WordPress offers plenty of (free) plugins for search engine optimization. In addition, many WordPress SEO plugins are user-friendly and automated.
This makes it easy to keep track of your search engine optimization efforts and ensures your website ranks well in search results. An added benefit of using the right SEO plugins is that you don’t need to tinker with the source code of your WordPress website.
Search engine optimization consists of various components, such as technical SEO, content optimization, UX, and link building. It can sometimes be difficult to keep track of everything without a thorough understanding of these components.
An SEO plugin helps you easily perform search engine optimization tasks and also gives you a clear overview. By using SEO plugins for technical and content optimization, you simplify the work and improve your ranking in search results.
There are countless SEO plugins available for WordPress, but not every plugin is equally good. We’d like to share the best SEO plugins with you:
You’re probably familiar with the Yoast SEO plugin, and there’s a good chance you’re already using it. It’s a popular and widely used plugin, even among SEO specialists.
Yoast’s main features are:
With just one click, Yoast generates XML sitemaps and also lets you remove items from them. An XML sitemap tells search engines how to crawl your website, and you can use Google Search Console to find important information about your pages.
In addition to generating a sitemap, Yoast creates a robots.txt file and gives you access to it so you can edit it. A robots.txt file serves as a guide for every search engine.
It’s a good idea to add the XML sitemaps to the robots.txt file. Yoast doesn’t do this automatically, but you can do it using the Yoast plugin.
Tip: Read all about the robots.txt file here.
Yoast also offers many on-page optimization options. When you edit a page after installing Yoast, you’ll see Yoast’s tools at the bottom of the text editor. The plugin provides tips for content optimization using a traffic light system. Red indicates poor page optimization, and green indicates good optimization.
Keep in mind that Yoast is just a tool. There are plenty of well-optimized pages that don’t get a green light from Yoast.
Yoast also lets you add page titles and meta descriptions for each page. Using the plugin, you can easily add a “noindex” or “nofollow” tag to your page through the advanced settings. This tells the search engine that this page does not need to be indexed.
You can also easily add a canonical URL to prevent duplicate content. Yoast automatically adds a self-referencing canonical URL, but you may want to publish a page in two locations—for example, for an advertising campaign. In that case, you can override the self-referencing canonical URL with a manually entered URL.
Yoast lets you perform on-page optimization for individual pages, as well as for entire sections of your website, such as blogs or pages. You can add automated page titles and meta descriptions through Yoast’s settings. This means you don’t have to create a page title or meta description for every page.
Yoast offers a wide range of powerful and precise features, which is why it’s so popular. We could go on and on about these features. So give Yoast a try—we think it’s a must-have for your WordPress website’s SEO.
Neither visitors nor search engines want to encounter 404 errors on a website. A 404 error can occur, for example, when a URL is changed or a page is deleted.
In addition to the fact that search engines don’t want to see 404 errors—and consequently assign a lower ranking in search results—there is another aspect to 404 errors.
When you delete a page, the authority that the URL has built up also disappears. Authority is a key factor in determining your ranking in search results, and of course you don’t want to lose that authority.
That’s why we recommend using a 301 redirect for 404 errors. Are you deleting a page or changing a URL? Set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the correct URL or to the homepage.
With this SEO plugin, Redirection, you can easily set up a 301 redirect without having to tinker with your website’s code. You simply add the old URL and specify the URL it should redirect to. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
A 404 error is not well-received by search engines or visitors. A broken link stops the crawler in its tracks. This has a negative impact on the website’s ranking in search results.
The crawler doesn’t know how to proceed on the website and hits a dead end. But how do you know if you have a broken link on your website? The Broken Link Checker SEO plugin makes this easy to spot.
The plugin shows broken internal and external links, but also gives you the option to prevent search engines from following these broken links. This way, you know which links to fix and can prevent a negative impact on the website’s search rankings.
Google gives preference to encrypted websites (HTTPS websites) in the SERP, making this one of the factors that influence your ranking in search results.
The Really Simple SSL plugin makes your website SSL-compliant in one fell swoop. You don’t need to configure anything—just activate the plugin. Once the plugin is activated, all URLs starting with http:// are automatically redirected to the HTTPS version. Really simple!
Website load time is also an important factor for your search rankings. Search engines prefer fast websites and give them priority in search results. In addition, a crawler can visit more pages when your website loads quickly. This means that more pages are indexed, and they are indexed faster as well. You can test your website’s loading speed using a tool like Google Speed Insights.
You’ll also get tips on things like minifying JavaScript and CSS files or setting up caching. These are technical matters, but tinkering with code isn’t for everyone. Fortunately, we have a tool for that, too! The SEO plugin W3 Total Cache handles this technical optimization and ensures a fast website.
For example, the plugin minifies JavaScript and CSS files, which reduces the amount of data a browser has to load when visiting the website. You can also easily configure browser caching. This tells the browser used to open the website that it can cache the files and doesn’t have to reload them every time the site is visited.
As mentioned, a fast website is important, but images can slow down the website’s loading time. Although images are often necessary, they do slow down the website’s loading time. After all, every image has to be loaded. While W3 Total Cache doesn’t solve this problem, the SEO plugin ShortPixel Image Optimizer does.
The plugin compresses images, which reduces the time it takes to load them. The images remain visible to the visitor and retain the same size.
The last thing you want is a hacked website, and although WordPress is well-secured, it’s wise to keep an eye on security. You shouldn’t forget the risks. Google also indicates in its search results when a website is not secure or may even have been hacked.
This has a negative impact on traffic from Google. Want to be sure you’re on the right track? Then install the SEO plugin All In One WP Security & Firewall. This will help you minimize the risks. With this plugin, you’ll get a complete overview of how well your website is secured and what you can improve.
Not all links you post on your website need to be “follow” links. If you want to add a “nofollow” link without using a plugin, you’ll need to add the “nofollow” tag to your page’s HTML code.
The Rel NoFollow Checkbox plugin adds a checkbox that lets you simply check whether a link should have a nofollow tag or not.
If you don’t know much about search engine optimization, WordPress SEO plugins can be a lifesaver. Be sure to use them wisely and carefully consider which plugins you need for your website.
If, despite all the plugins, you still can’t see the forest for the trees, you can always call on us!
With a passion for SEO and an unmatched drive for results, Jarik Oosting is the driving force behind SmartRanking. With over 15 years of experience in the field, he has built an extensive body of knowledge spanning technical SEO to complex site migrations. As the founder of SmartRanking, he has assembled a team of like-minded SEO specialists who help businesses achieve sustainable online growth.
His academic background in information science at the University of Groningen, with a specialization in natural language processing, gives him a unique perspective on the world of SEO. For Jarik, it’s not just about visibility in search engines, it’s about sharing knowledge and guiding businesses toward sustainable online success. That mission also led him to write a Dutch book about GEO.