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WordPress: SEO plugins to improve search engine rankings

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What features should a WordPress SEO plugin offer?
The best WordPress SEO plugins
Comparison of the most important functions of SEO plugins for WordPress
Yoast SEO
Rank Math
All in One SEO Pack

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WordPress: SEO plugins to improve search engine rankings

By default, WordPress is a content management system that lends itself to SEO. But that does not mean that configuring your WordPress installation is enough for your website to rank well in Google. The basic version only covers the most fundamental SEO requirements. To go further, there are SEO plugins for WordPress, some free and others paid, that will help you optimize your website..

Index
  1. What features should a WordPress SEO plugin offer?
  2. The best WordPress SEO plugins
    1. Yoast SEO
      1. Yoast SEO installation wizard
      2. Determine metadata and indexing
      3. SEO analysis of individual pages
      4. Readability analysis
      5. More Yoast SEO Features
      6. Yoast SEO: advantages and disadvantages
    2. Rank Math
      1. Rank Math: configuration manager
      2. Keyword analysis
      3. Other Rank Math Features
      4. Rank Math: advantages and disadvantages
    3. All in One SEO Pack
      1. The main features of the WordPress SEO plugin All in One SEO Pack
      2. All in One SEO Pack: advantages and disadvantages
  3. Comparison of the most important functions of SEO plugins for WordPress

What features should a WordPress SEO plugin offer?

The WordPress SEO measures, which can be implemented with the basic version, provide, in combination with a caching plugin (to improve performance), a good foundation for a WordPress project. A WordPress SEO plugin should also add the following SEO optimization features :

  • Provide content and keyword analysis - Pages are optimized for some keywords or groups of keywords that are indexed by Google. Good WordPress SEO plugins show if keywords are optimally integrated into page content and where they need to be optimized.
     
  • Optimize meta tags: a very important criterion for ranking in Google is the use of meta tags, especially meta-title and description . However, a good WordPress SEO plugin should be able to adjust robot attributes with an SEO plugin, for example, to determine which pages Google indexes.
     
  • See duplicate content : the more subpages your project has, the more difficult it will be to control that there is no duplicate content. This is easy to enter by mistake and, in the worst case, it can result in a loss of ranking position . Therefore, every good WordPress SEO plugin should indicate where the content is duplicated.
     
  • Create an XML sitemap - An XML sitemap speeds up the indexing process. By uploading to the Google Search Console or Google Webmaster Tools, you are telling search engine crawlers which pages are available or relevant.
Note

If you plan to make important changes to your website, we recommend that you make a backup copy of it first. There are many WordPress plugins to back up your entire website.

The best WordPress SEO plugins

The WordPress repository contains countless plugins for web page SEO optimization. But which plugins are recommended and offer all the important functions? We present three WordPress SEO plugins that help search engine optimization:

Yoast SEO

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Yoast SEO is one of the most popular WordPress SEO plugins. Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/

With its 5 million active installs (as of June 2020), Yoast SEO is one of the most popular SEO plugins. This is due, among other things, to its user-friendly interface and wide range of functions . Even the free version allows you to implement the most important SEO functions. If you want to go further, you will need the Premium version. The installation is carried out as with any other plugin. Once installed, the free version of the WordPress SEO plugin offers the following features:

Yoast SEO installation wizard

Yoast SEO offers a setup wizard that helps with basic setup and makes setup easy for SEO optimization, especially for newbies..

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The configuration wizard allows you to adjust the WordPress SEO plugin step by step on its first installation.

Determine metadata and indexing

In the menu option? Appearance in search ?, you can see which pages are indexed by Google and what the corresponding meta-titles and descriptions are like . In particular, taxonomies such as keywords and categories often have the same content. If you configure the WordPress SEO plugin correctly, you can avoid duplicate content and the consequent ranking penalties.

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The metadata and indexing of the different types of pages can be configured in the menu? Appearance in search? by Yoast SEO.

Indexing settings and metadata for individual posts or pages can be made directly on the corresponding page . For this, you just have to display the Google preview section in the Yoast SEO plugin on the corresponding page:

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In Google Preview, you can edit the metadata for some sites and posts quickly and easily.

Below meta-title and description , you will find a color bar. Yoast SEO uses a semaphore system to indicate if the metadata is configured correctly or if it can be improved . Additionally, the preview provides a good first impression of how the metadata appears in search results..

In? Advanced? see if the post is indexed in Google. There you can also indicate a canonical URL and advanced meta robots .

SEO analysis of individual pages

In the free version of Yoast SEO, you can specify an emphasis keyword to optimize the page. Only the Premium version allows you to enter similar keywords and synonyms. Also in this case, Yoast SEO shows how well the page is optimized with a semaphore system:

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The Yoast SEO analysis traffic light system indicates rough guidelines for optimizing the site.

To avoid so-called keyword stuffing (excessive density), you should use the directions in the free version only as a rough guide, as Yoast SEO does not take into account synonyms or similar keywords.

advice

For keyword analysis, there are useful keyword tools, such as Keyword-Planner, Google Suggest, or Google Trends, that assist you in analyzing to determine the correct keywords.

Readability analysis

With the Flesch Reading Ease Score , the WordPress Yoast SEO plugin determines how difficult the content is to read. In addition, it evaluates the length of the paragraph and the sentence, as well as the distribution of the subtitles. For this, Yoast SEO also uses the traffic light system.

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Yoast SEO's readability analysis gives recommendations for optimizing content.

More Yoast SEO Features

  • XML sitemap
  • Link to Bing and Google Webmaster Tools
  • Link to social media channels, including Open Graph metadata and Twitter Cards
  • Breadcrumbs with different display options (to be integrated later by code)
  • Editable robots.txt and .htaccess files
  • Massive meta-title and description processing of multiple posts
  • Redirect manager (Premium version)
  • Support (Premium version)
  • Support for creating internal links with suggestions (Premium version)

Yoast SEO: advantages and disadvantages

Advantage Drawbacks
? Easy to use interface with intuitive operation ? Some features, such as multiple keywords and synonyms, are only available in the Premium version
? Stays up-to-date with Google algorithm changes - WordPress SEO plugin is regularly updated ? No 404 page tracking
? High compatibility with other WordPress themes and plugins ? Slightly overloaded code that can cause WordPress SEO plugin to slow loading time and create security breaches

Rank Math

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The WordPress Rank Math SEO plugin has become a favorite among SEO plugins since its introduction in 2018. Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/seo-by-rank-math/

The Rank Math extension has been gaining popularity since its introduction in November 2018, and it's not without reason: as a free WordPress SEO plugin with probably the most features and a user-friendly interface at the same time, it has earned trust of users in a very short time.

Rank Math: configuration manager

Like Yoast SEO, Rank Math offers a setup wizard that guides the user step by step through the basic settings.

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The Rank Math setup wizard guides the user step by step through the setup process.

If you have been using Yoast SEO until now, you can use the configuration manager to import all the above settings into Rank Math without a problem .

Keyword analysis

When it comes to UI design, Rank Math's keyword analysis is very similar to Yoast SEO's. However, with Rank Math you can directly enter multiple keywords and an unlimited number of synonyms .

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The keyword analysis of the WordPress Rank Math SEO plugin is structured similarly to the Yoast SEO SEO analysis.

It has some disadvantage: the readability analysis of the texts is not as complete as that of Yoast SEO. However, it is a good general guide to optimizing the page. Additionally, the free version of Rank Math offers even more configuration options than the premium paid version of its competitor Yoast.

Other Rank Math Features

  • Meta-title and description editable globally and on individual pages
  • Configurable indexing status
  • XML sitemap
  • Google Search console integration
  • Editable robots.txt and .htaccess
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Canonical URL
  • Customizable robot meta tags
  • 404 page tracking
  • Redirects
  • Preview for Facebook and Twitter
  • Link to various webmaster tools (Google, Bing, Baidu, Alexa, etc.)

Rank Math: advantages and disadvantages

Advantage Drawbacks
? Lightweight SEO plugin for WordPress ? Its readability analysis is not as detailed as Yoast SEO's
? Greater range of functions than all free WordPress SEO plugins  
? Easy to use interface with intuitive operation  

All in One SEO Pack

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All in One SEO Pack is a lightweight WordPress SEO plugin. Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

All in One SEO Pack is a lightweight plugin for WordPress that nonetheless offers many highly relevant features. The advantage of this plugin is, above all, the integration of social media functions and the greater flexibility of XML sitemap settings. If you can do without readability and keyword analysis, All in One SEO Pack is the right choice.

The main features of the WordPress SEO plugin All in One SEO Pack

  • Meta-title and description editable globally and on individual pages
  • Indexing status can be set globally and for individual pages
  • Webmaster tool integration
  • Simple Google Analytics integration
  • Canonical URL
  • Customizable robot meta tags
  • XML sitemap including priority and frequency setting
  • Social media features

All in One SEO Pack: advantages and disadvantages

Advantage Drawbacks
? Lightweight SEO plugin for WordPress ? Does not offer readability analysis
? You can define priorities and frequencies for web pages in the XML sitemap ? Does not offer keyword analysis
? Social media features  

Comparison of the most important functions of SEO plugins for WordPress

Function Yoast SEO Rank Math All in One SEO Pack
Modifiable meta-title and description Yes Yes Yes
Indexing globally and for individual pages Yes Yes Yes
Canonical URL and robots meta tags Yes Yes Yes
Keyword analysis Yes Yes No
Multiple keywords and synonyms In the Premium version Yes ?
Readability analysis Yes Yes, but not very complete No
XML sitemap Yes Yes Yes
XML sitemap frequency and priority settings No No Yes
Preview of Social Media Cards Only in the Premium version Yes Yes
Integration of the webmaster tool Yes Yes Yes
404 page tracking No Yes No
Redirect manager Only in the Premium version Yes No
advice

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