WordPress optimization plugins: SEO by Yoast

In my last post I prepared everything necessary for installing WordPress. We remember: A server was rented, a domain was registered and routed to the IP of the server via a name server. This domain was registered with the server and WordPress was loaded and unpacked via SSH. The legendary 5-minute installation later we are in the WordPress dashboard .

As SEO we naturally want to make the system fit for optimization . So you need the right plugins. In this 2nd of a total of 3 parts of the WordPress series, we will deal with the SEO by Yoast plugin.

An overview

Installing a plugin shouldn’t be too difficult. To do this, go to the corresponding WordPress overview under the “Plugins” category. Enter the plugin name in the search field and click on “Install” when the search results are found. WordPress then downloads and installs the plugin.

Then we are greeted by a warning message.

Handy: SEO by Yoast warns me that search engines are blocked – which should be the case with a new WordPress installation until it is ready to the public.

If the inclined optimizer now rushes into the plug-in settings, another message awaits him immediately.

So the plugin points out important problems and suggests solutions. In addition to such messages, it also offers a tour of the settings with explanations.

SEO by Yoast also has an interface to verify the page with various webmaster tools – yes, not only Google has them. In addition, you can

• Edit metadata in detail,
• Add social media connections,
• Create XML sitemaps,
• Make permalink settings,
• Create breadcrumbs,
• Adapt the RSS feed,
• txt and .htaccess files and edit
• Change titles and descriptions from several pages at the same time – the so-called bulk editors.

New are the integrated extensions, which are chargeable and add functions such as video SEO , news SEO , post connector for related posts or local SEO to the plugin . The premium version of the plug-in can also be installed later . Video SEO can also be used, for example, to optimize embedded videos on search engines. Video sitemaps can be created or schema.org data can be used. Of course, video platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo are also supported.

So much for the plugin’s settings. If you want to know more, you can take the tour offered.

May the optimization begin

The WordPress DAU has fought its way up from the depths of the plugin settings and is eager to finally optimize.

We are in the page overview. There are a couple of new elements when installing SEO by Yoast. For example multiple tabs like SEO , SEO Title , Meta Description and Focus Keyword . This view can be filtered in more detail according to SEO results. Incidentally, the same applies to the articles.

Depending on the specified focus keyword and the value of the text tailored to search engines as well as the specified metadata, the little gray dot under the buzzword »SEO« lights up red or green. Important : Save the page or article, then the page analysis will start. The plugin checks the page whether it is sufficiently optimized for the desired keyword.

If you go to the page view, the trained eye sees an additional box with the unsurprising title “WordPress SEO by Yoast”. This is the point where we turn our adjusting screws and optimize the site.

I took the liberty of entering the focus keyword »WordPress«. As it turns out, the plugin now reacts and reports where the keyword was found. In this case it is insufficient.

If the page is now saved SEO by Yoast automatically analyzes and spits out possible solutions. Okay, there are more colors than just green and red. The lamp is currently lit orange. We are improving! Positive: At least this extremely important part is completely translated. Merci!

Analysis is a wonderful checklist. Also for people with experience in SEO, who may even have awards such as the legendary title of SEO Chancellor.

Various settings of the Robots.txt and sitemap specifically for this page as well as the authorship (rel = “author”), the canonical URL and a 301 redirect are listed in the »Advanced« area. What exactly can you do with these options? Here some examples:

txt: This can be used to control the indexing behavior of search engines. If the value is set to »noindex«, the page will not appear in the search results.

Sitemap: This is a list of all the pages that our website has to offer. By submitting the sitemap to a search engine, the listed pages can be recorded and indexed more quickly.

The author tag rel = “author” in the meta data allows the author’s Google+ profile to be linked to the page. This is how Google knows who wrote this article.

If the page can be addressed under several URLs (e.g. with and without www.), Search engines can use the canonical tag to refer to the main address of a page. This prevents duplicate content.

With 301 redirects or “permanent redirects”, a page can elegantly be redirected to another. For example, if this page no longer exists.

If you want to share the post on Facebook or Google+, you can customize the meta description under the »Social « tab. For Facebook you can also select your own preview image here.

Conclusion

The well-known and popular plugin SEO by Yoast is free and offers many features. Thanks to the hints, messages and solutions, a layperson can tackle the optimization of his site. Those who want more have to pay, but there is a lot available for free.