SEO Plugin Comparison
In this post we'll take a deep dive into the top search engine optimization plugins for WordPress. First we'll talk about what search engine optimization is, then what options are available, and finally what situations might call for the various features that are available. We'll compare features, prices, use cases, and design. We spent over 10 hours researching the top plugins, documenting their features, testing their capabilities, and detailing the results. There's a lot of information here, so let's start with a table of contents.
Table of Contents
In this post we'll take a deep dive into the top search engine optimization plugins for WordPress. First we'll talk about what search engine optimization is, then what options are available, and finally what situations might call for the various features that are available. We'll compare features, prices, use cases, and design. We spent over 10 hours researching the top plugins, documenting their features, testing their capabilities, and detailing the results. There's a lot of information here, so let's start with a table of contents.
What is search engine optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimization is the process of making a website appeal to search engines. This is done in order to move up the ranks of search results for a targeted word or phrase.
There are two main things that search engines look at to determine the ranking of their search results.
On page factors
Search engines read the contents of your site in order to understand what your site is about. Search engines also look at page content, meta data, structured data, images, and more to try to understand exactly what each page is about.
SEO plugins can help us add proper content and context in order to help search engines understand our content. However, we don't want to go overboard and stuff keywords all over the place.
Search engines are always trying to weed out sites that are trying to game the system, so we want to use search phrases naturally.
Off page factors
In addition to scanning our site to see what we're saying, search engines also scan other sites to see what they're saying about our site. The primary way this is done is through links.
Search engines count links as a kind of voting system. If another site links to our site, it's as if that site has "voted" for our site. Sites with lots of inbound links rank higher because of all the "votes" they have.
Search engines also read the link text to make sure that what other people are saying about your site matches with the content on your site.
While some SEO plugins may include tools for off page SEO, these plugins primarily work with on page SEO.
Why use an SEO plugin?
SEO plugins are helpful because...