Last updated on January 12th, 2023 at 02:58 pm
Everyone wants their articles to pop up on search engine results pages (SERPs). It is even better if it ranks first or second and gets tons of clicks because your website will get more organic traffic. And your sales conversion rate will shoot up, meaning more passive income for your blog.
But let’s get straight to the point: none of these would happen without a great SEO strategy. You wouldn’t even rank on the first page, never mind getting tons of clicks or convert more leads.
According to a study by Hubspot, 75 percent of internet users don’t scroll past the first page when they use search engines. Additionally, the numbers indicate that organic search contributes 53.3 percent of the overall traffic to a website.
But then again, drawing up a great SEO plan can sometimes be a bit sketchy and uninteresting.
Simply because it combines many complex concepts, this includes keyword research, content optimization, link building, and many more.
So, to get the best result, you’ll sometimes have to multitask, and if it’s your first time managing a WordPress website, you might have to learn a few tweaks here and there.
Why SEO is Important
SEO algorithms have changed over time, and they’ll continue to change, but the importance of SEO itself has remained the same.
Basically, SEO helps to boost organic traffic by optimizing your website’s visibility, amongst other things. PPC advertising is similar in this regard because it also puts your ads on SERPs without going through the whole stress of optimizing your website or content for SEO.
Social media does its bit, too, but SEO inevitably remains the king.
Data shows that 86 percent of internet users would instead click on organic search results than paid ads, and over 60 percent of online marketers believe SEO is a profitable investment. Doesn’t that ring a bell in your head? SEO is way too important to be ignored.
Of course, it can be tedious if you’re not tech-inclined but not when you have the right SEO plugin.
We’ve done our homework to compile a list of the top three free SEO plugins for WordPress, and we’ll be sharing it exclusively with you in this article.
Best SEO Plugins for WordPress
We recommend starting with one of the free versions of the SEO WordPress plugins. They are often sufficient for most WordPress bloggers. You can search and download them from the official WordPress plugins page or your WP plugins dashboard.
However, if you’re in a highly competitive niche and have trouble ranking, you’ll want to consider a premium SEO plugin.
1. Rank Math
Highlights:
- Advanced SEO auditing
- Smart link suggestions
- XML Sitemap
- Schema markup
- Supports unlimited keywords
Rank Math is one of the most intuitive SEO plugins for WordPress. The setup is effortless, and there are more tools on the platform than you’ll ever need.
Rank Math Free Version
As a user of the free version of Rank Math SEO, you’ll get limited reports on Google index status and general SEO performance. Additionally, you’ll enjoy 18-predefined Schema types and complete Elementor integration.
Download Rank Math on WordPress
Rank Math Paid Version
At a starting price of $59 per year, the Rank Math premium version will automatically track 404 error pages while giving you the option to redirect the traffic to another page on the website.
But it doesn’t just look out for errors; it allows you to monitor as many as 1,000 keywords and choose between 840+ Schema types, including Fact Check and Podcast Schema.
Furthermore, you’ll get access to Rich Snippets, XML sitemap, seamless integration with Google Console, Facebook (Meta), Twitter, etc., and unlimited SEO performance email reports.
One feature that absolutely stands out for us on Rank Math is the innovative automation tool that does all the hard SEO work on your behalf.
2. All In One SEO WordPress
Highlights:
- XML and RSS sitemap support
- Image SEO
- Schema markup
- Advanced canonical URLs
- Duplicate content detection
- API support
All In One SEO takes simplicity and sheer performance to a whole new level with features like automatic meta tags and title optimization for different search engines, including Google.
It’s designed to work seamlessly upon activation, meaning you won’t have to worry about complex settings, which explains why three million WordPress website owners trust the service.
All In One SEO Free Version
With All In One SEO, you can customize your settings depending on the type of content you want to upload, ranging from normal blog post reviews to product ratings. It gives you access to basic features like WordPress post and on-page SEO optimization, headline analyzer, and WooCommerce SEO.
All In One SEO Paid Version
As a premium user, you’ll get access to a more customized experience that allows you to override several automatic features and give out specific instructions to web crawlers using the robots.txt editor.
As standard, the paid version offers you unrestricted access to advanced features like RSS feeds, breadcrumbs, and advanced SEO redirects (including 404 redirects, 410 redirects, 302 redirects, 307 redirects, and more).
Additionally, you’ll get a wide range of Rich Snippet plugins for visual search elements, including star rankings, images, and many more advanced features, all for $39.60 per year.
3. Yoast WordPress
Highlights:
- Access to premium SEO courses
- Advanced XML sitemaps
- Schema markup
- Google Search Console Integration
- Title and meta description templates
The sheer number of websites that use Yoast SEO shows that the platform is clearly loved by most SEO specialists. This is mainly due to its simplistic user interface and impressive features offered across the board.
Yoast Free Version
The Yoast SEO free plan features a user-friendly meta box for posts and pages, which allows the editor to carry out different basic SEO tasks such as setting keyword(s), inputting meta descriptions, canonical URLs, etc.
It also provides you with the readability score and analysis of your content, as well as appropriate suggestions for how you can improve them. Not to mention that you’ll get useful updates from time to time.
Yoast Paid Version
The Yoast SEO paid version is stacked with more advanced features that will give your content and website a better chance of outperforming competitors.
You’ll also enjoy premium additions like content insights, redirect manager, internal linking suggestions, and keyword optimization for five keywords per page.
But perhaps, the most significant upside of the paid version is that it gives you access to the Yoast community SEO forum and educational blogs where you can learn all the best SEO practices. With these perks, your SEO strategy is almost guaranteed to deliver results.
Albeit for a mildly expensive annual cost of $89 per website, which could be a turn-off if you’re on a tight budget.
Download Yoast SEO on WordPress
Conclusion
As a WordPress site owner, your eardrums are probably aching from listening to “experts” who emphasize the importance of SEO and recommend several SEO plugins they think you should install.
But in the end, the onus lies on you to make the right decision for your website, and ironically, it’s not as hard as you think.
Most WordPress SEO plugins will offer all the essential features you need, so your final decision would depend on which service suits your website better. And with the three SEO plugins we’ve explored in this post, you shouldn’t have any problems making the right choice.