How to Install & Use Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin to Optimize Blog Posts

Did you just set up your own blog on WordPress and come to know about the importance of WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast? Then next thing you might look for would be how to install Yoast SEO plugin & get started with SEO.

In this yoast wordpress seo tutorial we will discuss about how to set up yoast seo and the benefits of WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast.

Yoast SEO wordpress plugin is one of the must have wordpress plugin for bloggers & business. With many features and options, this is the best alternate to the All in One SEO Pack and is a complete SEO solution for any blog.

But why do you need an SEO plugin for your WordPress Blog?

We all know that WordPress is the top choice for anyone considering SEO as a primary need. And if you use professional theme like the Genesis themes from StudioPress, they are already designed to take the benefits of wordpress SEO.

But if you want to take your Onpage SEO practices to the next level, then you must install & set up a WordPress SEO plugin like Yoast SEO. This plugin micromanage your SEO aspects like titles, meta descriptions, tags, sitemaps etc. in an appropriate manner.

Other Recommended WordPress plugins:

1. OptinMonster – Best Lead Generation Plugin for WordPress

2. WPForms – New WordPress Contact Form Plugin for Beginners

Now let’s checkout some of the unique features of WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin first.

WordPress SEO by Yoast Features

1. Post titles and Meta descriptions: You can set templates for titles and meta descriptions or use the Yoast SEO meta box to see & optimize the Google search result snippet previews per post basis.

2. Focus keyword testing: It automatically tests the important areas of your content for usage of the focus keyword, so that you can optimize your page fully for the search term. Now control everything you want about your listing in Google.

3. Robots Meta configuration: Keep a single post or entire sections out of the index – choose any setting you want on a per page basis.

4. Canonical: Canonical support on pages improved. Add canonical to taxonomy archives, single posts and pages and the front page.

5. Breadcrumbs: Get more granular control over this breadcrumb with configurable breadcrumbs titles – decide which taxonomy to show (tag, category & custom taxonomy).

6. Primary category: Select a primary category for the category that’s most suitable & important that should be shown in the breadcrumb

7. Permalink cleanup: Make sure that your content is always found under the URL you want it to be found under with just checking a box.

8. XML sitemaps: Yoast SEO Sitemap plugin allows you to keep certain taxonomies out of your sitemap means pages or posts that are noindexed will not show in the XML sitemap. It makes your XML Sitemaps look good so humans can read them too.

9. RSS enhancements: It allows you to add content to both beginning & the end of posts in your RSS feed, allowing you to link back to your blog and the specific blog post

10. Edit your robots.txt and .htaccess: Edit your robots.txt and .htaccess files easily straight from the Files editor of the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin.

11. Clean up head section: Yoast SEO strives to keep your head section as clean as possible.

Yoast WordPress SEO plugin also has an awesome import functionality.  If you were using the All In One SEO Pack or HeadSpace2 before the Yoast SEO plugin, don’t worry. You can import all your old titles and descriptions easily using the built-in import functionality. Also if you need to import from another SEO plugin to Yoast SEO or from a theme like Genesis or Thesis, you can use the SEO Data Transporter plugin and your job is done!

The premium version of the WordPress SEO comes with more features like multiple focus keywords, a redirect manager along with premium plugin support.

Yoast WordPress SEO Alternative

Some of the best yoast seo alternative plugins available in the market are:

• All In One SEO Pack
• SEOPressor
• WP On-Page SEO
• SEOquake
• SEO Framework plugin

How to install and setup WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast

It is really easy to setup and configure the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. Just follow the below steps to get started.

a) Go to your WordPress Dashboard –> Plugins –> Add New.

b) Write WordPress SEO by Yoast in the Search box.

c) Click on the Install Now button.

d) Updated version of the SEO WordPress plugin will be automatically downloaded and installed.

e) Just click on Activate Plugin and it will be done within a few seconds.

After you activate the plugin, a new SEO menu will appear in your Dashboard.

How to Use Yoast SEO for WordPress & Optimize Your Blog

In this Yoast SEO plugin tutorial, we will check how to optimize blog post for SEO with the WordPress plugin from Yoast. You can look at the snippet preview how it will look like in real time when someone finds your article for some specific query. Try to optimize the below aspects for better ranking of your content.

1. Choose a Focus Keyword: A focus keyword is your target keyword that you want to rank your article for. Your focus keyword can be a phrase or long tail keywords which you think people will search for.

2. Write a catchy SEO-Friendly Post Title: Try to make your title catchy within the 70 characters limit. Make sure it contains your focus keyword and at the same time human readable.

3. Make your URL SEO Optimized: An SEO Optimized permalink helps you to rank better. Also we know that elementary 3-5 words in the URL only are given weightage by the search engines. So put your focus keyword in a natural way.

4. Optimize your Meta Description: A meta description is the next thing that an user observes after the post title. It helps to understand what they can expect in the article and make a decision about whether to visit the site or not. Here the character limit is 155 characters. So try to optimize this space with the apt usage of words along with your focus keyword and other related queries.

Hope you are now clear about how to use Yoast WordPress SEO plugin to optimize your blog posts. Don’t forget to share this article with your friends if you find it useful. Also please feel free to share about your experience while installing & using Yoast SEO plugin.