{"id":3011,"date":"2019-12-09T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2020-10-09T10:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T08:39:07","slug":"guide-to-set-up-yoast-plugin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/guide-to-set-up-yoast-plugin\/","title":{"rendered":"A Comprehensive Guide to Setting up the Yoast SEO Plugin in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you really want your website to succeed and hit the top ranks on search engines (and who doesn\u2019t), getting a well optimized premium WordPress theme<\/a> simply isn\u2019t enough \u2013 you should also consider brushing up on your SEO basics<\/a>. It\u2019s a widely known fact that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an instrumental factor in building a website. If you fail to optimize your website, you risk it not being noticed by search engines. And that can be a fatal blow for any site.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]If you own a WordPress-powered website, there are many free SEO tools<\/a> to help you with your SEO strategy. But when it comes to optimizing your content, Yoast SEO is undoubtedly one of the best WordPress plugins for the job. Not only does it have wide-ranging SEO options, but most of them are also available for free. Thus, we have decided to create a comprehensive guide on how to install and use the Yoast SEO plugin on your WordPress site.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”68px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

What Does the Yoast SEO Plugin Do for Your Website?<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Yoast SEO<\/a> helps you properly optimize your pages and posts for search engines. This includes inserting keywords and key phrases in your post or any other type of content, as well as changing your titles and meta descriptions on any page or post. These tools, combined with a good understanding of what keyword research<\/a> is and how it’s done, can get you significantly closer to your goal of ranking as high as possible on search engines.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]Based on your post length as well as your focus keyphrase, Yoast calculates the best ways to optimize the post in question. For example, it determines how many times you should add a keyword to satisfy SEO standards and ensure the search-friendliness of your site. However, it doesn\u2019t only calculate if you have enough keywords in your content, but also if there are keywords in your headings, meta description, and in your post URL. In addition, Yoast also notifies you if there are no images on your page or post, if your meta description is too short or too long, whether you have enough internal and outbound links, and so on. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]

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\n \"Yoast <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]Another great thing about Yoast SEO is that it improves the overall readability of your content. Whether you produce content to get more sales or just to get credibility in your niche, readability is extremely important for your on-page SEO. The rules are quite simple \u2013 if your content is not clean or readable enough, people won\u2019t regard your site as a trustworthy source and more likely than not, they won\u2019t be inclined to buy from you. Consequently, your chances of ranking higher may grow slimmer.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]Yoast boosts your readability by giving suggestions on how to improve certain parts of your writing. This includes pointing out places where your sentences or paragraphs can be shorter and notifying you if you use too much of the passive voice, whether you should use a larger variety of transition words, etc.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]
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\n \"Yosat <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]What\u2019s also characteristic for Yoast is that it works on the principle of traffic lights. Namely, if the light for your readability or SEO score is red, that means it needs more working on. If it\u2019s orange, that means your optimization is acceptable, but there are still more than a few improvements you can make. For best results, your goal should be to make the light turn green.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]
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\n \"Yoast <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]Aside from these useful features that allow you to optimize your keywords and readability, Yoast also gives you the option of generating an XML sitemap as well as indexing (or not indexing) specific segments of your site. Last but not least, it allows you to import all your data and settings from other SEO plugins.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”68px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

How to Install Yoast SEO Plugin<\/h2>\n

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\n \"Yoast <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]The Yoast SEO plugin can be easily installed from the WordPress plugin directory in your Admin panel, or you can download the plugin from the Yoast website. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]If you opt for the first option, all you need to do is click on Plugins > Add New<\/em>, and then type in Yoast SEO<\/em> in the search box. After it appears in the results, simply hit the Install button. Once you\u2019re done with installing the plugin, click on the Activate<\/em> button. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]
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\n \"Activate <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]Now that you\u2019ve installed and activated Yoast, a new option named SEO<\/em> will appear in the sidebar of your Admin. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]
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How to Set up the Yoast SEO Plugin<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This plugin has plenty of settings that may seem complicated to set up at first glance, but soon you will realize it\u2019s not as difficult as it may seem.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]The settings of Yoast SEO contain multiple tabs. We\u2019ll go through all of them in more detail.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”72px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The General Screen<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When you first go to SEO settings, the General \u2013 Yoast SEO<\/em> screen will open.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”]

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\n \"General <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=”38px”][vc_column_text]Dashboard<\/strong> <\/em>\u2013 in this tab, you will see the First-time SEO configuration<\/em> wizard. The wizard will guide you through a few steps that will be presented to you in question-and-answer form. These steps will help you get started with Yoast and adjust it to your website\u2019s preferences.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”28px”][vc_column_text]Features<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 this tab contains a lot of features that are all turned on by default. You can enable or disable each one of them according to your preferences.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”23px”]