What Is Yoast SEO? A Practical Guide for WordPress Users

If you’ve had a web designer or built your own website on WordPress, chances are you’ve heard of Yoast SEO—one of the most popular SEO plugins around. But what exactly is it, what does it do, and how can it help your site rank better on Google?

At Alex Furfaro SEO Consulting, we often recommend Yoast to clients who manage their own content but want a simple way to keep their pages optimized. This post explains what Yoast SEO is, how it works, and how to use it effectively as part of your SEO strategy.

What Is Yoast SEO?

Yoast SEO is a plugin for WordPress websites that helps users optimize their content and technical SEO settings to improve search engine rankings. It was created by Joost de Valk in 2010 and has since become a go-to tool for beginners and experienced marketers alike.

Yoast provides real-time analysis of your content for both SEO best practices and readability, and offers tools to control everything from meta tags to sitemaps—right from your WordPress dashboard.

What Does Yoast SEO Do?

Yoast SEO handles a wide range of on-page and technical SEO tasks, many of which would otherwise require custom coding or multiple plugins.

Core Features Include:

• SEO title and meta description editing 
• Focus keyword optimization 
• Content readability analysis 
• Schema markup and structured data 
• XML sitemap generation 
• Canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content 
• Breadcrumb control 
• Robots.txt and .htaccess file editing 
• Open Graph and Twitter Card metadata 
• Indexing and noindex controls for pages/posts 

There’s also a Yoast SEO Premium version, which includes internal linking suggestions, redirect manager, multiple keyword targeting, and more advanced tools.

Why WordPress Users Love Yoast SEO

Yoast isn’t the only SEO plugin out there (more on that later), but it remains one of the most trusted for a reason.

Advantages of Using Yoast:

• User-friendly interface 
• Helpful color-coded feedback for SEO and readability 
• Easy control over important SEO settings 
• Integrates well with Gutenberg and Classic Editor 
• Well-documented and regularly updated 
• Respected by developers and content creators alike 

It’s especially helpful for site owners who aren’t SEO experts but still want to make sure their site is following best practices.

How Yoast SEO Works (Step-by-Step)

When you install Yoast SEO, it adds a module beneath every post and page in the WordPress editor. This is where the real work happens.

Step 1: Set Your Focus Keyword

This is the main keyword or phrase you’re trying to rank for. Yoast will evaluate your content against this keyword and offer suggestions for improvement.

Examples:

• “best SEO tools for small businesses” 
• “Columbus SEO consultant” 
• “how to rank on Google in 2025” 

Step 2: Edit Your SEO Title and Meta Description

Yoast provides preview snippets for how your page will look in Google search results. You can easily edit your:

• SEO title (what appears as the blue link in SERPs) 
• Slug (URL text after your domain) 
• Meta description (short summary of your page’s content) 

Yoast will warn you if these are too long, too short, or missing keywords.

Step 3: Review the SEO Analysis

Yoast uses a simple red, orange, green light system to indicate how well your content is optimized. It checks for:

• Keyword usage in the title, meta description, headers, and body text 
• Keyword density 
• Internal and outbound links 
• Alt text for images 
• URL structure 
• Content length 

While not perfect, this analysis is a useful starting point—especially for non-technical users.

Step 4: Improve Readability

Yoast also analyzes how easy your content is to read. It evaluates:

• Sentence length 
• Paragraph length 
• Passive voice 
• Transition words 
• Subheading distribution 
• Flesch Reading Ease score 

This helps ensure your content is clear, scannable, and user-friendly, which also supports SEO.

What Yoast SEO Does Not Do

Yoast SEO is a tool, not a complete solution. It doesn’t write your content, build backlinks, or guarantee rankings.

Here’s what it doesn’t cover:

• Off-page SEO like link building or citations 
• Keyword research (you’ll need external tools like Ahrefs or Semrush) 
• Site speed optimization 
• Content strategy or planning 
• Analytics integration beyond basic meta tags 

That’s why we recommend using Yoast or RankMath alongside a full SEO strategy—like the ones we create at Alex Furfaro SEO Consulting.

Free vs. Premium: Which Version Should You Use?

The free version of Yoast SEO is more than enough for most websites. But if you’re managing a larger site or need more advanced functionality, Premium might be worth it.

Yoast SEO Premium Features:

• Multiple focus keywords per post 
• Internal linking suggestions 
• Redirect manager 
• Orphaned content finder 
• Preview for Facebook and Twitter sharing 
• Priority support 

It currently runs about $99/year per site, which is reasonable for the added value if you’re serious about content-driven SEO, but honestly, we’ve never purchased the premium version.

How Does Yoast Compare to Other SEO Plugins?

There are other strong contenders in the WordPress SEO space, like:

• Rank Math – newer but packed with features, including AI content scoring and more schema control. This is more light-weight in terms of page speed too. We use rankmath more than Yoast now.  
• All in One SEO Pack – another legacy plugin with a loyal following 
• SEOPress – powerful and developer-friendly 
• The SEO Framework – lightweight and minimal for advanced users 

Yoast remains one of the most popular due to its ease of use, support, and longevity—but it’s not your only option.

When Should You Use Yoast SEO?

Yoast is a great fit for:

• Small to medium-sized businesses managing their own websites 
• Bloggers who want to improve visibility 
• Agencies and freelancers working on client WordPress sites 
• E-commerce stores using WooCommerce 
• Non-technical users who want an SEO co-pilot 

If you’re managing your own SEO and want a simple, guided tool to help optimize each post and page, Yoast is a solid choice.

Final Thoughts: Yoast SEO Is a Great Start—But Not a Strategy

Yoast SEO is one of the best tools for WordPress users looking to improve on-page SEO. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle. To really move the needle, you need a complete SEO strategy that includes technical fixes, content planning, local SEO optimization, and link building.

Need help putting the full picture together? Contact us and we’ll audit your site, optimize your setup, and build a long-term plan to get your business found online.

FAQ

Is Yoast SEO good for beginners?
Yes—Yoast is designed with non-technical users in mind and provides real-time tips to improve your content and meta tags.

Does Yoast SEO guarantee higher rankings?
No SEO plugin can guarantee rankings, but Yoast helps implement best practices that support better visibility.

Is the Premium version of Yoast worth it?
It depends. If you manage a large site or want features like redirects and internal linking suggestions, Premium can be a good investment.

Can I use Yoast on multiple sites?
The free version can be installed on as many sites as you want. The Premium license is per site unless you purchase a multi-site license.

Does Yoast work with WooCommerce?
Yes. Yoast has a dedicated WooCommerce SEO plugin to optimize product pages and schema for online stores.