Updated January 13, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutesOur 5 Favorite WordPress SEO Plugins
There are several WordPress SEO plugins that should be on your holiday list if you haven’t already installed them. Whether you’re a seasoned WordPress user or brand-spanking new to this powerful Content Management System (CMS), these plugins are worth exploring. Before adding them (or any other type of plugin or update) to your WP website we recommend completing a full back-up should something go awry. As part of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), you should be running on the latest WordPress version as well as using best security practices.
1. WordPress SEO
Drum roll please… WordPress SEO by Yoast. It’s always at the top of our list when creating or updating a client website. Why? Because optimizing content is both an art and science. This plugin offers features for both sides of our brain:
- Easy to understand grading system. Like a traffic signal, red means stop: pay attention and fix a problem. Yellow cautions you about items that should be fixed, and green means you are good to go. The scoring system appears both in the sidebar widget but also more detailed suggestions in the Page Analysis.
- Built-in Keyword Tool link added to the WP menu so you do a bit of research and zero in on a keyword (although we highly recommend in-depth keyword research including benefit-to-opposition analyses.)
- Simplified meta title and description fields so you emphasize a focus keyword and keep within Google’s optimal character limits.
2. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is our second favorite WordPress SEO plugin because it’s all about speed. Site speed affects SEO. If a website is slow to load, that’s a poor user experience. Search Engines penalize pokey sites. W3 Total Cache is like putting booster rockets on your website. It compresses pages and posts among other time-saving code.
3. Schema Creator by Raven
Raven Tools is also one of our favorite SEO tools, so when they added their WordPress SEO plugin to the mix, we were delighted. This powerful plugin makes it easy to add schema.org microdata to pages and posts in WordPress. Schema is all about structured data, making it easy for machines to understand your site for search results. Raven offers a guide, but this is an advanced tool. Disclaimer: we like Raven so much we’re resellers of their stand-alone SEO tool.
4. WP About Author
Have you noticed the appearance of a person’s photo and name next to a Google search results? Google is putting more emphasis on authorship, rewarding those who add to the online content. Linking blog posts and Google+ profiles, all this feeds into social search. If you’re serious about your website’s SEO rankings, then complete your Google+ profile and integrate authorship with this WordPress SEO plugin.
5. Scribe
With WordPress SEO you tell the plugin your focus keyword, Scribe tells you what it thinks it is. This paid plugin not only grades your post, but how your keyword ranks within your complete WordPress website. Disclaimer: we like this plugin so much we’re resellers. If you’re serious about your SEO efforts, then it’s worth adding to your marketing arsenal.
Wanda Anglin
Great list. I use many and plan to use a couple more. Please note that the functions of #4 “About Author” can be accomplished in the latest Yoast SEO version. In Yoast you can specify your G+ business as your website publisher AND setup G+ Authorship for your G+ profile.
Alyson Harrold
We use the About Author plugin because it allows us to combine schema rich content from a schema plugin.
Jeremy
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.
Alyson Harrold
If you want to start a blog with minimal fuss, we suggest using WordPress.com. No need to worry about hosting and technical back-end maintenance. However, if you want to build a blog (and SEO), then it will require some effort; we suggest using WordPress.org. Not sure if .com or .org is right for your situation? We discuss the pros and cons of each in this WordPress and SEO blog post. In general WordPress offers a rich community forum to answer technical questions as well as some tutorials. Check out their How To Videos as well. Of course, we can help you as well.
Alvaro Minert
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Maine Demot
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