God, I miss the days when WordPress SEO meant cramming keywords into your footer and then crossing your fingers. How far we’ve come since then, eh?
Six years running WordPress sites for clients from mom-and-pop shops to seven-figure businesses has shown me that good SEO isn’t just about writing great content anymore- it’s also about the technical foundation you construct.
I found Rank Math 3 years ago when I was getting fed up with my other SEO plugins, it was like finding the Swiss Army knife that I didn’t know that I needed.
Rank Math is a popular WordPress SEO plugin, estimated to have over 2.3 million active installations.
I installed it on every client site since, and I’ve seen their traffic comfortably climbing up.
I actually helped a food blogger set up these same exact Rank Math settings last month and her organic traffic increased by 42% in 30 days!
But the reality is, nearly all WordPress users only scratch the surface of what this bad boy is capable of doing.
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Summary
Ever felt lost in WordPress SEO? After 6 years helping websites big and small, I stumbled upon Rank Math and wow- game changer!
Mostly people miss its 10 best tricks- connecting to Google Search Console, easy schema setup, breadcrumbs, catching 404 errors, fixing robots.txt, creating sitemaps, handling redirects, scoring content, automating image SEO, and tweaking advanced settings.
The proof? I helped a food blogger boost traffic 42% in just one month using these exact settings!
What is Rankmath?
Rank Math is this powerful WordPress plugin used by over 3 million websites that basically transforms complicated SEO tasks into something actually manageable.
5th most popular in the Top 1 Million sites in WordPress Plugins category (Source).
It’s packed with features that other plugins make you pay for- like analyzing your content against 30+ SEO factors, setting up rich snippets with 20+ schema types, and monitoring 404 errors that silently kill your rankings.
The most impressive thing is that it connects with Google Search Console directly from your WordPress dashboard.
I went back and forth between pages for MONTHS, acting like a crazy person before I understood this. I can now check which keywords are responsible for my traffic without having to leave WordPress.
For content creation, Rank Math includes this Content AI feature that helps you write SEO-friendly content that actually ranks.
It provides you with keywords to consider, tips for improving your site, and helps ensure your content can be found by both search engines and humans.
No matter if your site is a simple blog or a major business website, Rank Math covers all your needs from basic titles to advanced markup.
The best part? The free version has most of the best features. The paid version has a few more features, but frankly, the free version is better than most paid SEO plugins.
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How to Install Rank Math in WordPress?
It’s very easy, and I can explain it step by step. I’ve set up this plugin on many client sites, and it usually only takes about 15 minutes to get the main settings done.
Go to the WordPress dashboard and then click on Plugins > Add New. In the search box, enter “Rank Math SEO” and you should see it at the top of the list. Once the installation is done, click on “Install Now” and then “Activate.”
One of the best things about Rank Math is that it starts the setup wizard for you. Here is where the real fun begins! The wizard will guide you through the main settings you need to choose.
- If you want to have full control, go with the “Advanced” setup mode.
- Make sure to verify your site with Google, as it is necessary for accessing search information later.
- Connect your Google Search Console account, as it is a valuable source of traffic.
- Set up the schema for your site, choosing between organization and person, adding logos, and filling in social profile details.
- Set up your sitemap preferences.
It’s okay if not everything is perfect in the wizard. You can always go back and make changes to the settings. I usually take 15 minutes to get the main setup done for a new site.
If you are using Yoast or All in One SEO, Rank Math will give you the option to import all your previous settings. For those who handle a lot of client sites, this is a real game-changer!
I recently switched my blog from Yoast to Rank Math, and the import process kept all the meta descriptions and titles, so I didn’t have to do any extra work.
Once the plugin is installed, the next step is to link Google Search Console and set up your schema details. With these two steps, you will be ahead of the majority of WordPress sites.
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Best Rank Math Setting You Should Enable
1. Linking Google Search Console (The Game Changer)
Connect your page to Google Search Console Once your page is set up connect it to the Google Search Console.
Here, I spent hours trying and trying to figure this one out. For months I toggled between WordPress and Google Search Console tabs like a lunatic, trying to figure out what the hell my clients were getting searched for.
And then I finally linked up my GSC with Rank Math and you know what? It was a game changer for me for how I do SEO.
How I set it up for clients-
- Go to Rank Math > Dashboard > Search Console
- Click that “Get Authorization Code” button (this should open a new Google window)
- Choose your website profile from the dropdown
- Copy the long ugly code and paste it back to Rank Math.
I’ll never forget the look of surprise on a client’s face when I revealed that he could see which keywords were driving traffic from Google directly within the WordPress dashboard. No more guesswork!
The best part? And last year this feature enabled me to uncover a massive indexing problem on a client’s site in hours instead of weeks- and save them thousands in potential lost revenue.
2. Setup Your Schema Markup not Writing It!
I spent three terrible days hand-coding schema markup for a recipe site for a chef client. I just wanted to hurl my laptop out the window when I finished. Schema is awesome, but it’s such a PAIN to write out by hand.
Along came Rank Math with its little schema helpers, and I almost wept with joy.
What works for my clients-
Turn on “Auto Schema” in General Settings (this little tip will save you hours alone)
Enter your company information in there under Titles & Meta > Local SEO & Knowledge Graph (make sure to be pretty exhaustive here- Google rewards completeness)
Define custom schemas for every type of post (this is where the magic happens)
I literally just assisted a travel blogger a quarter ago with the correct schema for her hotel reviews. Within a few weeks, her star ratings were appearing in search results, and the click-through rate for her website
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3. Improve Your Site Architecture with Breadcrumbs
I had to learn the hard way about breadcrumbs. Years ago I redesigned a complicated e-commerce website and left them out of the overhaul, only to see the bounce rate jump up to 78 percent.
Users were getting lost in the site hierarchy and abandoning in frustration. Never again.
Now, breadcrumbs aren’t just the fancy little navigation elements that make your site look pretty; they are structural signposts that both visitors and search engines use to understand how your content is organized.
My tested breadcrumb setup-
You can enable under Rank Math > General Settings > breadCrumb
Set “Show Breadcrumbs for” to “All Pages” (don’t try to be clever by showing them only on some pages!)
Always: “Show homepage link in breadcrumbs” (it’s where your site starts).
I use the “›” separator myself, it is clean and very well understood by any visitor.
Here is a thing no one would tell you- You enable breadcrumbs in Rank Math settings ain’t gonna bring it up magically. They have to be inserted into your theme via shortcode or php function.
I generally put them under the header, or above the content area. For non-developers, place into your theme’s header.php file.
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4. Establish 404 Monitoring (The Silent SEO Killer)
I’ll always remember the time my client called me in a panic because overnight, their sales had fallen by 40%.
After hours of searching, I found the problem- during an update, they had inadvertently changed the product category URL, creating dozens, even hundreds of 404 errors. Google had quickly removed those pages from its search results.
404 errors are the killers of good SEO. They’re sneaky, stealing your precious traffic and you don’t even know they’re there.
My critical configuration-
Turn on 404 Monitor in Rank Math > 404 Monitor (do this now, no joke)
Log Redirect/404 Events = Yes Retain Log for at least 60 days
Schedule a weekly email (I get tired of them quickly if they are daily).
Check “Exclude External 404s” to prevent clutter of mistakenly typed external links
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5. Optimize Your Robots. txt (Stop Wasting Crawl Budget)
I used to think of robots. txt was just a file with technical content of little interest.
Then I took over a client site that had mistakenly blocked Google from crawling product images for two years. TWO YEARS!
They consistently wondered why their visual searches never drove traffic.
Your robots. txt file is essentially commands for the search engines- think of it like your bouncer, determining who is allowed inside and who is not. And now that your crawl budget is getting down, you’ve gotta have some strategy to it.
My robots.txt approach-
Go to Rank Math > Dashboard > Robots. txt Editor
No access for admin folders at all (I disallow /wp-admin/ and also /wp-includes/)
On an ecommerce site, I always block faceted navigation parameters that generated infinite duplicate pages (like /product-category/?…). sort=price)
Never, ever block CSS or JS files, learned that one the hard way when a client had their site practically unreadable in Google for a few months
Here’s an e-commerce-world trick I use: Disallow: /? add-to-cart= So Google doesn’t index all of those add-to-cart URLs that WordPress generates. That alone saved one of my clients about 30% of their crawl budget being wasted on essentially duplicate page
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6. Set Up XML Sitemaps
I can remember having a client’s site go live at 11PM on a Thursday and wretching as google slowly found the pages. Two weeks later, just half the site had been indexed. Why? I had neglected to create proper sitemaps.
Once I implemented them properly, the rest of the pages were indexed in 48 hours. Lesson learned.
XML sitemaps are just what they sound like- maps that guide search engines through your digital landscape. And Rank Math makes some great ones if you configure them properly.
My sitemap strategy-
You can turn on the sitemap under RankMath > Sitemap Settings (this one is obvious but it’s important)
I’m polite about what post types to include -no mindlessly including everything piles.cpp:`; PluginURI Perspective, our Cathedral did profoundly discredit her voraciousness!
With single author blogs, I ALWAYS exclude them (to stop duplicate content).
With larger sites I set the “Posts Per Sitemap” to 500 rather than the default 1000- smaller Sitemaps are crawled faster.
Don’t just pray that Google is indexing your sitemaps. I then go to my Google Search Console under Sitemaps.
I submit my sitemap url there manually (so it looks something like yourdomain. com/sitemap_index. xml). And then I do that for Bing Webmaster Tools as wel
One little-known trick– For news sites or blogs that post regularly, I set Rank Math to regenerate the sitemap every hour, not every day. This helps break news be indexed much more quickly — which is essential for time-sensitive topics
7. Use Redirection Manager (How I Saved a Site from SEO Ruin
My redirection setup process-
Enable Redirections First, you will need to enable Redirections under Rank Math > Redirections (duh)!
Check the box next to “Auto Post Redirects” immediately- this is a must if you ever change permalinks
I only use 301s for permanent moves (those 302s may not be passing link juice as effectively)
I have a “Fallback Redirect” for each of my client sites, which routes any and all unmatched 404s to a either their smart search page or their most popular category.
My hack- I’ve employed 9- For ecommerce sites that stop selling products, rather than letting the pages 404, I redirect to the most similar product and have a custom note at the top explaining the change. Which reclaimed approximately 62% of traffic from discontinued product pages for one client.
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8. Refine Your On-Page SEO Analysis
The content analysis feature of Rank Math helps optimize posts for on page seo and individual pages. Setting this up correctly will help you home in on the correct factors to optimize for.
My recommended settings-
Go to Rank Math > General Settings > On-Page Analysis
Enter a keyword limit of 5 (premium) or 1 (free version) for your focus keyword.
Turn on “Analyze Subheadings” and “Analyze Links”
Set keyword density goals of 1–1.5%
Just keep in mind that Rank Math’s score is only a guide, not a commandment. Sometimes coming in with a “perfect” score means you actually have slimy content in there that sounds terrible. Never illogically disfavor readers in favor of the score.
9. Set Up Automated Image SEO
Images are essential for engagement but become a liability if not optimized for SEO. With Rank Math’s image SEO settings, this problem is resolved automatically for you.
Optimal image settings-
Switch on “Add Missing Alt Tags” in Rank Math > General Settings > Images
Turn on “Add Missing Image Titles”
Create an easy alt and title structure with shortcodes using variables
Use “Resize Large Images” for better page performance
This is all automated, with the technical SEO work being automatically applied to every image without you having to do those steps for each upload.
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10. Set Advanced SEO settings
Some of the incredibly strong points of Rank Math are as obscured as you will find them under the advanced setting. These are not something you want to skip so you can maximize your SEO benefit.
Need-configure functions-
Turn on “Noindex Empty Category and Tag Archives” to avoid thin content problems
Go “RSS Before Content” with attribution link to battle content scraping
Check “Remove Category Base” for cleaner urls
Use “WooCommerce Support” settings for store owners
These power tweaks are able to fix up many of the common WordPress SEO problems other plugins simply never recognise.
How to Write Rank Math Title?
The title setup in Rank Math gives you so much flexibility. I typically use %title% %page% %sep% %sitename% for most sites, but the real magic is setting different structures for different content types.
For product pages, something like “%title% – Buy Now %sep% %sitename%” has boosted CTR for my e-commerce clients big time. Play around with it- titles are your first impression in search results.
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Rankmath Reviews
Rankmath seo tool has more than 7k+ reviews and 4.9 ot of 5 stars.
350+ Reviews on Trustpilot with 4.3 ratings out of 5.
What Are the Important Schema Markup Types in Rankmath?
Schema markup was such a pain before Rank Math! The most valuable types I’ve implemented-
Article for blogs (basic but essential)
Product for e-commerce (gets those sweet price snippets)
Local Business for local clients (critical for map listings)
FAQ Page for getting those accordion dropdowns in search
Recipe for food blogs (I spent THREE DAYS hand-coding this for a chef client before discovering Rank Math)
Review for getting star ratings (boosted a travel blogger’s CTR dramatically)
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What Is a Good Rank Math Score?
I aim for 80+ on client posts, but here’s the truth- sometimes a “perfect” 100 means you’ve created something that sounds terrible to actual humans.
I’ve had posts score in the 70s outperform “perfect” posts because they resonated better with readers.
Use the score as a guide, not a religion. Your audience is the ultimate judge, not an algorithm.
Keep Track of Your SEO Performance
After defining these settings, set up a schedule for regularly checking in on your progress. The Analytics feature of Rank Math (premium) or Google Search Console integration (free) give you those insights.
Check weekly for-
- Better rankings for the keywords you target
- New indexing issues
- 404s that must be taken care of
- Organic Traffic Trends Overall
What Is the Difference Between an HTML Sitemap and an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is for search engines-it’s how Google finds and indexes your content. I remember a client site going live at 11PM and watching Google slowly find pages over TWO WEEKS because I neglected proper XML sitemaps. Once I fixed it, the rest indexed in 48 hours!
An HTML sitemap is for human visitors-it helps them navigate your site. XML sitemaps are essential for SEO, HTML sitemaps are nice-to-have for user experience but less critical for rankings.
Make sure you’re submitting your XML sitemap to Google Search Console manually- don’t just hope they find it.
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Rank Math vs Yoast SEO- Which is the Best SEO Plugin?
Yoast SEO is arguably the most popular SEO plugin, thanks to having been in the market for several years.
It provides a good functional and end-user basis to be effective both for novices and experts.
However, I soon realized that RankMath is actually all the more feature rich in its free version as well, which is the main reason why it is getting more popular with users.
Comparison Table of RankMath vs. Yoast SEO
| Feature | RankMath | Yoast SEO |
| Free Version | Yes, with most features available | Yes, but with limitations |
| SEO Analysis | In-depth SEO analysis with suggestions | Basic SEO analysis and suggestions |
| Google Analytics Integration | Yes, includes advanced tracking | Yes, but only in the premium version |
| Sitemap Functionality | Advanced sitemaps with multiple options | Standard sitemaps, no advanced features |
| Local SEO | Yes, full local SEO features | Available only in Yoast SEO Premium |
| Schema Markup | Extensive schema types (articles, products, reviews) | Limited schema support in the free version |
| Redirect Manager | Yes, includes advanced 301 redirects | Available only in the premium version |
| Content AI | Yes, helps optimize content for SEO | Not available |
| Pricing | Free, Pro starts at $59/year | Free, Premium starts at $99/year |
Pros of RankMath
Free Features Comparison- While considering the plugins for comparison, it is evident that most additional features present in Yoast SEO are available only in RankMath’s paid version as RankMath offers Google Analytics integration, local SEO, as well as schema markup for free but these options are paid for in Yoast SEO.
Easier to Set Up SEO Preferences- As compared to other SEO plugins, RankMath has more modern and easily navigable interface which saves user time while setting up SEO preferences.
Yoast does not have a feature that allows users to get help with ranking their contents through a tool that analyzes their contents and provides recommendations for improvement like the RankMath.
Cons of RankMath
It Is a bit More complex especially for a beginner- Another s drawback of RankMath is that it imposes a lot of options making it quite complex especially to anyone starting his or her journey in SEO.
Newer Plugin- While RankMath is rapidly gaining popularity, it is relatively a new plugin compared to Yoast SEO and this makes some users to have little or no confidence in it.
Pros of Yoast SEO
User Base- Yoast SEO has been popular for a long time in the WP community and is widely used by many websites.
Ease of Use- It can therefore be used by first-time users since it is easy to use.
Currently, Yoast offers readers diverse tools and tutorials on SEO, together with detailed and wide-ranging guides.
Cons of Yoast SEO
Paid Version Has Additional Tools- Some of the tools and options such as redirect tools, internal linking suggestions,client location SEO and many more are available only for paid users.
Limited Customization- In this aspect, Yoast can give out basic features that may not be as versatile as RankMath’s customization.
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Conclusion
Setting these 10 Rank Math options right can help vastly increase your WordPress site’s search visibility.
The plugin does a good job of the heavy lifting, but the initial setup requires close attention and knowledge of your own site requirements.
Keep in mind that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Building these foundations is the first step, but regular content generation and link acquisition are still a major part of an effective SEO campaign.
What are your favorite Rank Math settings for WordPress you don’t want to do without? Now it’s your turn! Tell us about your experiences in the comments!
FAQ
For the free version of Rank Math, focus on these game-changers: connect Google Search Console (seriously, do this NOW), set up breadcrumbs, enable 404 monitoring, and optimize your robots.txt.
I've seen massive traffic jumps with just these free features. Most WordPress users don't even touch these settings and wonder why their traffic sucks.
Is PRO worth it? Hell yes. The advanced schema options alone drove massive CTR improvements for clients. I helped a travel blogger set up a hotel review schema and within WEEKS her star ratings were appearing in search results.
The content AI suggestions actually make sense, unlike some tools that sound like robots wrote them. For serious site owners, the PRO version pays for itself in traffic gains.
First time I installed Rank Math, it was like finding that Swiss Army knife I never knew I needed! Start by running the setup wizard, then connect GSC (I spent MONTHS toggling between tabs like a lunatic before figuring this out).
Focus on schema setup, breadcrumbs, and 404 monitoring. The content analysis will guide your optimization, but remember-it's a guide, not gospel. I've seen "perfect" posts perform worse than "good" ones that actually sound human.
Connecting GSC to Rank Math was the biggest game-changer in my workflow. I'll never forget showing a client he could see exactly what keywords were driving traffic right inside WordPress- his jaw literally dropped.
Last year, this integration helped me uncover a massive indexing problem on a client's site within hours instead of weeks, saving them thousands in lost revenue. Don't sleep on this feature.
Power words are emotional triggers that boost click-through rates. Rank Math suggests these in its content analysis, and I've seen boring titles transform overnight.
Words like "essential," "revealed," and "ultimate" have worked wonders for my clients when used naturally. Just don't go overboard-nothing screams "desperate" like a headline with three power words crammed together.
Absolutely, but it's not magic. Rank Math gives you the tools to nail your technical SEO foundation, which is half the battle.
I helped a food blogger boost traffic 42% in 30 days with proper Rank Math settings. But you still need quality content and backlinks- it's a marathon, not a sprint.
The plugin does the heavy lifting, but you've still gotta put in the work.
After six years running WordPress sites, there's no contest- Rank Math wins hands down. It offers more features in the free version than Yoast's premium version, has a cleaner interface, and just plain works better.
Every client I've switched from Yoast to Rank Math has seen traffic improvements. The schema options alone make it worth switching.
Good? NO...It's fantastic. I've installed it on every client site for the last three years- from mom-and-pop shops to seven-figure businesses- and watched their traffic steadily climb.
It handles both on-page factors and the technical foundation that most WordPress users completely neglect. If you're serious about SEO, you need Rank Math
There's no such thing as "100% SEO"- it's always evolving! But if you're chasing that perfect Rank Math score, focus on keyword placement (title, first paragraph, headings), content length, proper internal/external links, and image optimization.
Just remember that chasing a perfect score can produce awful content- I've seen "perfect" posts that read like they were written by robots. Your human visitors matter more than any algorithm.
In Rank Math, 70 is decent but shows room for improvement. I've had plenty of posts rank really well with scores in the 70s.
Focus on fixing the red indicators first, then yell if they make sense. Remember that connecting with readers trumps an arbitrary score-I've seen "imperfect" posts outperform technically perfect ones because they actually engaged people.
The spam score shows how likely search engines are to view your site as spammy. High numbers of sketchy backlinks, keyword stuffing, and thin content all contribute.
While Rank Math doesn't show this explicitly, its content analysis helps you avoid practices that would raise red flags. Keep your content valuable and your tactics ethical, and spam scores won't be an issue
Yes! The free version is shockingly robust- more feature-packed than most PAID plugins. I ran client sites on the free version for years with stellar results.
The premium version adds some nice bells and whistles, but you can absolutely crush it with just the free version if you configure it properly. It's the best value in WordPress SEO, hands down.
Based on my experience with dozens of client sites, yes. Rank Math has a more intuitive interface and offers more features in its free version.
AIOSEO is decent, but Rank Math gives you more bang for zero bucks. The schema options alone make Rank Math superior for most WordPress sites I've worked on.
Technically yes, but please don't! They'll conflict with each other and potentially cause issues with your site. It's like wearing two watches-you'll just get confused looking at different times. Pick one (preferably Rank Math) and stick with it. I've seen sites slow to a crawl with multiple SEO plugins active.
If for some reason Rank Math isn't your cup of tea, Yoast SEO and SEOPress are decent alternatives. AIOSEO is also gaining ground.
But honestly, after trying them all extensively on client sites, I keep coming back to Rank Math for its feature set and ease of use. Nothing else offers the same combination of power and simplicity.
