Last Updated on April 20, 2021 by Iulian
As a follow up to my guide on WordPress SEO, I have decided to provide you with a list of what I believe to be the best SEO plugins for WordPress.
Installing the best SEO WordPress plugins can help your ranking immeasurably.
So, that’s good news. With a staggering 55,000 plugins to choose from, though, where do you even start?
We’ve curated seven of the leanest and most efficient plugins so you can dive right in.
One thing to remember before getting plugin-happy:
It goes unsaid that you’ll need rich and useful content featuring plenty of long tail keywords. The best SEO will always fall short if the accompanying content fails to deliver.
All right let’s dive into the list.
Table of Contents
Rank Math
Consistently ranked among the best SEO WordPress plugins, Rank Math helps you automate your on-page optimization to rank higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Installation is simple. The plugin suggests optimum settings for your site before you launch the installation wizard.
A clean, straightforward user interface (UI) shows you key metrics about your post. Advanced snippet previews show you how your post will look live.
Unlike much of the opposition, Rank Math supports AMP pages and Schema-based themes, helping with local search and mobile-first indexing, both crucial in 2020. Choose from Rich Snippets like Ratings Schema to pep up your blog.
Rank Math works well for multi-author sites. You can assign role-based features from Owner and Administrator to Editor and Subscriber.
The modular framework lets you disable anything you don’t use. Combined with the lean code, this plugin is optimized for speed.
Free to use, Rank Math is “better than Yoast Premium,” according to Matthew Woodward.
Broken Link Checker
Grab the open-source Broken Link Checker on GitHub if you don’t want to monitor your site for broken links manually. Whether it’s a missing link to a sales page or a bum link spoiling user experience, automate the search with this neat plugin to keep your bounce rate down.
Choose to be alerted to broken links by email or on the Dashboard (Tools > Broken Links). From links not working as they should to missing images and 404 redirects and missing images, Broken Link Checker does the heavy lifting for you. The plugin lets you create custom filters with ease.
The initial set-up is seamless. Depending on the size of your site, parsing could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
Broken Link Checker pulls some icons from Font Awesome.
One issue worth flagging is a noticeable uptick in false alerts since the most recent update. The only other real drawback is the expected increase in load time.
Really Simple SSL
Security is crucial, whatever the nature of your site. Install the lightweight Really Simple SSL plugin, and your site will be configured to run using secure https while the whole site is moved to SSL.
Assuming you have an SSL certificate, all you need to do is activate this plugin and enable SSL with a single click.
The premium version offers you a range of extra features. A mixed content scan shows you what steps to take if your site lacks that secure padlock. You’ll be free to enable HSTS, a Strict Transport Security response header that forces browsers to access your site with HTTPS rather than HTTP.
You’ll also enjoy more flexibility in the back end with the paid plugin along with premium support.
Kiss goodbye to insecure content and usher in SSL without lifting a finger.
WP Review by MyThemeShop
WP Review comes from the MyThemeShop stable. For anyone with an affiliate review site, this plugin—compatible with every WordPress theme—allows you to get started even if you’re a complete beginner.
Choose from three single product packages (one site, three sites, or unlimited sites) or a membership (unlimited sites, premium themes, and premium plugins). There’s also a free version available so you can try before you buy. You get 16 customizable templates with the paid packages and a pair of templates with the free version.
Here is an example of a review I wrote using the plugin
Support for an array of Rich Snippets is in place. Easily navigate between these depending on the needs of your site. Tables and ratings work well to boost SEO while also enhancing user experience. As you know, you need to please your readers just as much as Google.
Thinking of your readers, WP Review makes it easy to feature user feedback with an option for others to decide whether the comment was helpful, further boosting trust.
Google Places Reviews, Yelp Reviews, and Facebook Reviews are all baked in, allowing you to embed your reviews from those platforms easily.
Mobile-friendly with lean, secure code, WP Review is a must for affiliates.
Analytify
Streamline your workflow with Analytify, a plugin that presents your Google Analytics stats in your WordPress dashboard.
With 1-Click Authentication, set-up couldn’t be smoother. Forget manually copying and transferring code. Stats appear in a single block in wp-admin. Data populates in the block beneath Posts/Pages. The Premium plugin also serves up real-time stats in-Dashboard.
Analytify allows you to monitor the bounce rate easily. If visitors are leaving your site in seconds flat, you know you’ve got work to do.
With the 3.0 updated version, enjoy WooCommerce Enhanced e-commerce tracking.
If you want campaign tracking, email notifications, goals tracking, and enhanced e-commerce tracking, you’ll need the paid Pro version of Analytify.
Easy Table of Contents
As we edge to the end of our snapshot of the best SEO plugins for WordPress, Easy Table of Contents rates a mention.
A crucial part of creating the best user experience on your site is making things as easy as possible for your readers. Who wants to scroll more than necessary? Equally, who wants to create tables manually? Make things easy on yourself, too, while providing your visitors with simple site navigation.
You can also drive sales with a table of contents. Readers looking for the lowdown on one specific product can head directly to what they’re looking for.
Several themes for tables come bundled. If these themes fall short of your requirements, tweak the background, border, and link color to suit.
Easy Table of Contents is a fork of Michael Tran’s enduringly popular Table of Contents Plus and well worth investigating if you’re struggling to present tables optimally.
Akismet
Last but certainly not least, the classic Akismet plugin can help you fight back against the spamming that inevitably impacts most sites from time to time.
Akismet automatically analyzes your site with form submissions and comments scanned for potentially offensive or damaging content. Transparent status history differentiates between comments moderated and those flagged by Akismet. The Discard feature helps you to block the most damaging spam so you’ll free up valuable storage.
Check the URLs of comments at a glance so you can easily identify any hidden or inappropriate links. You can check approved comments with equal ease.
When you activate this plugin, you’ll be prompted to grab an API key from the Akismet site. For personal blogs, get a free key. If you’re running commercial sites, paid keys are available.
This swift, open-source plugin is a vital component of any SEO toolbox.
Conclusion
Well there you have it, my list of the best SEO plugins for WordPress. These are plugins I have tried and tested and I believe you cannot go wrong with any of them.
Are there other plugins that you have used for SEO that you want to share, write them down in the comments section below.
