ensure the uniqueness of each URL alias.A website should not have two completely identical page links, as this not only confuses search engines and affects crawling and ranking, but may also lead users to access incorrect pages.

AnQiCMS provides solid guarantees in this aspect:

  • System automatic verification and correction:When you manually input or the system automatically generates a URL alias and saves it, AnQiCMS will perform a full-site uniqueness check.If you find that the alias you entered already exists, the system will automatically add a string of random numbers to the alias you set to ensure that the final generated URL is unique.For example, if you enter “anqicms-advantages”, but it already exists, the system may change it to “anqicms-advantages-12345”.

  • The collaborative work of pseudo-static rules:These custom URL aliases will not directly become the full link of your website's frontend.They need to be combined with the template you set in the "pseudo-static rules".{filename}(Custom URL for document/page/tag)、《{catname}(Custom URL for category)、《{module}(URL alias for content model) as well as{id}The content ID, etc., to build the URL structure you want. For example, if your pseudo-static rules are set to/{module}/{filename}.html, then an article belonging to the "article" model (aliasarticle），and the custom URL isanqicms-advantagesdocument, and the final link may be/article/anqicms-advantages.html. The system automatically guarantees the uniqueness, which is aimed at these final links composed of pseudo-static rules and aliases.

  • 301 Redirects: Creative UsesSometimes, even if the alias has been set and published, for reasons such as brand upgrade, content restructuring, or SEO strategy adjustment, you may need to modify the URL alias of a document again.You might be worried about losing the original SEO weight or encountering 404 errors when users visit the old links.The 301 redirect feature built into AnQiCMS is for this purpose.After you change the URL alias, set up a 301 redirect in time to permanently point the old link to the new one, so you can seamlessly pass the original SEO weight to it, and ensure that users can always access the correct page.This is a very friendly transition method that can effectively solve the negative impact caused by URL changes.

Operation Suggestions, Make It Easy for You to Handle

Customizing URL Aliases and Configuring Virtual Static Rules Go Hand in Hand in Practical Operations.

  1. In content management, set a custom URL:

    • Go to the "Content Management" menu and select "Document Management", "Document Classification", or "Document Tag".
    • When adding or editing content, find the "Custom URL" field.
    • You can keep the拼音 alias automatically generated by the system, or manually input a concise and meaningful English word or phrase based on your SEO strategy and content relevance.Remember, for ease of management and the aesthetic of the front-end link, try to ensure that its semantics are clear and avoid repetition with existing content.

  2. Configure pseudo-static rules in the function management:

    • Go to the "Function Management" menu and select "Pseudo-static Rules".
    • AnQiCMS provides a variety of built-in rules for you to choose from, such as "numeric pattern
    • If you have more personalized needs, you can choose "Custom mode", based on the page type (document details, document list, single page, etc.), use{module}/{filename}/{catname}Combining variables results in the URL structure you want.

Through such detailed settings and management, every page of your website will have a clear, friendly, and unique URL, laying a solid foundation for your content marketing and SEO strategy.

Common Questions (FAQ)

1. What practices should I follow when customizing URL aliases to optimize SEO?

When customizing URL aliases, we recommend that you prioritize the following points:

  • Contains core keywords:Ensure that the alias contains the most core keywords of the page, which helps search engines understand the content of the page.
  • Concise and clear:The shorter the URL, the better, avoid redundant words, so that users and search engines can quickly identify the content.
  • Use hyphens to separate:Words should be connected by hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_), because search engines usually treat hyphens as word separators.
  • All lowercase letters:use lowercase letters consistently to avoid potential duplicate page issues caused by case confusion.
  • easy to understand and remember:make the URL readable, convenient for users to remember and share.

2. If I change the URL alias of the document, will it affect the SEO ranking of my website?

Changing the URL alias can indeed affect SEO rankings in the short term, as search engines need to rediscover and index the new links.However, the 301 redirect function provided by AnQiCMS can minimize the negative impact to the greatest extent.After changing the alias, you must set a 301 permanent redirect from the old URL to the new URL in the background.So, the search engine knows that the page has been permanently moved, it will transfer the accumulated weight of the old links to the new links, and users who visit the old links will also be automatically redirected to the new page, avoiding 404 errors, thus maintaining your SEO performance and user experience.

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