The internet is a vast and ever-growing entity, and as more and more businesses move their operations online, the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes increasingly clear.
If you want your website to be seen by as many people as possible, you need to make sure it’s optimized for search engines. And one of the best ways to do that is by using a good SEO plugin for WordPress.
There are a lot of different SEO plugins out there, and it can be hard to decide which one is right for you.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of the five best SEO plugins for WordPress 2022.
We’ll take a look at each plugin, explain what it does, and give you our thoughts on whether or not it’s worth your time.
What Is A WordPress SEO Plugin?
A WordPress SEO plugin is a type of plugin that makes it easier for you to optimize your website and blog posts for search engines.
While there are many different ways to do this, using an SEO plugin will make the process much easier for you.
In addition to helping you optimize your site for better rankings in search results, these plugins can also help you to improve click-through rates, organic traffic, and even conversions.
But which plugin is best? Let’s take a look at five of the top options:
Read: How To Do Keyword Research? – For SEO, PPC, Blog, Beginners
The 5 Best SEO Plugins for WordPress 2022
1. Yoast SEO — Best Overall
Yoast SEO is the undisputed king of WordPress SEO plugins.
Currently, Yoast has an excellent 16,700 5-star reviews, making it one of the most popular and user-friendly options for making your website stand out.
Yoast SEO is a well-known WordPress SEO plugin that helps you optimize your WordPress site for search engines.
It allows you to effortlessly add SEO titles and descriptions to all of your website’s articles and pages. It also allows you to include social media images and Open Graph metadata in your articles.
In order to make it easier for search engine crawlers to find your website content, Yoast SEO automatically creates an XML-based sitemap of your site.
It also makes it simple to import your SEO data if you have previously used another SEO plugin.
How To Use Yoast SEO
After you install Yoast SEO, you will see a new menu where you can change your SEO settings. In addition, the plugin includes SEO settings at page, taxonomy, and post levels.
The first step is to install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin. When you activate it, you’ll see a new SEO menu option in the WordPress admin bar with the Yoast SEO logo.
As a new user of the plugin, you should see a large message that reads “First-time SEO configuration.”
By choosing the setup wizard link, Yoast SEO will take you on a guided tour to help you configure all of the essential SEO settings.
2. SEOPress — Best Freemium WordPress SEO Plugin
SEOPress is an ad-free freemium WordPress SEO plugin. Even in the free edition, it’s fully white-labeled with no footprints.
It’s easy, quick, and powerful, allowing you to manage all of your page titles and meta descriptions.
Make HTML and XML sitemaps, optimize tags (Twitter Cards and Open Graph) for social media sharing, and monitor your visits using Google Analytics (with RGPD compatibility).
The free edition also includes content analysis to help site administrators in writing better content. Developers can configure the plugin using more than 75 hooks.
The plugin’s premium edition is more affordable than most other WordPress SEO plugins available, so it’s a good deal for beginners.
How To Use SEOPress
After installing SEOPress, click the Activate button to make the plugin active on your website.
When you activate SEOPress, a new menu with multiple sub-menus emerges on the left sidebar.
From there, you can begin experimenting with all the different options. All of the settings and setups are rather straightforward and simplified, so there should be no issues.
SEOPress has an installation wizard that makes it simple to manage your website’s basic SEO configurations and settings.
When installing and activating SEOPress for the first time, we suggest running the installation wizard.
Go to SEOPress > Dashboard on your WordPress dashboard. You’ll be greeted with a welcome screen and a button to begin the installation process.
When you click the Get Started button, you will be taken through a step-by-step setup process.
3. All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) — Best Features
All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) is an industry-leading WordPress SEO plugin.
With over 3 million users, it’s the most comprehensive toolset for those who don’t want to learn the jargon associated with SEO.
The SEO audit checklist feature of the plugin will scan your complete WordPress site for errors and offer practical suggestions to boost your SEO and traffic.
IOSEO can also create and submit sitemaps to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other important search engines, increasing your online visibility.
Additionally, the plugin offers essential features like knowledge graph, schema, local SEO, and AMP.
How To Use AIOSEO
The first step is to download and activate the AIOSEO plugin.
When you activate the plugin, it will start the setup wizard. To proceed, click on the ‘Let’s Get Started’ option.
Here, you’ll be prompted to choose a website type or category. For example, whether your website is mainly an online store, a news website, a blog, a small business, or anything similar.
You’ll then be asked a couple more questions. Click on Save and Continue after answering these questions, and you’re all set!
4. Rank Math — Most Powerful WordPress SEO Plugin
Rank Math SEO is a one-stop-shop for all your WordPress SEO needs. It includes everything you need to take complete control of your on-page SEO.
Rank Math combines the capabilities of several SEO plugins you may be using on your WordPress website into a single, lightweight, and user-friendly plugin.
You can use Rank Math to manage the on-page SEO of your articles, products, pages, and other taxonomies.
You may also manage the nofollow/noindex/noarchive meta tags for all taxonomies in general, as well as individual articles or pages.
Rank Math works in tandem with Google Search Console to provide you with vital information straight from your WordPress admin panel. In a single glance, you can check what terms you are ranking for, the number of search impressions your website is getting, what problems Google identifies on your site, and so on.
How To Use Rank Math
The setup procedure is immediately started when you download Rank Math for the first time.
Users can, however, stop the setup process and adjust the settings manually, or they can resume it later.
If you did not run the setup wizard when you originally installed Rank Math, you can do so later by going to your site’s dashboard > Rank Math > Dashboard > Setup Wizard tab.
The setup procedure will begin as soon as you open the tab, and you will see the setup page.
After answering some basic questions and selecting your preferred mode, the final option you’ll see is the Start Wizard button. Click it to launch the setup wizard.
5. MonsterInsights — Best For SEO Analytics
All of your SEO efforts will be pointless unless you monitor your website’s performance and statistics, which is exactly what MonsterInsights is ideal for.
This WordPress SEO plugin displays Google Analytics statistics in a user-friendly layout on your dashboard.
You can monitor how visitors find and interact with your website. It also offers a content reporting function that allows you to track the most popular pages on your site.
If you’ve always found Google Analytics to be too complicated, MonsterInsights is an excellent option.
It can help you streamline the way you collect and analyze data without ever requiring you to log in to Google Analytics.
How To Use MonsterInsights
After installing MonsterInsights, you must link your WordPress site to your Google Analytics account.
- To begin, go to your WordPress dashboard and choose Insights » Settings.
- Next, click on the Connect MonsterInsights button.
- Select your Google profile from the next screen that opens.
- Then, click the Allow option to provide MonsterInsights permission to access your Google Analytics data.
- You’ll be prompted to choose the website profile with which you wish to Authenticate with MonsterInsights.
- Pick your website in the menu and then select Complete Connection.
- That’s it! You’re ready to go.
The MonsterInsights dashboard may take up to 24 hours to show your data.
When that happens, click Insights » Reports to check how your site is performing.
Read: Yesware Pricing Review
Conclusion
SEO plugins are a dime a dozen, but finding the perfect one for your WordPress site can be difficult.
If you want to take your SEO game up a notch, make sure to give the above plugins a try.
Whether you want to monitor your site’s performance, manage the SEO of your articles and pages, or optimize your site for search engines, these plugins have you covered.
FAQs
Do SEO plugins guarantee higher rankings in Google?
No, SEO plugins alone do not guarantee a higher ranking on search engines.
You need to take other steps as well, such as creating quality content and engaging your target audience.
Can I use more than one SEO plugin on my WordPress site?
Yes, you can use multiple SEO plugins on your WordPress site. However, we recommend using only one as using too many can slow down your website.
What is the best free SEO plugin for WordPress?
There are many great free SEO plugins for WordPress. However, our top picks are Yoast SEO and Rank Math.
Amit Gupta is the creator of Keyword-Research.org
Amit is a keyword research guru. After completing his high school certification, Amit spent half a decade learning about different ways to do keyword research for SEO and PPC. Before forming Keyword-Research.org, Amit worked for top Keyword Research companies for more than 10 years. When Amit is not helping people with their keyword research, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
