Yoast is a well-loved WordPress SEO plugin, but as technology advances and artificial intelligence gains ground, some may find it outdated. Others may simply be accustomed to it and not consider an alternative.
For new bloggers learning about SEO, Yoast might be their go-to plugin.
However, for various reasons (which we’ll explore shortly), they may seek out the best Yoast alternative SEO plugins for WordPress.
No matter your experience level, this list of top Yoast alternatives can help you find the perfect fit for your blog.
What is Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin?
Yoast SEO is one of WordPress’s oldest and most popular SEO plugins. Released in 2007 as a free tool, the software slowly developed to a premium version in 2012.
With it, you can analyze your content for readability and keyword density and identify opportunities to improve your internal linking structure.
However, this last feature is only available in the premium version, and experienced bloggers already know how to effectively do internal linking without a premium plugin.
While Yoast SEO can do pretty much what most other SEO plugins do, it’s not evolving as quickly as technology.
For example, artificial intelligence has gained prominence in the last few years, and Yoast SEO still thinks we’re in the 2010s (unlike other plugins on this list).
Having said that, it’s good to be aware of Yoast’s drawbacks for new bloggers.
Yoast SEO Disadvantages
As with any software, there are some drawbacks to Yoast SEO.
- Price – For $99/yr, Yoast SEO is not the cheapest plugin available. Moreover, its premium features are not worth $99/yr, as you can get most of them free with other SEO plugins.
- Speed – It has been noted by several users that Yoast SEO is resource-intensive, which can slow down your website performance. After switching to Rank Math, I noticed my Google PageSpeed Insights improved.
- Redirections – Unlike other SEO plugins, if you accidentally delete one of your pages or change its permalink, the free version of Yoast SEO won’t redirect it. For such a primary feature, you must upgrade to the premium version if you don’t want to see the 404 error.
- AI Content – While some alternatives offer AI-powered content optimization, Yoast SEO still needs to catch up with other tools to keep up with the advancing technology that is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Besides these disadvantages and Yoast SEO’s lack of customizations other SEO tools have, it’s still a cornerstone in the industry.
The best way for you to make a well-informed discernment is to try its free version and compare it to the best alternatives to Yoast SEO.
What Are the Best Yoast Alternative SEO Plugins?
Here is list some of the most popular Yoast SEO alternatives you can try to take your WordPress site to new heights.
1. Rank Math
Rank Math stands at the top of my list for a good reason—it’s the one that I use for every blog post I publish, and couldn’t recommend it enough!
This WordPress plugin is like having a personal SEO expert for your WordPress website.
Rank Math is the top Yoast SEO alternative, as it’s a comprehensive free WordPress plugin that offers many features to help improve your website’s search engine rankings without requiring a great deal of technical knowledge.
Recommended by some of the top experts in the field, such as Ahrefs, Backlinko, Semrush, and others, this alternative to the Yoast SEO plugin is being used by top companies like Depositphotos, AppSumo, and Twitch, among others.
With the Rank Math SEO plugin, you can easily optimize your content, get detailed insights into your website’s performance, and take advantage of powerful features like advanced snippet previews, AI content creation (unlike Yoast), and a smart redirection manager, among other SEO settings.
Rank Math is a valuable tool that can help you take your website’s SEO to the next level, giving you the confidence to know that you’re doing everything possible to attract more visitors and grow your online presence.
Top Rank Math Features, Making it One of the Best Yoast SEO Alternatives
Rank Math is a powerful SEO suite that blows every other plugin out of the water. A few of its features are listed below:
- Content AI – Your personal AI assistant helps you to write SEO-friendly content.
- Rank Tracking – You can track where your website stands in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Keyword Optimization – You can optimize your website for up to 5 keywords.
- Link Builder – This helps creating internal links automatically to boost SEO.
- Redirection Manager – Don’t worry about changing permalinks or deleting pages. You can create and manage redirects effortlessly with this feature.
- 404 Monitor – Identify and fix 404 pages in real time.
- Analytics – View important data from Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
- Social Media Integration – Intelligently apply social metadata to your website.
- Sitemap – Rank Math automatically creates search engine compliant sitemaps.
- Deep Schema Integration – Use rich snippets to grab more eyeballs.
- WooCommerce Support – Sell more products with Rank Math.
Rank Math Pricing
Rank Math offers a more affordable price than Yoast, at least for bloggers and small companies. Besides, with Rank Math, you get more SEO optimization features, so it’s well worth it.
- Pro ($6.99/Month) – Track 500 keywords on unlimited sites.
- Business ($20.99/Month) – Track 10,000 keywords on 100 client websites.
- Agency ($49.99/yr) – Track 50,000 keywords on 500 client websites.
The free plan doesn’t come with rank-tracking features or AI content writing, but it’s enough to ensure Google loves your blog posts.
Pros
- It has a user-friendly interface.
- Offers features like 404 monitoring.
- Comprehensive SEO analysis.
Cons
- It can be overwhelming for beginners.
- Some features require a premium upgrade.
- Bugs are available sometimes and operates with lagging.
2. All in One SEO Pack
All in One SEO Pack, or AIOSEO, is another great alternative to Yoast SEO.
This SEO WordPress plugin helps website owners improve their search engine rankings and grow their traffic and revenue.
It has over 1,500 5-star reviews and has been recognized for its industry-leading ratings from customers.
AIOSEO helps you to establish the necessary SEO groundwork effortlessly in less than 10 minutes and is loved by over 3 million users for its robust features and lack of nagging or bloat.
AIOSEO Key Features, Making it One of the Best Alternatives to Yoast SEO
- Easy Setup – AIOSEO makes it easy to set up proper SEO foundations in less than 10 minutes without the need for an expert.
- All in One SEO Solution – It’s a powerful all-in-one SEO solution that helps improve search engine rankings, grow traffic, and increase revenue.
- Google Analytics Integration – AIOSEO provides easy integration with Google Analytics to track website traffic and user behavior to improve SEO strategies.
- WooCommerce SEO – The plugin provides WooCommerce SEO optimization to help improve product search rankings and drive more traffic to online stores.
- Social Media Integration – It provides social media integration to help websites gain visibility and drive traffic from social media platforms.
- XML Sitemap – AIOSEO includes an XML sitemap to help search engine crawlers quickly and easily index website content.
- Content Analysis – AIOSEO includes a powerful content analysis feature that helps optimize content for better search engine rankings.
AIOSEO Pricing
Like Yoast SEO, AIOSEO offers a free version to help you get started.
- Basic ($49.60/yr) – Track unlimited keywords on 1 site.
- Plus ($99.60/yr) – Most features up to 3 sites, including managing local SEO.
- Pro ($174.65/yr) – Up to 10 sites.
- Elite ($224.70/yr) – Up to 100 sites.
Strangely enough, AIOSEO only offers redirections on its Pro plan, while Rank Math and Yoast do it for free.
I can’t stress how important redirections are when you have a website, as you don’t want to draw attention from search engines like Google to your broken links.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use.
- Offers advanced features in the free version.
- It has regular updates and improvements.
Cons
- The interface could be more intuitive.
- Some features are limited to the premium version.
- Customer support may be slow.
3. Squirrly SEO
Squirrly SEO is a popular WordPress SEO plugin that helps non-SEO experts boost their search engine traffic.
This Yoast SEO alternative provides advice at a level equal to that of a human consultant but with even greater precision and the ability to customize to your specific needs.
It provides users with daily SEO goals and built-in SEO tools to help them reach SEO success with less effort.
Squirrly SEO is an AI-powered SEO plugin suite providing users with over 650 features pre-configured for them during installation, and offers them hand-holding and educational support.
Squirrly SEO also helps users optimize their WordPress sites with easy-to-use tools that put SEO success into their own hands.
The Squirrly Company offers many plugins for WordPress to help individuals get more out of their experience with the platform.
Squirrly SEO Features, Making it the Best Alternatives to Yoast SEO
- SEO Live Assistant – Squirrly SEO comes with a real-time SEO live assistant that helps you optimize content as you write, ensuring you follow SEO best practices.
- Focus Pages – Unlike Yoast, Squirrly SEO provides a feature called Focus Pages that allows you to optimize an entire page for a specific keyword or phrase.
- Keyword Research – The powerful WordPress SEO plugin offers a built-in keyword research tool that helps you find profitable keywords with low competition.
- Performance Analytics – Squirrly SEO provides performance analytics to track your SEO progress and identify areas for improvement.
- Content Analysis – It provides comprehensive content analysis that assists WordPress users in optimizing their content for better rankings.
- Advanced SEO Auditing – Squirrly SEO offers advanced SEO auditing that helps you identify and fix technical issues that may hurt your website’s rankings.
- Personalized SEO Strategy – Squirrly SEO provides personalized SEO strategies tailored to each user’s website, industry, and goals.
Squirrly SEO Pricing
- Pro ($29.99/mo) – Up to 7 sites; do 100 keyword research monthly.
- Business ($71.99/mo) – Up to 7 sites; research 300 keywords.
- Agency ($75.99/mo) – Up to 50 sites; research 500 keywords.
The Squirrly SEO plugin for WordPress is not the cheapest. And with so much hype about its Focus Pages feature, you’d be better off with AI SEO software like Surfer SEO for optimization in NLP (natural language processing) with semantic and relevant keywords.
Nonetheless, it’s a great alternative to Yoast SEO to help you get more insights about your on-page optimization. You can try the plugin for free before committing to a premium version.
Pros:
- Focuses on content optimization.
- The user has an Intuitive interface.
- It can offer a range of SEO tools.
Cons
- The free version is limited in features.
- The Pricing for premium plans can be high.
- It may not suit advanced SEO needs.
4. SEOPressor
SEOPressor is a powerful tool for anyone looking to optimize their website’s SEO. With its range of features, SEOPressor can help you boost traffic, improve social sharing, manage redirects, and much more.
One of its key features is Multiple Keywords Analysis, which enables you to optimize content for up to three keywords.
This feature alone can help you rank higher in search engine results pages to attract more traffic to your site.
Additionally, SEOPressor comes with an Over-Optimization Check that ensures you don’t over-optimize your content and risk a Google penalty.
You can also set up a canonical link for each blog post and take full control of your outbound links’ behavior.
Unlike Yoast SEO, this WordPress plugin features a smart link manager that ensures a healthy sitewide link profile, where you can effortlessly link keywords in all of your articles through one setting page.
SEOPressor Key Features, Making it the Best Alternative to Yoast SEO
- On-page Analysis – It provides immediate feedback and optimization recommendations for enhancing your On-Page SEO signals.
- XML Sitemaps – With SEOPressor, you can generate an XML sitemap for your website, helping search engines crawl and index it more efficiently.
- Over-Optimization Check – SEOPressor checks your content to ensure you are not over-optimizing and risking a Google penalty.
- Canonical Link – This feature allows you to set up canonical links, which helps avoid duplicate content issues.
- Smart Link Manager – SEOPressor’s Smart Link Manager ensures a healthy sitewide link profile, minimizing broken links and link juice leakage.
- On-Page Meta Settings – This monitoring function helps you write the best meta tags.
- Facebook Open Graph – With SEOPressor, you can customize your Open Graph settings to improve social sharing and attract more traffic to your site.
SEOPressor Pricing
For $9/mo, you get the whole package of SEOPressor’s features. Unfortunately, unlike other SEO plugins, it doesn’t offer a free version.
Pros:
- It has a Real-time SEO suggestion.
- It has a User-friendly interface.
- Provides comprehensive on-page analysis.
Cons:
- It has limited features in the free version.
- Some advanced features are restricted to the premium version.
- It may not be suitable for complex SEO strategies.
5. SEOPress
SEOPress presents a compelling alternative to Yoast, providing WordPress users with a comprehensive suite of features.
This SEO WordPress plugin offers a wide range of tools to help you improve your website’s ranking, all wrapped up in a sleek and user-friendly package.
SEOPress strikes an ideal balance between SEO analysis and features, ensuring you get a well-rounded product. It’s a breeze to set up and use, with various tools for optimizing your pages and posts and analyzing their performance.
What sets SEOPress apart is its content analysis capabilities, which are similar to Yoast but with a major difference.
With Yoast’s free version, you are limited to using only one keyword, whereas SEOPress allows unlimited keywords, giving you more flexibility in your content optimization.
Moreover, SEOPress supports titles, meta descriptions, social media descriptions, XML sitemaps, Google Analytics, structured data, and a host of other features that make it a robust SEO tool for WordPress users.
SEOPress Features, Making it the Best Alternatives to Yoast SEO
- Interface – Intuitive interface for easy setup and use.
- Keywords – Unlimited keyword optimization for content.
- Meta Descriptions – It supports titles, meta descriptions, and social media descriptions.
- Content Analysis – It helps you to write optimized content for search engines.
- Sitemaps & Integrations – XML sitemaps and Google Analytics integration.
- Structured Data – Incorporating structured data from the schema.org protocol into your content can enhance your chances of being highlighted in search results.
- Local SEO – Increase your visibility on Google Maps and obtain a Google knowledge graph on search results.
SEOPress Pricing
You can get access to SEOPress for free. However, to access more advanced features, you may purchase one of the following plans:
- SEOPress Pro ($49/yr)
- SEOPress Insights ($99/yr)
Pros
- Lightweight and fast.
- Comprehensive features in the free version.
- Easy setup and configuration.
Cons
- The interface might be overwhelming for beginners.
- Some advanced features require premium versions.
- Occasional compatibility issues with certain themes/plugins.
What Features Should The Best Yoast SEO Alternative Have?
When selecting the best alternative to Yoast SEO, there are several features to consider.
1. On-page optimization
The best alternative to Yoast SEO should give you suggestions for optimizing your website content for search engines. This includes analyzing your content for keywords, readability, meta tags, and other on-page elements that affect your search engine ranking.
Moreover, besides keyword suggestions, it should include an over-optimization check to ensure you don’t engage in keyword stuffing without noticing it.
2. User-friendly interface
The best alternative to the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin should have a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate and use. It should provide clear and concise instructions for optimizing your content without overwhelming you.
Some SEO plugins offer so many features that you might get confused about how to use them. For such cases, you should be able to toggle them on or off, depending on whether you intend to use such features.
3. Features other than on-page SEO
The top Yoast SEO alternatives should provide advanced features like content analysis, keyword research and rank-tracking tools, competitor analysis, and backlink analysis.
While we’re used to seeing these types of features on more robust SEO software, a good premium WordPress SEO plugin should include at least some of them.
4. AI content optimization
AI is here to stay, and many tools are implementing it to help users leverage its power. From GPT-3 to ChatGPT, an SEO plugin can use AI in numerous ways.
The best alternative to the Yoast SEO plugin should provide AI-powered content optimization features to analyze your content and suggest improvements based on search engine algorithms and user behavior.
5. Technical SEO
A great Yoast alternative should also offer technical SEO features like schema markup, sitemaps, and website speed optimization to help improve your website’s search engine ranking.
6. Integration with other tools
Finally, the alternative should include Google Search Console integration (and Google Analytics, too) and be able to integrate with other SEO and marketing tools or rank-tracking software to provide a comprehensive SEO strategy.
FAQs Related to the Best Yoast Alternatives
What are some popular Yoast SEO alternatives?
Some popular alternatives to Yoast SEO include Rank Math, All in One SEO Pack, and SEOPress.
Why should I consider using an alternative to Yoast SEO?
While Yoast SEO is a popular and effective tool, it may not meet all of your specific needs. Using an alternative can give you access to different features and customization options.
Are these alternatives easy to use?
Yes, most alternatives are designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate, with features similar to Yoast SEO. Some offer additional features and customization options in the free version.
Do these alternatives offer the same level of SEO optimization as Yoast SEO?
Yes, many alternatives offer similar or even better SEO optimization than Yoast SEO. In the end, it depends on your specific needs and preferences.
Are these alternatives affordable?
Yes, most alternatives offer competitive pricing and are free to use.
Can I switch from the Yoast SEO plugin to an alternative seamlessly?
All these alternatives offer easy migration options to help you switch from Yoast SEO without losing any of your existing SEO data.
Which Alternative to Yoast SEO Do You Prefer?
If you want to take your WordPress website’s SEO to the next level, having an SEO plugin is a must.
Other Yoast SEO alternatives that could make this list are SEO Framework, Premium SEO Pack, and WP Meta SEO plugins.
However, I chose only the best ones to keep things to a minimum and not overwhelm you that is why I prefer Rank Math over all other Yoast Alternatives.
Fortunately, most of these alternatives are available as a free plugin, so go ahead and try the one that resonates better with you!
