Even experienced website builders can find SEO to be overwhelming. There’s a lot that goes into making sure that your site’s content is optimized to keep the search engine bots happy. Luckily for all of us, there is a very easy-to-use tool that makes it as simple as possible to optimize your SEO. Keep reading to learn about the best SEO plugin for WordPress and how to use it.
Best SEO Plugin for WordPress
There are a ton of choices when it comes to SEO plugins, but one stands out above the rest: Yoast SEO. We use it here and always recommend it to our clients. Don’t just take our word for it: Yoast SEO currently has 26,000 five-star ratings and has been downloaded over 5 million times. We’re not alone in our respect for this plugin. Yoast’s mission is “SEO for Everyone” and they deliver on that.
Getting Started
Installing Yoast SEO on your site couldn’t be easier. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to better search engine rankings:
- Log in to your WordPress site.
- Click on “plugins”.
- Search for “Yoast SEO”.
- When you find the plugin, click on “install now”.
- Click on the “activate” button after the installation is complete.
- You’re done! The next optional step is to configure the plugin.
Yoast SEO offers a free version as well as a paid option. Yoast SEO free is a robust plugin that offers more than what the average website owner needs. For those who want access to more SEO assistance (like content insights and a redirect manager), the paid version is a cost-effective option at $89 per site.
What Yoast SEO Does
Part of what makes Yoast SEO such a stellar choice is that it helps you improve both your SEO and your readability. The plugin uses a red, yellow, and green light system to let you know how you are doing on both fronts.
For SEO analysis, you will begin by typing your keyword for the page or post into the plugin tool at the bottom of the screen. Yoast SEO will then indicate what color the page is currently at (your goal is to get a green light). The plugin will then assess:
- your meta description
- internal and external links
- image alt attributes
- keyphrase placement, density, and usage
- text length
Readability is “scored” on a different section of the plugin, but still at the bottom of the page. Improved readability keeps people engaged and on your site longer. In the free version the plugin will measure:
- passive voice usage
- percentage of transition words used
- Flesch Reading Ease
- Consecutive sentences
- Subheading distribution
- Paragraph and sentence length
But There’s More!
Yoast SEO Premium has a host of additional configurations that will help speed up your site. For a small investment, you’ll have access to features like a redirect manager, intelligent word form recognition, image lazy load, cornerstone content checks, and easy social media sharing. Check out the free version first, and then see if the next level is right for you.
We get it, that’s a lot of information to take in! It’s hard enough to run a business and grow your brand without the added stress of website building. Let us make it easier for you! Our SEO Audit will ensure that your website is making the search engines happy.