15 Essential WordPress SEO Plugins to Improve Search Rankings in 2018

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This blog post is a useful guide on the 15 Essential WordPress SEO Plugins in the market!

Ok, wondering how to stay ahead of your rivals in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)?

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The answer is by optimizing your blog for the search engines. Well, unless you are a novice blogger, you know that it’s easier said than done!

But don’t despair, there’s an easy way to get around this challenge – by installing good WP SEO Plugins!

Yeah, WordPress SEO Plugins can integrate some of the very complex SEO features into your blog with a few mouse clicks!

Essential WordPress SEO Plugins to Improve Search Rankings
Essential WordPress SEO Plugins to Improve Search Rankings

Without much ado, let’s discuss these plugins one by one.

Note: You must install and activate every plugin to use them

Here are the 15 Essential WordPress SEO Plugins that you can try!

1. Yoast SEO

First Essential WordPress SEO Plugins on the list is Yoast SEO. Joost De Valk is the man behind this highly sought-after plugin.

It’s sought-after because it works and it’s free! However, you can upgrade to a premium version and unlock additional features, if you want.

Dubbed initially as “WordPress SEO by Yoast” in 2010, the plugin went through rigorous improvements and changes over the years.

Now rechristened into Yoast SEO, this plugin is one of the go-to WP SEO plugins in the marketplace!

Getting started

Install and activate the plugin, and then fill in the details in the settings page. Here is complete guide we have written to Optimize Yoast SEO Plugin.

Yoast SEO Website-Company-Person info settings
Yoast SEO Website-Company-Person info settings

Main Features

  • It analyses the content for SEO defects and tells you how to rectify them. E.g. Meta description, Focus keyword
  • It checks the level of readability of the content and instructs how to improve it.
  • It gives your content an SEO score.
Yoast SEO Webmaster Tools Verification - WP SEO Plugins
Yoast SEO Webmaster Tools Verification – WP SEO Plugins

Why use this plugin?

  • Even a newbie with no advanced SEO knowledge can easily use this plugin.
  • This plugin has all the vital SEO features loaded into it to ensure higher search engine rankings.
  • Yoast SEO is both easy-to-use and powerful in comparison to other sophisticated WP SEO plugins.
  • The plugin comes with many essential tools like XML Sitemaps, Redirect and built in editor for .Htaccess, Robots.txt
Yoast On Page SEO Analysis Keyword Readability - WordPress SEO Plugins
Yoast On Page SEO Analysis Keyword Readability – WordPress SEO Plugins

2. All in One SEO Pack

If Yoast SEO is not your kind of SEO plugin, then why not check out the “All in One SEO Pack”?

All in One SEO Pack is also a free plugin, but you can upgrade to a Pro version to avail additional features.

All in One SEO Pack Home General Settings
All in One SEO Pack Home General Settings

Main Features

  1. SEO Meta Box – This box allows you to enter the search engine optimized post title and description.
  2. XML Sitemaps – This allows you to submit XML sitemaps that facilitate easy navigation of your blog by the search engines.
  3. Social Meta – With this feature, you can easily integrate your social accounts with your blog.
All In One SEO Pack Home Page Settings
All In One SEO Pack Home Page Settings

Why use this plugin?

It has almost all the features of the Yoast SEO and easier to work with.

Unlike Yoast SEO, the settings are displayed on a single page, which many people find less confusing. And the interface is simpler.

All In One SEO Post Page Settings
All In One SEO Post Page Settings

Cons

However, unlike Yoast SEO, the content is not analyzed for SEO defects and SEO score is not given to your web pages.

3. Google XML Sitemaps

As discussed earlier, XML sitemaps allow search engines to navigate (or crawl) your site efficiently. This makes Google XML sitemaps one of the vital WordPress SEO plugins for your blog!

Remember, without a sitemap, your website can even remain undiscovered by search engines. You certainly don’t want that, do you!

Yeah, the concept of sitemaps is a bit technical but equally crucial for higher search engine rankings.

But worry not; this plugin takes care of the complex tech stuff for you.

All you need to do is a few clicks on the checkboxes in the settings page and Voila! The XML sitemap is ready for your site.

Google XML Sitemaps Basic Options
Google XML Sitemaps Basic Options

Main features

  • This plugin generates a special XML sitemap and makes indexing of your website
  • Supports pages created by WordPress as well as custom page URLs.
  • Whenever you publish a new page or a post, all the search engines are notified of the new page or post.
Google XML Sitemaps Content - WP SEO Plugins
Google XML Sitemaps Content – WP SEO Plugins

Why use this plugin?

Very easy to setup and use, and highly recommended for newbies as well as veteran SEO professionals.

4. Google XML Sitemap for Videos

This plugin is a specialized version of the Google XML sitemaps.

Unlike the previous sitemap plugin, the Google XML sitemap for videos creates a sitemap of all the posts that have embedded YouTube videos in them.

Google XML Sitemap for Videos - WP SEO Plugins
Google XML Sitemap for Videos – WP SEO Plugins

Main feature

This plugin will generate XML sitemap of all the web pages with embedded YouTube videos or links to them.

However, Google will ignore those web pages in your blog with YouTube videos that have been taken out from YouTube.

Why use this plugin?

This is one of the best WordPress SEO plugins to create video sitemaps.

Cons

Though this is a useful SEO plugin, it hasn’t been updated for the past four years.

So you may not receive support and maintenance for it and it may not work with your latest WordPress version.

5. Google XML Sitemap for Images

This WordPress SEO plugin comes from the same source as the Google XML sitemap for videos plugin.

Google XML Sitemap for Images - WP SEO Plugins
Google XML Sitemap for Images – WP SEO Plugins

Main feature

Unlike the video sitemaps plugin, this plugin will generate a sitemap for all the blog posts and pages on your WordPress site that have image URLs in it.

Why use this plugin?

To be easily discovered by search engines if your site hosts plenty of images! Learn how you optimize images in WordPress for SEO and Speed.

Cons

This plugin also hasn’t been updated for the past four years. So you may not receive support and maintenance for this plugin. Plus it may have compatibility issues with the latest WordPress version.

6. Broken Link Checker

If you are looking for a plugin that ensures all your blog links are intact? Then look no further than the Broken Link Checker.

Broken Link Checker General Settings - WP SEO Plugins
Broken Link Checker General Settings – WP SEO Plugins

Main features

  • This is a highly configurable SEO plugin that notifies you of broken links in your blog through the Dashboard or email.
  • Apart from broken links this plugin also checks for missing images, and non-functional redirects.
  • You can edit the links right from the plugin’s setting page without having to update it manually on each page or post.

Why use this plugin?

This plugin is especially useful for blog owners that are heavily into link building. Because it is extremely vital to have a flawless link structure for such blogs.

7. Redirection

This can surely be touted as one of the ultimate WP SEO plugins for redirects.

And it’s 100% free!

The topic of redirects may seem daunting to many, but ignoring it can be equally detrimental to your blog’s SEO.

Redirection Manage Redirections - WP SEO Plugins
Redirection Manage Redirections – WP SEO Plugins

Main features

  • This feature is really neat; the plugin creates a 301 redirect AUTOMATICALLY when you change the permalink of a post or page in your blog.
  • You can also add 301, 302 and 307 redirects manually.
  • This plugin helps you keep track of 404 errors (your blog’s non-existent pages) and also map them to 301 redirects.
  • You can have total control of the redirected URLs by looking at the redirection log that it creates.

Why use this plugin?

  • It helps you easily manage the unnerving 301 redirects and 404 errors of your blog.
  • This plugin can be a lifesaver if you are moving pages or posts to a new website.
  • Also, highly useful if you are moving your WordPress installation files to a new location.

8. SEO Internal Links

A robust internal linking structure is a strong ranking factor for search engines!

SEO Internal Links is one of those WordPress SEO plugins that’ll help you accomplish that.

Main features

  • The plugin will automatically link phrases and keywords of your posts and comments with categories, tags, posts, and pages of your blog.
  • This plugin also allows you to link your custom keywords with the URLs of your choice.

Why use this plugin?

Very easy to configure and the perfect way to make your blog content interlinked.

9. Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights

To know your blog’s performance, you must have the Google Analytics code installed on your blog.

Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights WP SEO Plugins
Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights WP SEO Plugins

WordPress SEO Plugins like this helps you accomplish that without having to tamper with the code. Read how to add Google Analytics into your blog. The Right Way!

Main Features

  • Integrate your blog/website with Google Analytics without messing with the code.
  • Know how visitors found your website and how they interact with it.
  • Very easy to set up and monitor your blog’s performance.
  • Allows you to analyze the Google Analytics reports right inside the Dashboard of your WordPress site.

Why use this plugin?

Connect your website with Google Analytics with a few mouse clicks and know vital stats of your blog right from the Dashboard.

10. SEO Squirrly – WP SEO Plugins

If you are just starting out with SEO, you must surely check out this plugin.

This plugin can help you create content that’s both friendly for human readers as well as search engines.

SEO SQUIRRLY WP SEO Plugins
SEO SQUIRRLY WP SEO Plugins

Main Features

  • Helps you create excellent content and boost search engine rankings.
  • Provides you vital SEO stats and helps improve them.
  • The plugin can find the best keywords that you can use in your content for higher search engine rankings.

Why use this plugin?

This plugin will help even a person with no SEO knowledge to create highly optimized content. Most importantly it is easy to set up and use!

11. All In One Schema.Org Rich Snippets

This is a plugin that allows you to provide “Rich Snippet” to the search engines.

Integrating the ‘Rich Snippet’ is a minor SEO tweak, but it certainly renders crucial SEO benefits to your blog.

All In One Schema-Org Rich Snippets Configuration - WP SEO Plugins
All In One Schema-Org Rich Snippets Configuration – WP SEO Plugins

Main Feature

This plugin helps you create ‘Rich Snippet’ information effortlessly that follows the Schema.org standards.

Why use this plugin?

Rich Snippet helps improve search engine rankings!

12. Schema

Integrating Schema markup code helps search engines to display informative details from your blog in SERPs.

Schema General Settings - Essentials WordPress SEO Plugins
Schema General Settings – Essentials WordPress SEO Plugins

Main feature

  • This plugin helps you easily and automatically integrate Schema.org structured data markup in JSON-LD format to your WordPress site.
  • Easy to set up and use.
  • It is designed to reuse the Meta data created by other plugins.

Why use this plugin?

This plugin helps search engines to retrieve and display more informative results about your website to the searchers.

So apart from its SEO benefits, this plugin also makes your site more user-friendly.

13. Stallion WordPress SEO Plugin

The creator of this plugin challenges Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack and claims to have a smarter way to redirect link benefits using canonical URLs.

Well, then why not give it a shot to see if the plugin really stacks up to his claim!

Stallion WordPress SEO Plugin Not Index Options - WordPress SEO Plugins
Stallion WordPress SEO Plugin Not Index Options – WordPress SEO Plugins

Main feature

The plugin allows us to link to tags, internal categories, monthly archives, custom post type archives, custom taxonomies and so on and still retain the link benefits through canonical URLs.

Why use this plugin?

You can use this plugin if you want to link to different sections of your WordPress site (as mentioned in Main feature section). And avoid search engines from indexing duplicate content and still redirect their link benefits using canonical URLs.

14. Local Search SEO Contact Page

If your business largely depends on local clients, then make sure it shows up in local search results.

But for that, your website must be optimized for local search. Just what this plugin does!

Well, it is often an overlooked SEO tweak, but it has the potential to drive more targeted traffic to your blog.

Local Search SEO Contact Page Settings - Essential WordPress SEO Plugins
Local Search SEO Contact Page Settings – Essential WordPress SEO Plugins

Main features

  • This plugin will display your business information formatted by microdata in both hCard and Schema.org formats. It also allows for customization of information.
  • This microdata format makes the information easy for search engine indexing.
  • The plugin also generates Google map, QR code, social media buttons, geotag coordinates etc.
  • User-friendly settings page.

Why use this plugin?

This is a must-have plugin if you want your important company information to be seen in the local search results.

15. AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages

Last but not the least plugin on this Essential WordPress SEO Plugins list is AMP for WP.

Are your web pages optimized for faster loading on mobile devices? If not, you must have AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages.

And how do you do that? By installing a plugin like AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages! Read How to Setup this Plugin

A rich and faster experience for the mobile users is a crucial search ranking factor for websites these days.

AMP for WP Post Builder Settings
AMP for WP Post Builder Settings

Main features

This plugin offers oodles of powerful SEO features to help boost your site’s search engine rankings. Here are some of the main ones!

  • One of the coolest features is a Custom AMP editor, which allows you to write new content for the mobile version of your web pages.
  • Mobile redirection feature of the plugin makes your mobile pages to load incredibly faster, resulting in higher rankings in search engine results.
  • It has easy-to-understand and user-friendly settings pages
Design Options AMP for WP
Design Options AMP for WP

Why use this plugin?

Install this plugin to boost your blog’s search rankings as well as to offer a faster and smoother experience to your mobile visitors.

Wrapping up

I know there are several more Essential WordPress SEO Plugins out there to cover but I’m limiting my list to the really best ones.

WP SEO plugins not just help you accomplish higher search engine rankings but also offers seamless and richer browsing experience to your visitors.

So what WordPress SEO plugins do you use for your WordPress site? Do let us know in the comments section below.

Cheers!

Further Readings you may like…
Increase Page Speed using Htaccess (WordPress)
How to Create Child Theme in WordPress

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2 thoughts on “15 Essential WordPress SEO Plugins to Improve Search Rankings in 2018”

  1. Avatar of Darren Zinke

    My brother suggested I might like this website. He was entirely
    right. This publish actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how
    much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Avatar of Prashant

    I Am Using SeoPress, Just Moved From Yoast. What Is your Views On That Plugin.
    Thanks For The Post!!!!

    Reply

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