What is Yoast SEO?
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.
Yoast SEO is a powerful WordPress plugin that helps optimize your website for search engines.
With it, you can:
- Improve on-page SEO
- Add meta titles & descriptions
- Create XML sitemaps
- Control social previews
- Avoid duplicate content
- And so much more
Over 5+ million websites use Yoast. If you care about Google rankings, you need it too!
📥 Step 1: Install Yoast SEO Plugin
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard
- Click on Plugins > Add New
- In the search bar, type “Yoast SEO”
- Click Install Now
- After installation, hit Activate
Done! You’ll now see a new “SEO” option in your WordPress menu.
⚙️ Step 2: Use the Yoast Configuration Wizard
Once activated, Yoast will guide you through its easy setup wizard.
To access:
- Go to SEO > General
- Click the “First-time configuration” tab
Now follow these steps:
🔹 Site Basics
- What type of site is this?
Choose: Blog / Online shop / News site / etc. - Is this a personal or business site?
Choose accordingly. - Your site name and logo:
Add your website name and upload your logo (used for Google preview).
🔹 Site Visibility
Yoast asks if you want search engines to index your pages.
✅ Select Yes for both Posts & Pages (unless you’re hiding something from search engines).
🔹 Multiple Authors?
If you have more than one writer, select Yes.
If you’re the only one posting, choose No (it prevents duplicate author pages).
🔹 SEO Title Settings
Choose how your SEO title appears in Google.
Recommended format:Title | Site name
👉 Example:
“How to Set Up Yoast SEO | MyBlogSite”
Click Save and continue.
🗂️ Step 3: Set Up XML Sitemaps
Sitemaps help Google find your content faster.
Go to:
SEO > Settings > General > Site features
Make sure “XML sitemaps” is turned ON ✅
You can view your sitemap here:
yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
🖋️ Step 4: Optimize Your Posts with Yoast
Now that Yoast is active, go to any post or page.
Scroll down — you’ll see the Yoast SEO box below the editor.
Here’s what you can do:
📌 Focus Keyphrase
Choose the main keyword for the post.
Example: If your blog is about “Best running shoes”, enter that as your Focus keyphrase.
Yoast will give you a checklist:
✅ Keyword in title
✅ Keyword in intro
✅ Keyword in subheadings
✅ Internal links
✅ Meta description
Try to get a green light on as many factors as possible!
✏️ Meta Title & Description
Customize how your post appears on Google.
Click the “Edit Snippet” button and add:
- A catchy SEO title
- A short but powerful meta description with your keyword
Pro Tip: Keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 160.
🔗 Step 5: Social Media Previews
Click on the Social tab in Yoast.
Here, you can:
- Add a custom Facebook title & image
- Add a custom Twitter preview
Perfect for sharing your blog posts with style!
🚫 Bonus: Things You Shouldn’t Do with Yoast SEO
❌ Don’t keyword stuff just to get green lights
❌ Don’t blindly noindex important pages
❌ Don’t ignore the Readability Analysis
❌ Don’t think Yoast alone will rank you — content is king
🎯 Final Thoughts
Setting up Yoast SEO might feel technical at first, but once done — it becomes your silent SEO partner.
You just focus on creating amazing content. Yoast will take care of the structure, meta tags, and search visibility.
📣 Need Help Optimizing Your Site?
If you’re struggling to get green lights or don’t know what keywords to use — reach out! We offer professional WordPress SEO setup that actually brings traffic. 💡