A SEO Plugin is used to improve the search engine rankings of your WordPress Website. WordPress SEO by Yoast has been the most popular plugin many SEO Consultants have used to improve our WordPress-based websites over the last few years. Understandably so, because there was no other plugin like it to achieve the same effects when it was initially published. At the time, not even All-in-One SEO for WordPress – years ago considered the best SEO plugin – was as thorough as Yoast.
Today, though, we’re introducing Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin, a newer SEO plugin and after using it for a couple of weeks it is time to say goodbye to YOAST SEO. Why?
Let us have only a brief look at the plugin code of those two SEO tools. In comparison to Yoast, the Rank Math SEO Plugin is…
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Easier
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Faster
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More intuitive
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And it achieves all of this without slowing your website down. Just take a look at this side-by-side comparison: Yoast SEO consists of 699 files with. A file size of around 12 megabytes, while Rank Math comes with more features of 317 files and only 7 megabytes of file size.
We’ll look at what the plugin does, how it compares to other SEO plugins, and how to install and configure it for your WordPress website in this post.
What exactly is RankMath?
Rank Math is an SEO suite-style plugin that is jam-packed with functionality to guarantee that your website is optimized for search best practices. If you’ve ever used another WordPress SEO plugin, you should have a good idea of how Rank Math works.
The key distinction between Rank Math and other SEO plugins (such as Yoast) is that it is a freemium plugin, which implies that it provides more capabilities in the free version than other plugins.
When was Rank Math established?
Understanding a SEO plugin’s history should help us to assess whether or not it is safe.
Yoast SEO for example, founded by Thijs de Valk, is a company based in the Wijchen, The Netherlands. As of the time of writing in 2022, it consists of around 100 employees.
Rank Math (the firm) was founded in 2018 and is based in India.
Over 850,000 active plugin users utilize the Rank Math SEO plugin, which has grown in popularity among WordPress users in just three years.
The plugin’s development team consists of 27 people from throughout the globe. A worldwide team enables Rank Math to design and optimize a SEO plugin that is always aware of search changes and keeps the plugin up to date.
What are some of the aspects of Rank Math?
What are some of the characteristics that distinguish this SEO plugin from the competition?<<
Let us investigate more…
Simpleness of usage
Many of our clients do not have the time or the motivation to go down and alter or configure every component of their WordPress sites. True, they have companies to run! This is what makes the Rank Math SEO plugin so great: it is simple to use, even when installed using the Setup Wizard. The step-by-step setup procedure walks you through the process of configuring parameters that are most suited to your website.
Data integration is included as usual
Understanding data – how consumers locate, visit, and engage with your website – is key to SEO. Rank Math accommodates this by incorporating Google Analytics and Google Search Console modules in the free edition; if you choose for the premium version, you can track weekly rankings and have access to much more data. The integration of Google Search Console is extremely useful – you can track the performance of individual keywords and their respective click-through rates at a glance without ever leaving the WordPress admin area.
Schema or rich snippets supplied
As search engine algorithms develop, it becomes increasingly important to incorporate schema markup into your SEO efforts. Schema is a sort of HTML markup that helps search engines like Google and Bing understand what a website is about and how it should be displayed in search results pages.
The ‘Direct Answer’ and ‘People Also Ask’ boxes, displayed below for the search query “What are core web vitals?” are examples of how Google presents results on a search results page.
Integrating schema into your site boosts your chances of appearing in these or other highlighted snippets.
Installing several plugins is usually required to integrate schema across your site. The free edition of Rank Math, on the other hand, contains a rich snippet module. This means you have access to 14 distinct sorts of schema that you may use right now. This is necessary if you want your material to appear in Google’s SERP features, which always appear on the first results page of most search searches.
Configurable and modular in nature
We want to be able to customize the plugins we use to match the demands of our business website. We can accomplish precisely that thanks to Rank Math’s modular structure, which allows us to customize and set up those modules we need within just a few clicks while ignoring those we don’t.
Because the system is modular, you may use certain of the features as and when you require them. Unfortunately, many SEO plugins do not allow you to choose which features or add-ons to utilize based on your changing needs. Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin installs with some modules disabled (such as the schema, image optimization, and redirection modules), which may be enabled when and if required.
Powerful SEO audit built in
Another feature that distinguishes this plugin is its one-click SEO audit module. The plugin’s analysis tool in the freemium edition reveals your SEO score and what you need to do to rectify and enhance it. (Think of it as having your own SEO auditor on call.)
While this feature is good, it is important to note that it just covers the core components of SEO and does not cover all of the modifications that need be implemented on a website if you want to see exceptional SEO results.
SEO fundamentals that are automated
As SEO advances and content development and link building become more difficult, we rely on tools or features to apply SEO essentials. One such automation function is Rank Math’s picture optimizer module, which allows you to configure the plugin to automatically add image ALT text and image title.
Because Google and other search engines don’t know what visuals or elements your image contains, alt text is essential. Google cannot “see” in the same way that you and I can. To explain the image to search engines, we utilize ALT text. From the standpoint of online accessibility, it is critical to add ALT text for persons with visual impairments who rely on screen readers to interpret the material on a website.
When you search for “Rank Math,” the majority of the results are blogs comparing Yoast SEO vs Rank Math as SEO plugins: “Is Rank Math better than Yoast?”
Who should be the winner? Answering this question is difficult.
The difficulty in comparing the two plugins is determining their most important differences.
Yoast is a basic WordPress SEO plugin; unlike Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin it is not an all-in-one SEO package.
Rank Math has a plethora of features and modules that make it an excellent add-on. As a consequence, when it comes to comparisons, RankMath is a far better-looking alternative to Yoast since it seems to offer everything you need in a single, lightweight plugin.
As an example, consider website speed. Google (and your target audience) are seeking for websites that load quickly on mobile and desktop. Unfortunately, to get the same functionality that Rank Math provides out of the box, you must install additional plugins in addition to Yoast. The irony here is that fewer plugins installed make a lighter site that loads faster in any case. This is one of the most compelling features of Rank Math.
Rank Math’s built-in data modules are another capability that does not come standard with other SEO plugin offers but does with Rank Math. Yoast requires the installation of another plugin, such as Monster Insights, to give the same level of data analysis.
Another area where Yoast falls short is schema markup. While Yoast contains the normal web page, organization, article, and other schemas as part of its regular offering, we frequently need to install additional plugins to get the schema we need for our content pieces.
How to Install Rank Math WordPress SEO plugin
Now that we have a basic understanding of the plugin, let’s look at the plugin configuration and some essential parameters needed to make it function.
You may skip a step in the Setup Wizard or return to your WordPress dashboard at any moment throughout the setup procedure.
Back up your WordPress site
First thing first – backup your WordPress site before installing rank math and removing the Yoast SEO plugin.
Install the plugin first
Log into your WordPress site’s backend, then click “Plugins” on the left-hand side dashboard, followed by the ‘Add New’ button. A new window on your WordPress site titled “Add Plugins” will appear.
Then, in the “Search plugins” search box, put “Rank Math.”
Click “Install Now,” then “Activate.” The plugin should be installed now.
Step 2 Link your free account
After installing and activating the plugin, you will be routed to the Rank Math registration page. You must first establish a free rank math SEO account (for some extra features and articles that RankMath will send to your email inbox).
You may skip this step and continue – you don’t need mandatory an account to finish the setup – but we urge that you register an account to receive valuable SEO insights from Rank Math’s newsletter, which can help you advance your SEO expertise.
Step 3 Go through the setup process
After you’ve established your account, the simple setup wizard appears. There are three techniques for creating your profile, depending on your degree of knowledge.
Our post will walk you through the whole advanced setup procedure.
Step 4 Import SEO data from your SEO plugin
If you already have an SEO plugin installed, you can import its settings. Select the SEO plugin from which you want to import the settings, and then click the importer. When you select the “Start import” button, the importing of all settings will begin, as shown below.
Step 5 Enter your website’s information
This phase has a few prerequisites for completion, so make sure you have the goods listed on hand.
You must do the following:
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Confirm your WordPress site’s kind using Rank Math: Is it a blog, a store, a startup, or a portfolio? Choose the setting that is best appropriate for your type of website.
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Put your website’s logo here. Rank Math recommends square images with a minimum dimension of 160 x 90 pixels.
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Insert your default social sharing image here. When a link from your website is shared on Facebook or LinkedIn, this picture will be utilized. This image’s suggested dimensions are 1200 x 630 pixels. If your post or page already has an image defined for that page, the default picture used here will not be utilized.
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After you’ve completed the preceding steps, click “Save and Continue.”
Step 6 Connect to analytics
If you already have a Google Analytics account, click the Connect to Google Services option. If you do not already have Google Analytics, we recommend pausing here and creating a profile to connect it.
Allow Rank Math access to your profile to integrate with the necessary GA and GSC profiles if you have both: Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA) accounts. If you need later help in using RankMath we highly suggest reading: Using Google Analytics 4 Property with Rank Math Analytics and Making the Most of the Analytics in Rank Math.
Thereafter, choose which profiles you wish to utilize on your website. If you haven’t previously implemented the required tracking code, you may have Rank Math install it for you.
“Save and Continue” should be selected.
Step 7 Create sitemaps
Sitemaps are important guides that inform search engines about how your site is structured, what information they should crawl, and the importance of each page.
You must determine if you want Rank Math to build sitemaps automatically for you in this phase. Allowing Rank Math to accomplish this is our recommendation.
When you enable this function, numerous new options appear, as shown below.
To get the most out of the plugin and sitemap setup, we recommend that you enable all of these options.
Save and continue when finished.
Step 8 Make any last SEO adjustments
The wizard’s final stage concentrates on the small parts of SEO. We recommend that you use the settings shown in the image below:
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Select the Noindex Empty Category and Tag Archives option.
If a category is empty yet search engines can index it, it is considered a poor content page, which is a bad SEO aspect. So to help ensure you are following best practices, don’t allow blank pages to be indexed.
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Select the option to open external links in a new tab/window.
It is common practice to open an external link in a new tab. Opening another website in the same tab, on the other hand, moves the viewer away from your website. More often than not, they do not come back to your site. So, the goal is to keep the reader on your site.
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Turn off the Nofollow External Links feature.
We don’t recommend that this be used for each link that points to an external website. It would be best if apply this setting on a case-by-case basis. We don’t recommend this feature because one aspect of a ranking signal is the number of external links from your site. To a search engine, an external link is interpreted as though you are trying to help the reader find all the information related to their search query. To help you decide if the link should be a follow or nofollow, ask yourself if the link you want to add will help your readers or not. If the answer is no, make sure it is a nofollow link.
Lastly, hit “Save and Continue.”
Step 9 Set up modules
Once you click to return to your dashboard, you’ll be taken to the modules tab.
We recommend that you turn on the following modules:
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404 Monitor – This module allows you to monitor any 404 error pages that may arise over time.
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SEO Analysis – This is a powerful feature that helps you ensure that the SEO on your site is on the right track. It surely does not replace a real SEO Audit but it gives you a good idea what and where to improve.
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Redirections – If you need to redirect a broken page or delete a page, you must have a plugin to do that. This Rank Math module will assist.
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Image SEO – As we know, image SEO and accessibility are crucial these days. Turning on this module will ensure that you can optimize and tweak your website images.
You can turn on the remaining modules on a needs-by-needs basis. And if you find that they are relevant to your website type, such as an ecommerce store, we recommend you turn them on.
Plugin Compatibility
However, the main factor to consider before changing WordPress plugins is WordPress compatibility, although we installed rank math SEO plugins for several dozens of customers without any compatibility issues at all. Rank Math SEO has been tested with many WordPress themes and it supports all major WordPress versions. They say they follow the WordPress’ plugin development guidelines, so you can rest assured that Rank Math SEO will work perfectly, regardless of what theme you use.
Resume
In closing, Rank Math is a powerful tool that takes your WordPress SEO to new heights without having to install multiple plugins to get the job done. There is a strong case to move over to this tool to elevate your WordPress SEO efforts. For the until now champion Yoast SEO it is a strong competitor.
Regarding Rank Math versus Yoast in our opinion is RankMath in 2022 the best WordPress SEO plugin. Yoast SEO plugin offers a free plan with some good features but they are quite limited, if you want to go in-depth, you need to buy the premium version. While the Rank Math SEO Features offer the same and more – for free. Indeed, Rank Math gives you access to features that are not even included on the Yoast premium version.
Frequently Asked Questions Rank Math versus Yoast
Rank Math is a new SEO plugin that I was so delighted with that I switched all of my sites over to it. They provide a plethora of fantastic features all under one roof, and the best part is that it is completely free.
Rank Math is completely worthwhile. At the time of writing, it’s probably the finest alternative to Yoast. It’s a useful plugin for SEO activities like on-page optimization, content analysis, redirects, rich snippets, and so on. All of this for nothing!
It certainly is! At the time of writing, Rank Math is completely free to use. It’s hardly unexpected that it’s quickly becoming a “must have” SEO tool.
The main distinction is that RankMath is absolutely free. Yoast, on the other hand, operates on a freemium basis, which means you must pay to use all of the plugin’s functionality. All the premium features are available for free on Rank Math; however, this may change in the future if a paid version is released.
Yes, a specialized setup wizard will walk you through the migration procedure. Rank Math will import all of your settings with a single click, but for the proper testing method, please check my entire guide above.
No, Rank Math SEO and Yoast SEO cannot coexist on the same website. You must switch from one plugin to another.
It certainly is! The primary goal of Rank Math is to assist users in improving their SEO results by providing practical advice.
Rank Math is a secure WordPress plugin! They experienced certain vulnerability concerns in previous versions but have discovered a means to solve them in their newest version.
This is possible with the Premium Version of Rank Math. With the Premium Version you can add simply as many keywords as you wish to the Keyphrase Input box.
Yes, it does perfectly.
Rank Math WordPress Plugin is free at the time of writing. Nevertheless there is also a premium version with some more features.
Markus Schad | Senior SEO Strategist
Markus Schad is Senior SEO Consultant with over 8 years experience in getting more traffic and visitors for his customers. He is the founder of Commander-SEO.com.
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