How to Install and Setup WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast

Do you want to properly install and setup Yoast SEO plugin? At WPBeginner we use WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast because it is the most complete SEO solution for WordPress websites. In this article, we will show you how to install and setup Yoast SEO and utilize all the awesome features that come with it.

Features

Yoast SEO is the most comprehensive WordPress SEO plugin with many built-in tools and features. Here is a quick overview of some of those features.

• Change post’s SEO title and meta description on a per post basis.
• Title and meta description support for taxonomies (e.g. category and tags).
• Google search result snippet previews.
• Focus keyword testing.
• Meta Robots configuration:
  • Easily add noodp, noydir meta tags.
  • Easily noindex, or nofollow pages, taxonomies or entire archives.
• Improved canonical support, adding canonical to taxonomy archives, single posts and pages and the front page.
• RSS footer / header configuration.
• Permalink clean ups, while still allowing for Google Custom Search.
• Breadcrumbs support, with configurable breadcrumbs titles.
• XML Sitemaps with:
  • Images
  • Configurable removal of post types and taxonomies
  • Pages or posts that have been noindexed will not show in XML sitemap (but can if you want them too).
• XML News Sitemaps.
• .htaccess and robots.txt editor.
• Ability to verify Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo Site Explorer, and Bing Webmaster Tools
• Basic import functionality for HeadSpace2 and All in One SEO. (You can also use the SEO Data Transporter to transfer functionality from themes like Thesis,Headway, Genesis etc).

The premium version of the Yoast SEO comes with even more features.

• A redirect manager that allows you to easily set up redirects.
• Video tutorials to help you understand each feature of the plugin.
• Premium support provided by the folks at Yoast to help you make the most out of your site’s SEO.

For more features and details you may want to see our comparison of Yoast SEO vs All in One SEO Pack.

How to Install Yoast SEO Plugin

First, thing you need to do is install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you will notice a new menu item in WordPress admin bar labeled SEO with Yoast SEO logo on it.

Now that you have installed and activated the plugin, let’s take a look at how to properly setup this powerful plugin.

How to Setup WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast

You should remember, that the settings that we select are the ones that we recommend. Other experts may have their own preferences and discretion, so advanced users can ignore anything that they do not like.

If you are a beginner, and you want to use Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin like we do, then please follow along the steps carefully.

Step 1. Data Transfer

Most of you probably have another WordPress plugin like All in One SEO pack, or a theme framework like Genesis dealing with your SEO data.

If you want to successfully use this plugin, then you need to make sure that all of your previous data has been transported to this plugin before you deactivate the other one.

To accomplish this, we recommend using SEO Data Transporter byStudioPress. If you’re setting this up on a new blog, then skip this step.