WordPress is an SEO-friendly CMS for building websites and blogs, but it doesn’t include enough default features to help you rank at the top of search results. To truly establish a solid SEO presence online, you need to install and configure an SEO plugin.
While there are many SEO plugins available, the Yoast SEO plugin is a longtime favorite of WordPress users. The plugin has been in usage for over ten years, it supports over 56 languages, it has over five million active installations, it has amassed over 25,000 five star reviews, and it offers solid functionality that plays well with other plugins and themes. The core plugin functionality can also be augmented with premium extensions to further support SEO for WooCommerce stores, news websites, local businesses, and videos.
A key differentiator of the plugin is the development team. Instead of this being a plugin solely created by WordPress developers (software programmers), the plugin was created by SEO experts, and it has a team of over 100 staff keeping it running. This is a big data point if you are reviewing WordPress SEO plugins. You want a plugin that was developed and maintained by actual SEO consultants who are well versed in the rules and nuances of search engines and algorithms.
An important caveat to the exceptional functionality Yoast SEO offers is the need for proper configuration. A plugin is only as good as the information used in setup and ongoing usage. In today’s post, we’ll review the important configuration settings for the plugin, and we’ll cover some important details for creating XML sitemaps.
Breaking Down Yoast’s Main Settings
The General tab in Yoast is dedicated to site features, site basics, site reputation, and site connections. This section is an important one and users should configure each item carefully.
Site Features
This area of the plugin allows you to turn functionality on and off. From writing and site structure to social sharing and tools, these settings will establish what features are used within the WordPress website. When in doubt, leave features active.
Site Basics
These settings cover basic elements like the website name, tagline, and alternate names if applicable. There isn’t anything fancy in this section, but the settings should be reviewed and configured at plugin installation.
Site Representation
A lot of website owners skip over this section and that is a grave mistake. This section configures core elements of schema markup which is used to populate Google’s Knowledge Graph. Said another way, these settings help Google understand the who and what of your website or blog. They establish your entity data within Google, and they help Google better connect your site to key elements like organizational names, social profiles, and your logo.
Site Connections
These settings are used to link your website or blog to external properties like Google, Bing, Pinterest, and Baidu or Yandex. This section is only used if you are required to provide meta information to third party websites for validation of ownership.
Content Types
The Content Types tab in Yoast is dedicated to determining what portion of content you’d like to show up in search results. This section will default to base WordPress content like pages and posts. Each site will have a unique list here, as the options are derived from the content used within your website. A small website with few custom post types and plugins will only have a couple of options listed. A larger website with lots of different content types and plugins will have a lengthy list of content to configure.
It is important for you to walk through each content type listed to determine if you want something to show up in search and if you’d like to create default meta titles and descriptions for each content type available.
A word of caution is you might see unexpected content types and you might be wondering where they come from. These extra content types come from your installed WordPress theme and plugins. Many of these extras can be turned off so they do not appear in search results. If you’re unsure what each type of content is, you can use the default XML sitemap to review content associated with the content type. This will help you decide if it is should or should not be hidden from search engines.
Categories and Tags
The next section of the main Yoast settings is related to categories and tags. The default is to show you data related to blog posts, however, if you have custom post types or plugins installed you might see many items to review. Some may even have the same label, which can make this section a bit confusing. Just like the content types, if you’re not sure what an item is, head on over to your XML sitemap to determine what the content is and where it might originate from.
Advanced
The final section of the main settings is dedicated to all the extras Yoast helps you configure. These will include breadcrumbs, author archives, RSS feeds, and more.
For the most part, these settings can be left as is and you do not need to spend a lot of time reviewing and editing them. The one item I recommend you always review and validate is the Author Archives. To assist in Google E-E-A-T it is best to make sure this feature is turned on and you have a dedicated page for each author.
Reviewing Your XML Sitemap
Once you’ve walked through all of the main settings, it is important for you to thoroughly review your XML sitemap output. The hardest part of doing this is finding the actual sitemap!
To locate your XML sitemap go to General -> Site Features and scroll to the bottom of the page. You’ll see the XML Sitemaps box and the button to View the XML Sitemap. Clicking this button will take you to the main XML sitemap at yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml.
This main XML Sitemap is a list of all XML sitemaps produced by the plugin. Each item will produce a list of URLs specific to that content type. If you discover missing content or find content that should not be present, you simply need to return to the Content Types section of the plugin and review what you have active. Changing the visibility settings of each content type will turn the individual XML sitemaps on or off.
Common Mistakes Users Make When Populating the XML Sitemap
As with any software, it is easy to make simple mistakes that can cause unforeseen issues. It happens because we’re human and we all mistakes. The important thing is to catch these mistakes before the search engines do.
Here are the most common mistakes I’ve seen in using Yoast:
- Theme and plugin data are shown in the XML sitemap. You really do not want to have any clutter in your XML sitemap, so it is best to turn off anything extra (and unnecessary) content related to themes and plugins.
- PPC landing pages are shown in the XML sitemap. There is a distinct difference between SEO content and PPC focused content. SEO pages are generally verbose and PPC pages are generally streamlined to convert visitors. Many times, they cover the same content and can appear as duplicate data to search engines. By setting individual PPC landing pages to noindex you will remove these from your XML Sitemap, which will in turn reduce clutter for search engines.
- Including redirected URLs in the XML sitemap. When you create a 301 redirect for a URL is it important that you delete (move to Trash) the old URL. If you forget that step your XML Sitemap will pick up the old page and send it to search engines to crawl and index. The search engines will see it is 301 redirected and they will send you messages that you have issues with your website. The quick fix is to always immediately delete any URL you’ve assigned a 301 redirect for.
- Forgetting to submit your XML Sitemap to Google and Bing. The beautiful thing about XML Sitemaps is you only have to connect them to search engines once. After you provide your main XML sitemap file to Google or Bing, they will automatically see all the updates and will proactively use the data to crawl your website.
- Submitting individual XML Sitemaps to search engines. When you connect your XML sitemao to search engines you only want to submit the main URL of sitemap_index.xml. You do not want to connect each individual sitemap. The reason for this is the search engines know to crawl the main URL to locate the secondary sitemaps. And as you modify your settings on your website to add or remove content types, this will automatically be adjusted for the search engines. If you submit all sitemap URLs, you’ll need to remember to edit these within your accounts at the search engines. That is an unnecessary step that if unneeded and often forgotten about.
- Linking your XML Sitemap in your website footer. I’ve seen website owners place a link to the XML sitemap in the footer of the website. In doing so they are providing this data to human visitors. This is unnecessary and it provides confusion for humans. Your website visitors expect to see an HTML sitemap, which is readable by humans and easily digestible. They do not want or need an XML sitemap, which is code based and made for search engines.
Ready to Dig In?
Configuring the Yoast plugin settings and reviewing your XML Sitemap can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve covered the basics in this post, the Yoast website has lots of help guides available, and our Knowledge Base has additional troubleshooting articles to help should you need it.
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Obatarhe Otughwor
Obatarhe is a WordPress enthusiast, a community volunteer, and a tech advocate. He is dedicated to providing exceptional support that exceeds expectations, consistently earning him 5-star ratings from customers. His approach involves understanding each customer's unique needs and delivering tailored solutions that effectively resolve their issues. With a background as a product expert for Google, Obatarhe possesses extensive technical experience gained from working remotely across diverse areas of computing, including technical support and basic programming with PHP, Laravel, HTML/CSS, and JavaScript. His years of experience have honed his ability to delight customers with his skills and expertise. When he's not working, you can find him traveling and taking beautiful landscape pictures.
