When someone creates a website for his/her business or blog, always try to rank in Google search engine as soon as possible. Here the word SEO comes in. If you have a website in WordPress then you don't have to worry about this term anymore. Because in WordPress, you can use a plugin called "Yoast SEO". This is going to be a complete Yoast SEO tutorial for you from beginner to advance.
If you don't use wordpress for your website then I will suggest you go for WordPress. There are a lot of benefits that you are going to get from wordpress. If you are interested to know all those benefits, you can read this article "Why wordpress is best for your website".
Yoast SEO is the best SEO plugin in wordpress. It is easy to use and the most important thing is it is free. You can also use its premium version for more features. However, at the very beginning, I will suggest you to choose the free version. You will get everything that you may need for your website.
In this Yoast SEO tutorial, we will complete the whole process in just three steps.
We will install "Yoast SEO" plugin in our wordpress.
Configure all the necessary settings.
We will learn "On Page SEO" for your every post and pages.
At first login to your wordpress dashboard. To install this plugin go to "Plugins Add New". Then search for "yoast seo". You will find it at the very first with more than 1 Million active intall and 23K+ positive reviews. It also has 5/5 star ratings. Therefore, I think now you can understand why you should use this plugin.
You will find the "Install Now" button click on that. It will start installing. Don't forget to "Active" that plugin right after installing it.
Congratulations, you have completed the first step of our yoast seo tutorial. It is so simple, isn't it? Now, this is the time to go to our next step configuring Yoast. Let's do it.
After installing yoast seo in your wordpress you will get a configuration wizard. It will come automatically. There are 12 section in this wizard. You have to click on "Configure Yoast SEO" button nothing else. It will take you to the second section.
It wizard does not show automatically then at the top bar you will find yoast seo icon hover over this and click on "Configuration Wizard".
Then you will get two options. If your website is live or launched on the internet choose "Option A". If it does not then choose "Option B" and hit Next.
In this Site type section, you can choose the type of your website. There are 7 options. Select the best one that matches your site.
For your information, you can change these settings any time you want. It is not a one-time choice. Therefore, you don't have to worry about this so much.
In this section, you can set whether your website represents a company or a person.
If your site is for you or any person then select "Person". In this case, you have to give the name of that person.
In this section, you can give all the social media profiles for your website that you want to promote. Just put the URL in those boxes. Like – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc.
Next, you will find 4 options for search engines. Select "Yes" for all of them. I believe "Yes" is selected by default. If it is not then select them manually.
If you are the only person who writes on your website then choose "No".
However, if you have a group of people to write on your website then you must select "Yes".
Google Search Console is a tool that helps you to index or add your website in Google. It will also help you to rank in Google.
You have to add Authorization Code in Yoast. However, I will suggest you not to add code here. You can add code later. I will show you how. So, skip this step and click Next.
Choose your website name and a separator that you like.
You do not need to do either of these things now. You can do later. So, Press Next for both sections.
Now, there is nothing to do here. Just click the "Close" button to close the wizard. This will take you to the Yoast SEO dashboard.
We have done many things already. It is the time to take a deep breath. Moreover, I want to say that you are doing great. We are almost done with Step 2.
I have told you that you are going to add Authorization Code in Yoast for your website in section 8. Now, it is time to add that code.
However, before that, you will see a tab named "Features". Click on that tab and make sure all of them are ON. It is selected by default still it is good to check them out and click "Save changes".
Now press "Webmaster Tools" tab. Here we are going to add the code. Here you will get 4 options for verification.
Don't worry, you don't have to add all of them. We are going to add Google and Bing for your website. Because these two are most important as a search engine.
First, we will add Google verification code in this yoast seo tutorial. To add this code it is must to have an account in Google Search Console. We already have discussed it.
It is very easy to open an account. You can do that by clicking the link below. It will redirect you to Google Search Console website. You will find a "Start now" button. Click on that and log in with your email account. That's it, this is how you can create your account in Google search console.
I think you have opened your account. Now you have to add your website in Google search console. It is also very easy just takes few minutes.
After creating an account go to the dashboard, you will see a button "ADD A PROPERTY". Click on that, a popup will come in front of you.
In this popup, select website if you want to add a website in search console. Then put your website URL in the box and click on "Add".
Now, you will be able to see your website link on the dashboard. Because your site is added in Google Search Console. You can see all of your website information by clicking on your website URL.
It's time to come to our WordPress dashboard. We were in the "Webmaster Tools" tab. So, click on "Google Search Console" link.
Now, select "HTML tag" and copy the Meta tag. However, don't close this tab because you have to verify later. So, keep it open.
Go to WordPress and paste the Meta tag in Google verification box and save changes. Then come to the search console and click on the "Verify" button. Congratulation your account is verified.
Now, you can Bing verification code in the same process. Just click on "Bing Webmaster Tools". It will take you to the Bing website. Open account if you don't have. Add your website same way we did in Google. Then you will get your code. Paste in your wordpress and click "Save changes". Don't forget to click Verify in Bing Webmaster Tools.
It is the time to check WordPress sidebar. Under SEO, you will find "Search Appearance" click on that.
Here, in general settings, you can change your Title Separator and Name. That you have set in Configuration Wizard earlier.
If you don't want to change then click on "Content Types". Here you can set the format of your posts, pages, and templates. You can follow the picture above. I will suggest you do what is shown in the picture. Because this is the best format according to SEO experts.
In addition, for "SEO title" and "Meta description" you have to paste codes in those boxes. You will get those codes below. Just copy them and paste in SEO title and Meta description boxes. Then click on "save changes".
It is not only for Post format, but you can also do the same for all of the Pages, My Templates and My Library. This will be the best for your website. You can also find those codes by clicking on "Need Help >> Snippet variables" button.
Now, click on Media tab. Moreover, set Media and attachment URL as "Yes". It is also recommended by Yoast. Therefore, you can understand it is important to set as yes. Then save changes.
Next, click on the "Taxonomies" tab. Here you will see Categories and Tags. The best option is not showing your categories and tags in search results. It may create a duplicate content problem. Moreover, this will harm in Google ranking. According to my suggestion set them as NO and save charges. I also follow this.
For rest of the tabs, leave them as default. Because that will be the best for you. Don't do anything to them.
Now, if you look to the sidebar, you will find "Search Console" and "Social". In the search console, Yoast will show you the problems in the search results, if you have any. You don't need to do anything right now. Because you will nothing there. So, just leave it.
In social, you can add or change your social media accounts. We already have seen them in Configuration Wizard.
With this, you have completed Step 2: Configuring Yoast SEO plugin. Congratulations, you are doing great. Therefore, everything is set. Now you are ready to go to Step 3: On page SEO for every posts and pages. Let's jump into it.
When it comes to on-page SEO, I believe you already heard about keyword, Meta description, keyword density, and post URL. In on page SEO, these things play important rules. The good thing is you can manage all of these very easily with Yoast.
There are 3 parts in on page SEO. You have to do this step by step.
Before creating a post you have to find the keyword. There are many ways to find keywords. You can use the Google search bar for this. If you start typing your topic in the search bar then it will show you suggestions. On the other hand, there are many free and paid tools for keyword research.
Keywords Everywhere is a Chrome extension that will show you relevant keywords, search volume and CPC (Cost Per Click) for that keyword.
You can use Google AdWords, Ubersuggest and Google Trends for your keyword research. These tools are completely free.
I will suggest you to choose a relatively high search volume keyword with low competition. This will help you to rank in Google easily.
After finding the keyword of your post, it is time create your content. In content creation, you have to focus on some facts. In your first paragraph, you have to your keyword 2 times.
Then you also have to use that keyword in "Heading 2" tag. Keyword density is also important for Google ranking. It is good practice to use 2% – 3% keyword in your content.
Always try to use the short paragraph in your post. The long paragraph is not user-friendly. The short paragraph is easy to read. Therefore, this helps you to catch your reader easily.
Yoast will give you suggestion to increase readability. You should follow those like, less passive voice (maximum 10%), using subheadings, transition words, good paragraph length etc.
After putting your title and content in WordPress, you have to give your main keyword. This keyword is also called Focus Keyword.
For that, you will see a section "Yoast SEO". Here find Focus keyphrase and click on that. There is a box for the keyword. After giving your keyword, Yoast will show you all the SEO analysis for your post or page.
You have to follow those instructions given by Yoast. This plugin has made on page SEO very easy for everyone. That is why I am making this yoast seo tutorial.
You will also find a Readability analysis section here. We already have discussed this part in content creation. Here you can check how much your content is readable to your users.
Try to use transition words in your post. For example: In addition to, by the way, However, Therefore, However, In short, In brief, In comparison to etc.
If you search something in Google, you will see Title, post URL, and Meta description. You can also change your SEO title and Meta description using Yoast.
You will see a button "Edit snippet" click on that. Here you will find three options for title, slug, and Meta description. It will also show you the preview of how it is going to look in the search result.
However, you have to make sure that title, slug, and description contain focus keyword. Otherwise, it may harm in search ranking.
For title 65 characters is the good length and for description, you can use 160 characters. Don't worry Yoast will show you how much you should write in the title and description. You will find an indicator below those boxes. If you write more then the indicator will become red. So make sure that indicator color is green.
Finally, in the case of a slug, don't make it too large and use your focus keyword. You should not use "Stop words" in your slug. This will decrease your ranking in the search result.
In case, If you don't know what are those stop words, I will give you a list of some important stop words. You must avoid them using in your slug of post URL.
This is how you can optimize your every post and pages of your website. Good on-page SEO can help you to rank in Google quickly. Yoast SEO is the best wordpress plugins for SEO. This Yoast SEO tutorial is for the free version. You also can use the premium version for more features. To know more about premium features visit this link.
How did you like this post? Did I miss anything about yoast setup and on-page SEO in this yoast seo tutorial? You can comment below if you have anything to ask. I will look forward to your thoughts in the comments section below.
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