WordPress officially powers over 1/3rd of the entire internet – making it the content management system for millions of business owners all over the world.
WordPress Market Share / Usage Statistics from W3 Techs
The popularity of WordPress has helped it to cater to a large range of needs with a plugin repository that has grown to over 50,000.
In this post, we will look at a plugin that every single WordPress user needs – Rank Math SEO.
Rank Math is the best search engine optimization plugin for WordPress. It undeniably offers absolutely everything you need to take full control of your website’s technical on-page SEO. To cut a long story short, who wouldn’t want to optimize their WordPress website to get more traffic from search?
So, without further ado, let me explain in detail as to why Rank Math should be the next plugin you install on your websites and add to your list of must-use plugins.
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Rank Math is As Fast As You Like
If you’re tired of other SEO plugins slowing down your website, Rank Math is definitely for you. As someone who is obsessed with performance, I have to admit I’m always skeptical when it comes to adding new plugins to websites. That’s the reason why I always take the time to test plugins thoroughly. Throughout my testing of all the popular SEO plugins, it was clear that Rank Math came out on top in every single test, so if you care about performance, the choice is clear.
An Easy-to-Use Redirection Module
When combined with Rank Math’s 404 Monitor, the redirection module is another useful feature worth mentioning.
Together with Rank Math’s Google Search Console integration, 404 Monitor and redirection module helps you proactively to track issues that may arise on your website. It wouldn’t be ideal to spend a lot of time in an effort to try and get a post to rank, only to realize that it leads to a 404 page until it’s eventually removed from search results.
While there are separate 404 Monitor plugins that make it possible to accomplish similar things, having everything paired into an SEO plugin means you don’t have to install an extra plugin that could be poorly developed, or it might slow down your website.
Advanced Inbuilt SEO Audit Feature
Audits are an important part of any search engine optimization strategy. Thanks to Rank Math, conducting actionable technical SEO audits has never been this easier. This is a process that would have typically taken days to complete and cost money, depending on whether or not you had the time or ability to perform what was once a difficult task.
But, with the right tools and this in-depth dead simple guide that the Rank Math team have put together, it couldn’t be much easier. They’ve taken the time to gather everything you need to take action on your SEO audit results as well, including useful tools and resources such as this list of the best WordPress image optimization plugins.
A Support Team That’s Always Ready to Help You
Just as we’re starting to expect from all products and services we use, regardless of whether or not they are free, Rank Math’s support is exceptional…
In the unlikely event that you do run into any issues or have any questions about how to do something with the plugin, rest assured you will get the help that you need – and quickly. Fortunately, the chances you will ever have to reach out are so low due to the detailed knowledgebase available on their website.
Configure Rich Snippets With Ease
The reason Rank Math is my personal favorite SEO plugin can be partially attributed to the fact that it is the only plugin that allows you to configure over 14 different types of Schema.org markup for content on your WordPress website.
In case you’d like to learn more about rich snippets, feel free to check out Google’s post here and refer to the list of rich snippet types that Rank Math supports below:
- Article Rich Snippet
- Book Rich Snippet
- Course Rich Snippet
- Event Rich Snippet
- Job Posting Rich Snippet
- Local Business Rich Snippet
- Music Rich Snippet
- Person Rich Snippet
- Product Rich Snippet
- Recipe Rich Snippet
- Restaurant Rich Snippet
- Review Rich Snippet
- Service Rich Snippet
- Software/App Rich Snippet
- Video Rich Snippet
Helpful Content Insights
The Meta Box is one of the most important and most used components of an SEO plugin. This area lives in your post, page or custom post type editor in WordPress, and provides you with helpful insights that can help you improve your content.
Although it is relatively common for experienced search engine optimization ‘experts’ to argue that there is no need for the content analysis (such as the one that most SEO plugins have), and that meeting all of the points there won’t actually help your site rank.
They are partially true. Scoring 100/100 on a post with any SEO plugin, doesn’t necessarily mean your post is 100% likely to rank. However, the insights that Rank Math includes are more than just recommendations, they are backed up by data-driven case studies. So they are good recommendations, but that doesn’t mean that your only aim – while producing content – should be to meet them either.
Evidently, doing so is only a small step towards helping your site ranks. Search engine optimization wouldn’t be an $80 billion (USD) industry if it were really that easy, but proper technical on-page SEO and Rank Math’s content recommendations are definitely a step in the right direction.
An Amazing Community of Fellow Search Engine Optimization Fanatics
Installing Rank Math on your website not only means you’re unleashing your WordPress website’s full potential in terms of technical SEO, it also means that you’re free to join a Facebook group that will help you stay ahead of the curve and learn new techniques every single day.
But What if I’m Already Using Some Other SEO Plugin?
Well, the chances are if this is your first time hearing about Rank Math – you’ve been with one of the many other available SEO plugins. When you decide to migrate, it’s important to make sure you take the time to import all of the settings from your previous plugin which, thanks to the Rank Math team is extremely easy to do.
Here are some common questions you’ll have before you make the switch:
Can I import all of my settings and data from Yoast and other SEO plugins?
Yes, Rank Math can easily import data from older SEO plugins. All you need to to is install Rank Math without deleting the other plugin and then head to Rank Math > Import/Export and select the available plugin you wish to import your settings from.
Will I lose rankings if I change my SEO plugin?
No, because when you change your search engine optimization plugin to a plugin like Rank Math, you retain all of your titles and meta descriptions (which you should spend optimizing for the highest possible click-through rate) and will get access to a whole range of features that were previously not available with older SEO plugins.
Will my traffic increase if I change the plugin?
Search Engine Optimization is difficult, it wouldn’t be an $80 Billion (USD) industry if that weren’t the case so installing any SEO plugin doesn’t guarantee a jump in traffic. It’s easy for other plugins to suggest that this is the case, but as we all know it’s important that you invest a lot of time into your website’s content.
Focus on practicing 80/20 rule – spend 80% of your time on content and the remaining 20% on building great relationships in your industry and building links. That’s how you can start setting your website up for success in 2019 and beyond.
Any other issues?Â
As we mentioned earlier in the article, one of the reasons we can rely on Rank Math is the fact that their support team is absolutely incredible. If you’re facing an issue with anything else, firstly check the knowledgebase and then feel free to get in touch to resolve your issue as quickly as possible.
To Sum Up Things, It’s Time to Install Rank Math!Â
We hope you found this post informative, take our advice and decide to take the Rank Math plugin for a spin today. Thanks to their 1-click migration wizard, you can easily make the switch from your old SEO plugin to Rank Math in no-time!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below…
Mansoor Ahmed Khan
Been in content marketing since 2014, and I still get a kick out of creating stories that resonate with the target audience and drive results. At Cloudways by DigitalOcean (a leading cloud hosting company, btw!), I lead a dream team of content creators. Together, we brainstorm, write, and churn out awesome content across all the channels: blogs, social media, emails, you name it! You can reach out to me at [email protected].
