Yoast SEO

What Yoast SEO does

WordPress does not handle much technical SEO out of the box. Yoast SEO fills the gaps. According to its WordPress.org page, the free plugin provides:

• Editable SEO titles and meta descriptions per page, with templates for the whole site.
• XML sitemaps that update when you publish.
• Canonical URLs and control over which content types are indexed.
• Schema.org structured data describing the site, organisation, pages and articles, plus FAQ and HowTo blocks.
• Breadcrumbs.
• A real-time content analysis with traffic-light feedback on keyword use and readability, in more than 20 languages.
• A bulk editor for titles and descriptions, and integrations with services such as Google Site Kit and Semrush.

As of 2026-09 the plugin page shows more than 10 million active installations and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from about 26,800 reviews, and it requires a recent WordPress version and PHP 7.4 or higher.

Is it worth your time?

For most business sites, yes: it handles titles, sitemaps and structured data correctly with little setup, which are the technical basics search engines look for. Treat the traffic-light analysis as a writing prompt, not a target. A page does not rank because every light is green; it ranks because it answers what people are searching for and the site is fast and crawlable.

Yoast or Rank Math?

Rank Math (wordpress.org/plugins/seo-by-rank-math) is the common alternative, with a similar free feature set and different interface. Both are fine. Choose one per site and stay with it: running two SEO plugins produces duplicate meta tags and conflicting sitemaps. Switching later is possible with their import tools, but test on a staging copy.

Free or paid

The free plugin is enough for most small sites. As of 2026-09 the Yoast website lists Yoast SEO Premium at $118.80 per year, excluding VAT, adding features such as a redirect manager, social previews, more AI tools and support. Check the official pricing page before quoting a client, since prices change.

Setting it up well

Run the first-time configuration, tell it whether the site represents an organisation or a person, submit the sitemap URL in Google Search Console, and set noindex on thin archive pages you do not want in search. Then write a unique title and description for the main pages yourself.

Common questions

Does installing it improve rankings? No. It removes technical obstacles. Content, speed and links still decide rankings.

Does it work with WooCommerce? Yes for the basics; product-specific features come from a separate paid add-on.

Do I need it on a block theme? Yes. Block themes handle layout, not SEO metadata or sitemaps beyond the basic core sitemap.