Yoast SEO is one of the most popular WordPress plugins for on-page SEO. The video covers installation, the setup wizard, optimising a post and the advanced settings.
Install and set up
- In WordPress, go to Plugins, then Add New, search for Yoast SEO, install and activate.
- Run the first-time configuration: tell Yoast whether the site represents an organisation or a person, add your logo and social profiles.
- Check Settings to choose which content types appear in search results.
Optimising a page or post
- Focus keyphrase: the main search phrase for the page.
- SEO title and meta description: edit them in the Yoast box below the editor and preview how they appear in Google. Our search preview tool does the same outside WordPress.
- Slug: keep it short and readable.
- SEO and readability analysis: suggestions about keyword use, length, links and sentence length.
Useful extras
- Automatic XML sitemaps.
- Schema markup for your organisation, articles and breadcrumbs.
- Canonical URLs and noindex options for thin pages such as tag archives.
Do not chase green lights
The traffic-light scores are hints, not rankings. A page can be green and still not rank, or orange and rank well. Write for your reader first, then use Yoast to tidy up the title, description and links. Need help with descriptions? Try our meta description generator.
Want the full picture? This article is part of SEO: the complete guide, our in-depth guide with everything in one place.
