Building a website has never been easier. Thanks to WordPress, creating a top-notch online identity for your business is not completely dependent on expensive custom development anymore.
WordPress and its themes and plugins have given us the ability to work on our websites without any boundaries. Not only this, but different plugins have also made managing our websites easier.
One such example is the ability to improve search engine optimization for your websites using plugins. You don’t have to pay an expert to get Basic SEO done for your website anymore! Sound good, right? Thanks to different plugins, you can now outrank your competitors by following best practices for search engine optimization.
SEO plugins for WordPress introduction
In this article, we will be talking about the different WordPress plugins used for search engine optimization that will help you rank your website higher and drive organic traffic. You can use these plugins to get better search engine visibility!
Before we dive deeper into the comparison, we would like to make it clear that SEO plugins are not sufficient to replace an end-to-end SEO strategy. Don’t think that these plugins can replace a complete off-page, technical, and on-page SEO strategy. Don’t make the mistakes that many others do!
These plugins act as a ‘guide’, making sure that you follow the best search engine optimization practices when setting up your website. If you are looking for a plugin that can help you with on-page SEO, this article is for you.
Without further delay, let’s get into the article and discuss what are the most popular plugins used for search engine optimization for WordPress websites and which one you should go for if you want to save money and get the best features!
1) Rank Math
Rank Math didn’t exist two years ago. However, in just two years, it has now become the second-most popular plugin for SEO after Yoast. The reason for its popularity is its user-friendliness. Rank Math is perhaps one of the most easy-to-use WordPress SEO plugins. It enables you to take complete control of your on-Page SEO. From basic changes like changes in meta titles and descriptions to advanced suggestions for long-tail keywords, Rank Math covers it all.
Features of Rank Math:
Let’s talk about some features in Rank Math that you can make use of to outrank your competitors.
- Rank Math offers you extensive suggestions on long-tail keywords that you can integrate with your targeted keywords. Specific long-tail keywords help you rank higher in search engine results.
- It also analyzes your blog posts for keywords, title, meta description, and readability to make sure that your content follows best SEO practices.
- The title of your content is something that can attract or push away potential visitors to your website. Rank Math checks your title readability and it will notify you if there are any improvements needed to make your title better.
2) YOAST
Anyone who has a WordPress website knows that the Yoast SEO plugin is the most popular plugin for SEO. Search Engine Optimization on WordPress and Yoast SEO are always talked about together. With a rating of 4 out of 5 stars in 2000 reviews, the Yoast SEO plugin can turn your website into an SEO powerhouse!
It is the most downloaded plugin for WordPress to date since its launch in 2008. The statistics are in complete favor of Yoast SEO however, its #1 spot is in danger thanks to Rank Math’s increasing popularity. One thing that is keeping Yoast SEO ahead in this race is the trust of millions of users.
Features of Yoast:
Let’s talk about how Yoast SEO can help you improve your website’s search engine optimization.
- Yoast SEO plugin makes sure your pages follow best practices for search engine optimization. The plugin makes sure you are following the right path when building a page on WordPress or uploading blog content.
- The plugin enables users to authenticate their website with Google Search Console by easily copy-pasting HTML code in the interface.
- Yoast SEO plugin also automatically creates an XML sitemap that is updated whenever there is any new content published on your website.
- It scans any images on your page and notifies you if the alt tag is missing. It also matches the alt tag with your chosen primary keyword to make sure that you are following the best practices.
- Yoast SEO also checks your content for readability and other important factors such as length, quality of meta description, etc.
- Version 14.0 of Yoast SEO has also introduced a new feature, ‘Indexables’. This feature enables the plugin to index your pages and store the data in a single table in your database. What does it do? It makes your site lighter and faster!
3) All in one seo for wordpress
There is no doubt about the credibility and usefulness of All in One SEO for WordPress for the search engine optimization of WordPress websites. Currently being used by over 3 million users, it is renowned for being a comprehensive SEO plugin that is simple to use and is beginner-friendly. Being beginner-friendly is AIOSEO’s unique selling point. Many first-time users are impressed by the easy-to-use interface of AIOSEO. The only requirement to use this plugin effectively is that the user should know how to input data in the right place.
Being one of the oldest SEO plugins on the market, All in One SEO for WordPress has gained the trust of its users in the market and is no doubt one of the best SEO plugins there are right now. Let’s dive into the detail of some of the features available in AIOSEO.
Features of All in One SEO For WordPress:
- It automatically optimizes titles for search engines.
- The plugin also generates Meta tags for your pages automatically.
- It notifies the user if there is any duplicate content on the page. This helps the user in avoiding the negative impact of duplicate content on search engine rankings.
- The On-site SEO audit tool helps users in drafting a plan to improve their SEO. The audit tool provides a comprehensive analysis of your website, giving you an overview of areas where improvement is needed.
- AIOSEO is the best plugin if you have an eCommerce store!
Conclusion
Now that we have covered the basics of SEO plugins for WordPress, let’s compare the main features that can help you improve the on-page SEO performance of your website.
Features:
There is no doubt that the plugins discussed above are the top contenders in the SEO plugin market for WordPress. However, if I have to choose one winner, it is going to be Rank Math.
Even though Yoast SEO offers great features and AIOSEO is beginning friendly, they lose to Rank Math because Rank Math has both great features and is extremely beginner-friendly. Moreover, the features that come with the free version of Rank Math are features that you have to pay for if you are using Yoast SEO or AIOSEO. Features like Google Trend Integration, Advanced Google Analytics Integration, Keyword Rank Tracker, and the ability to Track the Top 5 Winning and Losing Keywords, etc are features that set Rank Math miles ahead of its competitors. Rank Math has the potential to become the #1 plugin for SEO in the market and I can see it soon dethroning Yoast SEO.
Some features in the free version of Rank Math are not even available in Yoast SEO’s premium version.
Amongst the three plugins, Rank Math has the least lines of code and the plugin folder size. This makes it lightweight, super-fast, and efficient, unlike the bulky Yoast SEO that has a huge size of 36.0 MB.
Pricing:
If we take a look at the premium versions of these plugins and the features they offer at this price, it is obvious that Rank Math is victorious amongst its competitors. Rank Math charges $59 for unlimited personal sites while Yoast SEO costs $89 for a single license. AIOSEO is priced at $39 for a single license. The difference is massive, to say the least. Rank Math is the best contender if judged based on value. It is very affordable especially for agencies and users who want to use the plugin for more than one website.
Final Verdict:
Now that you have made it to the end of the article, which plugin do you think is the best? Personally, I believe that Rank Math can beat its competitors with its hands tied behind its back and without breaking a sweat! There is no doubt that Yoast SEO and AIOSEO are great plugins for SEO. However, Rank Math has no comparison especially in features, pricing, efficiency, and usefulness.
Rank Math is a plugin that should be on your list if you are working on a WordPress website. So, remember to install Rank Math on your WordPress website the next time you start working on a new project!
How Clio can help you with your SEO needs
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We are always available and happy to answer any questions you may have, so please contact us to find out more.
