How do I change my permalink structure to a custom structure on an established blog?

Question

I've got a blog that's about 15 months old with around 160 posts. Right now my permalink structure looks like this (example):

http://collegeinfogeek.com/2011/08/how-to-build-the-ultimate-hanging-loft-bed/

I'd like to change my structure so that I can custom-define all the links and not include the dates. For example, the link above would be changed to something like:

http://collegeinfogeek.com/hanging-loft-bed/

How would you guys recommend going about this change without getting hurt in the SEO department? I'm guessing I need a way to generate 301 redirects.

Answer 1

When you change your permalink structure WordPress will automatically update the links. You should be able to change your structure without creating 301's.

Answer 2

I didnt try but probably this will works:

1. Install http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/ plugin for "Automatically add a 301 redirection when a post's URL changes"
2. Change your permalinks to %postname% details: http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks (normally they dont suggest to use %postname% as permalink for performance reasons but they saying they will fix that problem in wordpress 3.3 so it will be no problem soon)
3. Go to your "how to build the ultimate hanging loft bed" titled post and change your permalink to "hanging-loft-bed".