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How To Set Up Yoast SEO Plugin In WordPress: Beginners\’ Guide To Set Up Yoast SEO

How To Set Up Yoast SEO Plugin In WordPress: Many bloggers find Search Engine Optimization (SEO) extremely difficult. And I completely agree with them.

SEO is, indeed, difficult. It takes a lot of reading and practice to learn and successfully implement them in your blog/website.

And since,\\ Google introduces some or the other changes in its algorithm every now and then, SEO practices too are always evolving. You need to be in constant touch with the latest news and blogs on this subjects.

So, what to do then?

Well, if you are using a self-hosted WordPress blog, you don’t have to worry about that at all, not for On-Page SEO at least.

Because like for everything else, there is a plugin to look after your On-Page SEO.

Yoast SEO for WordPress!

This is a very powerful plugin that makes On-Page SEO extremely easy. And yes, it is free. They do have a Premium plan as well though.

So, in this article, I will tell you about Yoast SEO for WordPress and how to set up Yoast SEO Plugin in WordPress.

How To Set Up Yoast SEO Plugin In WordPress?

What Is Yoast SEO Plugin: Yoast SEO for WordPress is a powerful tool that helps in optimization of your page for search engines. Basically, it lets you to decide on a keyword (called the Focus Keyword for which you want your page to rank) and optimize your article around it.

What Can We Do With Yoast SEO For WordPress? What Are The Features Of Yoast SEO Plugin?

You can do the following with Yoast SEO for WordPress:

  1. Generates XML sitemaps of your site
  2. Sets canonical URL or preferred URL to avoid duplicate content issue
  3. Sets title and meta description
  4. Shows preview of how your post will look in SERP
  5. Helps you in maintaining the right keyword density
  6. Ensures you have entered the Focus Keyword in the right place, like introduction, H2 tag, title, meta description, alt tag, slug, etc.
  7. Makes sure you have the right slug
  8. Integrates with GSC
  9. Helps you improve the readability of your post

And many more.

Basically, it ensures your content is optimized for both users and search engines.

Find Out How To Set Up Google Search Console For Your WordPress Site Here

How To Set Up Yoast SEO In WordPress?

Setting up Yoast SEO in WordPress is easy. Just do the following:

1. Install Yoast SEO In WordPress

Go to Plugins > Add New. Type in Yoast SEO in the search box. When the plugin appears on the screen, click on “Install”. Once it is installed, click on “Activate”.

2. Go to Configuration Wizard

Once you activate Yoast SEO for WordPress, you will see the following screen:
\"Open
Click on “Configuration Wizard”. You will see this screen:
\"Configure
Now click on “Configure Yoast SEO”. You will land up on this page:
\"Setting
Hereafter, you will have to select the right option that represent your site and click on “Next”. You will have to provide the following information:
a. Whether or not your site is live and ready for Google to index it,
b. Type of site,
c. Whether or not your site represent a person or a company
d.  Social profile (Username, URL of your social pages)
e.  Whether or not you want search engines to show your pages and posts
f.  Whether or not your site has multiple authors
g.  Select the profile and integrate with Google Search Console
h. Your choice of Title Separator
i. Whether or not you want to sign up for Yoast Newsletter
For the next page, just click on “Next” and you are done. With these, the most important settings will be configured.

3. Configure Additional Settings For Search Appearance

Now, go to SEO > Search Appearance.
\"Yoast
Then go to the following tabs:
  • General: Under “Title Separator”, click on the first separator. Under “Homepage & Front page” click on edit the front page itself and edit the blog page itself (if you have a static home page and a separate page for your blogs) to set up the title and meta description for these pages. Click on “Save Changes”.
  • Content Types: Under “Content Types”, toggle “Yoast SEO Meta Box” to Show for Posts. Do the same for Pages if you have set “Show Pages in search results” as Yes. Then click on “Save Changes”.
  • Media: Set “Redirect attachment URLs to the attachment itself” to Yes and click on “Save Changes”. This will open the attachments when users click on the link.
  • Taxonomies: Set “Show Categories in search results” to No. Do the same for Tags and click on “Save Changes”. Otherwise, you can face duplicate content issue.
  • Archives: Disable Date Archive Settings. If it is a single author blog, disable Author Archive Settings. Make sure you click on “Save Changes”

4. Now, submit your XML Sitemap.

You can read this blog post on how to create an XML Sitemap using Yoast SEO plugin.

It is to be noted that if you had been using some other plugin for SEO before installing Yoast SEO plugin, you should import settings from those plugins to Yoast.

I hope I have been able to explain how to set up Yoast SEO plugin in WordPress. If you face any difficulty in setting up the plugin or if you have any question regarding how to set up Yoast SEO plugin in WordPress, let me know. I will be happy to help you out.

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