Why SEO by Yoast will Change Your Life

The Only WordPress Plugin You Need for SEO

Before you roll your eyes and declare that you don’t need another WordPress plugin to manage your SEO, let me tell you: the SEO by Yoast WordPress plugin is the only SEO tool you need.

Yes, this is a bold statement, but an accurate one. Until something better comes out, this plugin is the cream of the crop.

Previously, we used the All in One SEO Pack for our own and our clients’ websites.

This added a section within any post or page to manually enter meta data; title, description, and keywords. Sounds pretty good right? And in all honesty, it is good. It works as advertised and adds these key fields onto any WordPress page you can create.

The SEO by Yoast plugin takes this a giant leap further.

Similarly, this plugin adds a section to input of your custom meta data on a per-page (or post) basis. But this is where the similarity ends. One of my favorite features of this plugin is the ability to see EXACTLY how your post would look in a search engine including your title and meta description.

What it doesn’t have is a section for meta keywords. Instead, the SEO by Yoast WordPress plugin enables you to input and target only ONE specific keyword per post. (If you can’t live without multiple meta keywords, an additional field can be turned on in the plugin settings.) This focus keyword (or phrase) is how the effectiveness of your post is measured.

Officially speaking, Google doesn’t take meta keywords into account while ranking your page. By focusing on one keyword, the SEO by Yoast plugin scans your entire page and judges how optimized it is for that specific term. The plugin initially searches for your target keyword in the heading, page title, page URL, content and meta description. It then gives you a score of how well your page is performing on this keyword. This color-coded ranking appears on your main posts and pages sections, for easy acknowledgement of which pages need further optimization.

Pretty cool, huh?

Even better, if your page receives a low ranking it shows you where it’s lacking, and how you can improve your SEO. The Page Analysis feature goes beyond keyword density and provides data on the amount of headings you use (and should use) and even provides a Flesch Reading Ease test score which rates how easy (or difficult) your copy is to read. When you make your changes based on this advice, simply save the draft, and your page analysis will update.

Furthermore, this SEO by Yoast WordPress plugin has an Advanced section to set whether or not your page will appear (or not appear) in search engines and internal sitemaps. A Social tab enables you to write unique page descriptions for Facebook and Google+ sharing, as well.

Like anything, this tool is only effective if you utilize it correctly. An optimized page will not yield positive results if optimized for the wrong keyword or phrase. Additionally, blog posts should not only be optimized, but promoted through your targeted social media channels for maximum reach.

For further information about this incredible plugin, or any other search engine optimization strategies, leave a comment below or give me a call at 781-704-3121.