A client once told me, as we were discussing the best SEO plugins to use for his brand new website, that merely thinking about SEO and the tasks needed to rank his pages on Google search results gives him a headache.
While it’s true that there are several processes involved in search engine optimization, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’ll have to go down a tedious and arduous path just to get the best results. We really don’t need to reinvent the wheel, as the aphorism goes.
Earlier SEO professionals have already done the heavy lifting ahead of us and lit the path for us. They’ve their insights on the best strategies and tools that anyone can use to improve their site’s search ranking.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the best SEO plugins available for you to use right away to optimize your website. I’ve been personally using most of these plugins for my own sites and other projects, and it’s fair to say I would never have achieved excellent results without these essential tools.
Comparing The Best SEO Plugins
1. Yoast SEO
The most popular kid on the block when it comes to SEO plugins on WordPress, Yoast SEO is the staple tool recommended by many SEO professionals. It’s easy to use, and the options available to optimize your website are quite useful and numerous.
If you love tweaking your website while learning the ins and outs of SEO, this plugin has a lot to offer. Yoast SEO is available for free, and there is also a premium version with more robust features.
Why You Should Try It
• Allows for keyword optimization on a per post basis (1 keyword for the free version and up to 5 keywords for the premium version).
• Evaluates how readable your page is. Readability is an important factor in ranking.
Updated continuously to adjust to changes in the search algorithm of Google and other search engines.
• Redirect Manager (in the premium version) allows for permanent redirection (301) visitors to relevant pages instead of being shown on the 404 page.
• Provides internal linking suggestions (premium version), which is an essential on-page SEO strategy.
• Support for breadcrumbs for easier website navigation.
2. All-in-One SEO Pack
We can’t talk about the best SEO plugins without mentioning the All-in-One SEO Pack for WordPress. This one is the very first SEO plugin I’ve used for my first website and up until today, I’m still using this plugin on many of my WordPress websites. Yoast SEO markets itself better but the options available in this plugin are comparable to what Yoast has to offer.
Why You Should Try It
• Easy to configure and convenient to new WordPress authors and publishers.
• Has a built-in sitemap generator that can be submitted to the search engines and allows for a linkup to Google Analytics.
• Can easily check for duplicate content and can help you avoid being penalized by Google.
• Individual post optimization options are available.
• Settings can be tweaked and optimized at any time to adjust to your changing SEO requirements.
• Allows for designating or creating specific meta tag information such as meta title, meta description, etc.
3. Google XML Sitemaps
For the search engine to know the exact time when you update your blog or website, you’ll need to submit an XML sitemap to keep Google updated continuously. If you want your new content to get indexed and ranked faster, you should always have an XML sitemap accessible to the search engines.
Although the tools mentioned above have built-in XML sitemap generators, the Google XML Sitemaps plugin can easily assume this role for your convenience.
Why You Should Try It
- Allows for fine-tuning your XML sitemap settings to specify which pages and posts you want to be indexed on your website and exclude the ones you don’t want to be listed.
- Plug in and forget. This tool will function indefinitely after you’ve activated it and finalized the settings.
- Will quickly update the search engines whenever a new piece of content is published on your website.
4. The SEO Framework
When it comes to omnibus do-it-all SEO plugins, nothing can come close to the sheer popularity of the first two tools mentioned in this list. The SEO Framework plugin is a relative newcomer to the WP SEO optimization scene, but it’s quickly earning a solid reputation among SEO professionals and website owners.
Why You Should Try It
- Includes a long list of robust features, some of which are not found in more popular plugins.
- Intuitive settings can be easily configured.
- Allows for support of major e-commerce platforms integrated to WP such as Woocommerce, etc.
- Provides for individual post optimization options through the Post Editor page.
5. Google Analytics by MonsterInsights
You can’t really do optimization without constantly monitoring and measuring your essential metrics to succeed in search ranking. Google Analytics by MonsterInsights lets you monitor your website data from inside WordPress saving you the time it takes to switch back and forth between your site and your Analytics console.
Why You Should Try It
- Conveniently integrates with WordPress allowing you to access your Analytics information from the WP dashboard.
- Allows for quick installation without advanced technical knowledge using the Google Analytics API.
- Fully synced to your Google Analytics account using your own universal tracking code and can provide you the latest real-time Analytics data.
6. Broken Link Checker
Broken links to your posts and pages can degrade the user experience and shrink your authority as a web publisher. The preponderance of broken links on a website can be a ranking issue if not addressed immediately. WP Broken Link Checker can quickly help you with this website maintenance task.
Why You Should Try It
- Can monitor your entire website to identify broken links on any page or blog post.
- Can disallow search bots from following broken links.
- Will provide alert notifications when it comes across a broken link for you to be able to fix the issue immediately.
7. W3 Total Cache
A slow loading webpage or website can potentially send your bounce rate through the roof and could tank your search ranking. Barring other factors such as slow internet connection, if your page doesn’t load on a visitor’s browser within 3 seconds, that visitor would most likely exit your website in an instant. This is where W3 Total Cache comes to the rescue.
Why You Should Try It
- Can speed up your website for up to 10x improvement in overall performance.
- Allows for easy caching of your blog posts and pages.
- Enables minimization of notorious culprits in slow loading pages such as third-party CSS and JavaScript.
8. Rel No Follow Checkbox
There was a time when adding the no-follow attribute to most of your content links was the popular best optimization tactic. These days, SEO best practices have shifted in the opposite direction. However, the rel no follow attribute is still essential in specific instances and this is where the Rel No Follow Checkbox plugin will come in handy.
Why You Should Try It
- Allows you the flexibility of choice in designating the type of links to add to your content.
- Conveniently available as a popup widget inside your WP post editor page.
- Can help identify external links to be no-followed such as commercial, ad, or affiliate links.
9. WP Social SEO Pro
When it comes to ranking factors, social media signals play a crucial role in making your site visible to both your human visitors and the search engines. With WP Social SEO Pro, you can efficiently amplify your social signals each time you publish new content.
Why You Should Try It
- Provides flexibility in designing the posts you share to different social media channels.
- Integrates seamlessly with Facebook and its Open Graph technology.
- Grants for local optimization.
- Helps optimize posts for other channels such as Twitter, Pinterest, and Google Plus.
10. SEOquake
When you’re doing competitor or keywords research, it’s essential to have an easily accessible tool that can instantly display all the information you’ll need for optimization. SEOquake has been around for years and is a favorite tool for SEO professionals.
Why You Should Try It
- Available as a plugin (add-on) for most web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, etc.
- Displays information instantly when you land on any page in your browser.
- Provides essential insights on important details such as a website’s Alexa rank, Google page rank, the age of the domain, whois information, indexing status, latest updates, etc.
Conclusion
Ranking your pages for Google and the other search engines need not be a complicated and time-consuming process. With these proven and tested SEO plugins and tools, you can quickly achieve excellent SEO results without reinventing the wheel, all within the comfort of your WP dashboard.
If you have any suggestions or recommendations on the best SEO plugins to use for WordPress and other platforms, please leave a comment below.