Yoast SEO is a popular plugin for optimizing websites for search engines, particularly for WordPress. Here’s a basic guide on how to use Yoast SEO effectively:
1. Install Yoast SEO
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for Yoast SEO.
- Click Install Now and then Activate.
2. General Settings
- Once activated, you’ll see a new menu item in your WordPress dashboard labeled SEO.
- Go to SEO > General to access the general settings.
- Features: Here, you can toggle different features of Yoast SEO, such as the readability analysis, SEO analysis, and more.
- Webmaster Tools: You can link your website to Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, etc., by adding verification codes here.
3. Optimize Your Posts & Pages
- When editing a post or page, you’ll notice the Yoast SEO box beneath the content editor. This box allows you to optimize each piece of content individually.
- Focus Keyphrase: Enter a target keyword or phrase (this is what you want your content to rank for). Yoast will then analyze how well your content is optimized for that keyphrase.
- SEO Title: Customize the title that will appear in search results. Make sure it’s catchy and contains the target keyphrase.
- Meta Description: Write a short, compelling description of the page. This will appear in the search engine results beneath your title.
- Readability Analysis: Yoast also analyzes the readability of your content, suggesting ways to improve sentence structure and overall flow.
- Snippet Preview: This shows you how your content will appear in search results, so you can adjust the title and meta description accordingly.
4. Content Analysis
Yoast gives you a score based on how well your content is optimized for SEO. It checks things like:
- Keyword Usage: Is the target keyword used in the title, URL, and throughout the content?
- Internal Linking: Are there relevant internal links to other pages on your website?
- External Links: Are there links to authoritative external websites?
- Image Optimization: Are your images optimized with alt text?
5. XML Sitemaps
Yoast automatically creates an XML sitemap for your website. To ensure it’s enabled:
- Go to SEO > General > Features and ensure XML sitemaps is turned on.
- You can find your sitemap by appending /sitemap_index.xml to your site’s URL (e.g., www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml).
6. Breadcrumbs
Yoast can add breadcrumbs to your site to improve navigation. You can enable this feature under:
- SEO > Search Appearance > Breadcrumbs.
7. Social Settings
You can set how your content appears when shared on social media:
- Go to SEO > Social and link your social profiles.
- You can also customize how individual posts and pages look on Facebook, Twitter, etc., in the “Social” tab when editing a post or page.
8. Advanced Settings
- Yoast offers advanced settings for more experienced users. For example:
- Canonical URLs: Prevent duplicate content issues by adding a canonical URL to the page.
- Noindex, Nofollow: You can mark certain pages (e.g., thank you pages or privacy policy pages) as “noindex” if you don’t want them to appear in search results.
9. SEO Health Check
- Yoast SEO provides an SEO dashboard that gives you insights into how your website is performing and areas you can improve.
- You can find the SEO health check under SEO > Dashboard.
10. Yoast Premium (Optional)
Yoast SEO also has a premium version that offers additional features, such as:
- Redirect manager
- Internal linking suggestions
- Multiple focus keywords
- 24/7 support
If you’re just getting started, the free version should be sufficient. Over time, as you get more familiar with SEO, you can explore the advanced features!
How far along are you with using Yoast SEO on your site?
owner and source: https://yoast.com/beginners-guide-yoast-seo/
images source: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/How-to-Use-Yoast-SEO-An-Easy-Setup-Guide.jpg
