As a WordPress user, choosing an SEO plugin that will meet all your needs and not cost a lot can be quite stressful.
That’s why I have gone through the stress of analyzing two of the very best WordPress SEO plugins, Rank Math SEO and Yoast SEO.
If you’ve not setup your WordPress website yet, here’s a guide on how to do so for free in 2022, and if you want an extensively reviewed list of the best free SEO Plugins for WordPress, I have an article on that.
Getting Started
A bit about the Yoast SEO Plugin..
The Yoast SEO plugin was founded 14 years ago, around 2008.
It was around even before WordPress became very popular. Yoast SEO Plugin is currently active on 5 Million+ WordPress Website.
With the number gradually increasing as more people use WordPress for their business.
The Yoast SEO plugin is updated like every week to ensure the best possible experience for their users.
Let’s Know a bit about Rank Math SEO…
Rank Math SEO is a young and very popular WordPress SEO plugin first released in 2018.
With Over 1 Million+ Installation worldwide, no publisher has reported anything wrong with the plugin as it has a 5 star review.
Due to Rank Math’s jaw dropping features, it’s always compared to other plugins like AIO SEO and Yoast SEO.
Onboarding and Set-up: Rank Math SEO vs Yoast SEO
Here, we’ll go through the setup process of both Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO in detail and at the end, the easiest to setup wins the round!
Yoast SEO Setup
Setting Up the Yoast SEO Plugin is very easy from my perspective,
After Installing and activating the plugin, you can use their free configuration wizard to setup your website hassle free.
The Configuration wizard can be found once you hover on the Yoast SEO icon on the top bar of your dashboard.
Configuration takes barely 1 minute to complete.
Once you’re done, you need to explore the Yoast SEO plugin tab on your sidebar to setup other stuff like:
- Submitting your website to Search Engines
- Generating your Sitemap
- Editing how your site appears in the SERPs
- Configure the look of your site’s links on Social Media
Rank Math SEO setup
As you should know, head on to the plugins tab and select Add New.
Then search for rankmath in the ‘Add New’ plugin page search box, install and activate the plugin.
Once you click on activate, you’ll automatically be redirected to the Rank Math Wizard, tailored to assist you setup your site faster.
You’ll be prompted to make a new account and you should click on skip for now, so you’ll see yourself on the page in the image below
With the Rank Math SEO Wizard, you’ll be able to setup your site by:
- Provision of basic details like title and niche.
- Connecting your Google Analytics account to Rank Math.
- Generating Sitemap.
- Overall SEO data optmization.
Rank Math SEO vs Yoast SEO – Keywords and Rankings
The main goal of an SEO plugin is to help boost your website rankings, getting you more traffic, customers and sales from search engines.
Now we compare which plugin actually helps you rank better..
Yoast SEO
When it comes to writing content that is SEO optimized, I think Yoast is absolutely the best due to it’s simplicity.
Once you’re writing an article, Yoast SEO automatically analyzes your content’s readability score as well as the SEO score based on the Focus keyword you entered.
I have personally used Yoast SEO to rank on Google for some certain Keywords, though they weren’t my focus keywords… they were pretty close.
A downside of using the Yoast SEO plugin for ranking is that the free versions only allow you to track 1 keyword.
The Keyword tracking tool embedded in it’s database belongs to The Wincher.
Rank Math SEO
The Rank Math SEO plugin is surely the best if you wish to increase SEO traffic to your website.
Their recently introduced Content AI is quite interesting.
Rank Math’s Content AI tool uses algorithms stored on servers to help you create content that’ll actually rank on Google.
To use this new feature on Rank Math, you need to open the plugin’s dashboard and activate the module.
In this comparison, Rank Math wins as their Content AI feature is superior to Yoast SEO’s SEO analysis and Readability.
Rank Math SEO vs Yoast SEO – Free Features
Like any other plugin in the WordPress repository, these two plugins have free versions that give you that premium feeling.
Features of the Yoast SEO free version
- SEO Analysis
- Readability Analysis
- Full Language Support
- Google Preview
- Automated technical SEO improvements
- XML Sitemaps
- Schema.org Integration
Rank Math SEO’s free features
- Tracking up to 5 Keywords
- 404 Detection
- Internal Link Suggestions
- Redirect Manager
- Local SEO features
But what about the premium features..
Rank Math SEO vs Yoast SEO – Premium Features
It’s quite hard to decide which plugin you should invest your money on, you’ll want the less expensive one with more functionality.
Yoast SEO Premium Features
Once you pay for Yoast SEO premium subscription which costs $99 per year, you’ll get the following features and add-ons:
- 24/7 Email Support
- News SEO add-on
- Local SEO extension
- WooCommerce and Video SEO add-ons
- Internal Linking Blocks
- Automatic Internal Linking Suggestions
- SEO workouts
Love the Features? Get Yoast SEO Premium for $99 a year now.
Rank Math SEO Premium Features
The Rank Math SEO plugin has more advanced feature than the Yoast SEO plugin, when it comes to simplicity, Yoast is better,
But when it comes to more detailed, I have to hand it to Rank Math SEO plugin.
Rank Math SEO plugin basically has 3 premium subscription plans, the least costs $59 per year followed by the $199 and $499 plans.
So what are the features you’re paying for?
- Google Analytics Integration (Advanced)
- Keyword Rank Tracker
- Tracked Keywords
- Free Content AI credits
- Track Google Index features
- Google Trends Integration
- Image SEO pro
- WooCommerce SEO Pro
- Automatic Video detection for video schema
- Advanced Content SEO Overview
And Many More.. Get Rank Math SEO plugin for just $59 per year.
Which is the Best WordPress SEO Plugin?
From the analysis present in this article which are facts, the best for me might not be the best for you, let’s round up the comparison first:
Setup and Onboarding: When it comes to setting things up, Yoast SEO is the clear winner, you don’t need to go through the hassle of enabling and disabling modules unlike in Rank Math SEO.
Keywords and Ranking: If your focus is to hit your SEO right on the head, then I think Rank Math SEO plugin should be your pick, they help you track your keywords and general website rankings.
Content Writing: I’ll have to hand it to Rank Math SEO plugin, I personally love the Content AI Module, I’ve ranked a lot of content with it.. Yoast’s SEO analysis feature is also great but am personally picking Rank Math.
Free Features: This is a tough one, if you don’t wish to pay yet or you’re low on budget, I suggest you start with Yoast SEO as it gives you the features you mostly need for free, Rank Math has more features than Yoast but they ain’t free.
Premium Features: I think we do know the clear winner of this one, Rank Math SEO offers you a lot of features which Yoast SEO doesn’t offer even after the $99 payment. With a $59 a year payment, you’ll get more advanced features with Rank Math.
Pricing: Rank Math wins this round, the plugin is simply too good to be true. Yoast SEO costs $99 per month and you only get around 6 features, their is no limit on what you’ll get from Rank Math SEO plugin which costs $59 per year.
Conclusion
With all the comparisons stated above, it’s concluded that Rank Math SEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin. It gives you more functionality at a lower price compared to the Yoast SEO Plugin. Get Rank Math SEO now!.
Nonetheless, you can checkout these Articles that talk about WordPress SEO Plugins:
Which SEO Plugin are you currently using and why?. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
