Any good SEO plugin should be able to handle both. But some place more of an emphasis on one group than the other. For example, Yoast includes a simple startup guide and notifications, whereas some other SEO plugins just throw you straight to the wolves.<\/p>\n
So when you choose your SEO plugin, make sure to go with one that approaches SEO in a way that fits your situation.<\/p>\n
Additionally, if you\u2019re running WooCommerce or something else with custom post types, you\u2019ll need to make sure that the plugin supports that.<\/p>\n
What Are the Best WordPress SEO Plugins?<\/h2>\n
Ok, now I\u2019ll go through each SEO plugin in more detail.<\/p>\n
You might have expected me to kick this post off with Yoast SEO but I recently came across Rank Math and was extremely impressed, so let\u2019s dive right in…<\/p>\n
1. Rank Math<\/h2>\n
![\"Rank](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rankmath1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rank Math is one of the fastest-growing WordPress plugins for a good reason. They\u2019ve managed to enter an extremely crowded and competitive space and slowly but surely start capturing a large share of the market.<\/p>\n
Just as you\u2019d expect, the plugin is extremely easy to use and has all the features that Yoast has, as well as what I would consider a better Schema implementation.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rankmath2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
You might be surprised to hear that all of the functionality that is currently available \u2013 which is a lot when compared to other plugins including Yoast and All in One SEO Pack \u2013\u00a0is currently free and will remain free. Although the team has confirmed that they are working on a premium version of the plugin that will be released at some point in the future, which definitely leaves us something to look forward to.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rankmath3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Using the Rank Math WordPress SEO plugin<\/a> makes it really easy to configure your posts, pages and custom post types with all of the following Rich Snippet types:<\/p>\n In addition to this, you also have the ability to configure other more general settings such as a page\u2019s canonical URL<\/a> and whether you\u2019d like to no-index a page.<\/p>\n The meta box also makes it easy to preview what your post will look like on social networks including Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking of moving from Yoast to Rank Math, you\u2019ll be pleased to hear that doing so is extremely easy thanks to the 1-click migration wizard that\u2019s built right into the plugin. All you have to do install Rank Math and then go through the import process shown below:<\/p>\n And that\u2019s it! The truth is that if you\u2019re looking for a WordPress plugin, you really can\u2019t go wrong with any of the plugins on this list but you really do get the most with Rank Math since it offers the functionality that most other SEO plugins do for free (something which only makes us look forward to their premium version even more).<\/p>\n Yoast<\/a> is popular for a reason. It gives you tons of flexibility over your site\u2019s content, letting you set up titles, meta descriptions, and social sharing information on a per-post basis. It gives you an easy way to set up a sitemap, adds some basic schema, and is generally pretty beginner friendly.<\/p>\n It\u2019s so focused on being beginner friendly that it hides most of the good stuff behind an Advanced<\/strong> menu that you have to manually turn on to see. What\u2019s do I count as good stuff?<\/p>\n Mainly custom variables to set up every title and meta tag on your site. For example, if you\u2019re using a custom post type with custom fields, you can pull data from those custom fields to automatically use in your titles and descriptions.<\/p>\n Super helpful, albeit not very accessible for beginners.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re willing to pay for pro or add-ons, there are tons of helpful features like:<\/p>\n All that\u2019s good…but here\u2019s where many people either love or hate Yoast:<\/strong><\/p>\n For those who haven\u2019t used the plugin, that screen showcases all of Yoast\u2019s SEO and readability recommendations. To be fair, plenty of people find these recommendations helpful.<\/p>\n But…I personally am not a fan. I think they\u2019re useful as general suggestions<\/em>, but many people put too much emphasis on Yoast\u2019s recommendations. Yoast\u2019s recommendations often:<\/p>\n And when it comes to readability, they often just plain…fall flat. I won\u2019t beat around the bush there. I want to yell when Yoast marks me down for \u201cpassive voice\u201d when the sentences…don\u2019t actually contain passive voice.<\/strong><\/p>\n Additionally, all of these helpful features add up to a ton of bloat. So much bloat, in fact, that one dev even created a WordPress SEO Weight Loss Program plugin<\/a> to remove some of Yoast\u2019s many additions.<\/p>\n Look, Yoast is generally just fine and has plenty of helpful functionality. It\u2019s just not something you should take as gospel when it comes to its recommendations.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a beginner, you won\u2019t go wrong with choosing Yoast. But if you\u2019re fed up with Yoast\u2019s ongoing quest to completely take over your WordPress dashboard (Cornerstone content, anyone?<\/em>), then keep reading for a couple more options.<\/p>\n After Yoast, All in One SEO<\/a> is the second most popular WordPress SEO plugin. Its official \u201cactive installs\u201d number is actually higher <\/em>than Yoast\u2019s, though it\u2019s not nearly as talked about.<\/p>\n I\u2019m still running All in One SEO on one of my older sites and I greatly appreciate it\u2019s slim, bloat-free interface.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot to like about All in One SEO. It has:<\/p>\n Another thing I like is that it doesn\u2019t enable every feature by default. You can go in and turn on or off modules so that you only use resources on the features you care about.<\/p>\n If you go pro<\/a>, you\u2019ll get:<\/p>\n In terms of interface, I much prefer All in One SEO. To be honest, I\u2019m trying to remember why I changed from All in One SEO in the first place. I think it was that peer pressure!<\/em><\/p>\n Despite its slimmer interface, All in One SEO is still pretty dang beginner friendly. So this is another SEO plugin that should be fine for both beginners and power users. If you\u2019re not a fan of Yoast\u2019s aggressive recommendations, give it a try for sure.<\/p>\n The SEO Framework<\/a> is a plugin I hadn\u2019t heard of until Colm recommended it to me. It can\u2019t compete with the sheer popularity of the first two SEO plugins, but it\u2019s getting rave reviews on the WordPress.org forums so I had to install it to see what everyone is talking about.<\/p>\n The verdict?<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one nifty SEO plugin. When you install it, there\u2019s just one long list of options. No bloat. No notifications popping up everywhere:<\/p>\n To be fair, while I love this approach – a beginner might feel a little lost when the first setting option they see references Transient Cache Settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In these menu options, you can quickly configure:<\/p>\n And once you do that, you\u2019re off to the races!<\/p>\n The only other times you\u2019ll run into The SEO Framework are:<\/p>\n In the WordPress Editor with a lightweight box that lets you customize your meta information on a per-post basis:<\/p>\n In your Posts <\/strong>or Pages<\/strong> dashboards with a helpful SEO bar that gives you various information about your post:<\/p>\n I much prefer how The SEO Framework approaches recommendations. They\u2019re there if you need them, but not in an overpowering way.<\/p>\n In addition to everything above, The SEO Framework rounds out its pitch with free support for:<\/p>\n Honestly, there\u2019s a lot to like here. I haven\u2019t personally used this plugin on a long-term site, but the reviews are excellent and the interface is intuitive.<\/p>\n The only semi-negative thing I\u2019ll say is that beginners might feel a little bit out of their element. But if you\u2019re familiar with the basic principles of WordPress and SEO, I think this is definitely an SEO plugin worth considering.<\/p>\n I know this wasn\u2019t a huge list with double-digit plugins…but honestly, you only need one SEO plugin<\/strong>. And I think these are your best options. There\u2019s no point featuring three other plugins that you\u2019re not going to use.<\/p>\n To that end, I\u2019m going to end this post by giving you a few decision matrixes:<\/p>\n Now over to you – what\u2019s your first choice when it comes to WordPress SEO plugins?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A post on the best SEO plugins for WordPress? Isn\u2019t that just a single item list that reads \u201cYoast SEO\u201d? Well, if you go with the mainstream answer, then probably yes. There\u2019s no doubt that Yoast SEO is the most popular and most recommended WordPress SEO plugin out there. But didn\u2019t your parents ever tell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":73765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[217,218],"class_list":["post-73424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plugins","tag-yoast","tag-seo"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\n
![\"Preview](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rankmath5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Import](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rankmath6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2. Yoast SEO<\/h2>\n
![\"best](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-0-e1492618218218.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-2.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
3. All in One SEO Pack<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-3.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-3-0.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-3-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
4. The SEO Framework<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-4.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-5.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-6.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/createandcode.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress-7.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
Wrapping Things Up<\/h2>\n
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