🔍 Overview
When you build location pages in Website Studio and sync them to WordPress, each page needs its own unique URL slug. By default, if you edit one page's slug without following the correct steps, Website Studio may apply that same slug across all your location pages — causing duplicate URLs and broken links on your WordPress site. This article explains why this happens and exactly how to set unique slugs for every location page.
💡 Why All Pages Update to the Same Slug
Website Studio uses a template-based system for location pages. When you type a new slug directly into a shared template field, the platform treats it as the new default for every page generated from that template. As a result, all location pages inherit the same slug instead of getting individual ones. To avoid this, you must set unique slugs at the individual page level, not at the template level, before publishing or syncing to WordPress.
⚙️ How to Set a Unique Slug for Each Location Page
- In Search Atlas, navigate to Website Studio and open your location pages project.
- From the pages list, click on the specific location page you want to edit — do not edit the template directly.
- Inside the page editor, locate the Publish Settings panel (usually on the right-hand side or accessible via the publish button).
- Find the Slug field in the publish popup. This field may be pre-filled automatically based on the page title or your BrandVault settings.
- Clear the pre-filled value and type the unique slug you want for this specific location (for example, plumber-austin-tx or services-miami-fl).
- Confirm the slug looks correct, then click Save or Sync to WordPress.
- Repeat steps 2–6 for each location page individually.
Important: Always set or confirm the slug for each page before syncing. Once a page is published to WordPress, changing the slug later can cause the old URL to return a 404 error until your WordPress permalink cache is refreshed.
✅ Slug Formatting Best Practices
- Use lowercase letters and hyphens only — no spaces or special characters (e.g., heating-repair-denver).
- Include the city or region name in the slug to make each URL descriptive and SEO-friendly.
- Keep slugs short and readable — aim for 3–6 words.
- Avoid repeating the same keywords across multiple slugs, as this can create keyword cannibalization issues.
- Do not use numbers or dates unless they are essential to the page topic.
🔄 After Syncing to WordPress
Once your location pages are synced to WordPress with their unique slugs, verify each page is live by clicking the page link inside Website Studio. If any link returns a 404 error, try the following:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Go to Settings > Permalinks.
- Click Save Changes without making any edits — this forces WordPress to flush its permalink cache and register your new slugs.
- Return to Website Studio and re-check the page links.
If the 404 persists after flushing permalinks, the slug stored in Website Studio may not have updated correctly. Re-open the page's publish settings, confirm the slug is correct, and re-sync the page to WordPress.
🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Issues
- All slugs still look the same after editing: Make sure you are editing each page individually from the pages list, not modifying a shared template field.
- Slug field is greyed out or auto-filled: The auto-fill feature pulls from your page title and BrandVault. Click inside the field to override the value manually.
- Pages sync as blog posts instead of standalone pages: During the sync popup, confirm the content type is set to Page, not Post, before completing the sync.
- Homepage is replaced after sync: When syncing pages into a subfolder on your WordPress site, double-check the destination path in the publish popup so it does not overwrite your root homepage slug.
💬 Need More Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.