How To Setup Yoast Seo In WordPress

When you’re looking to elevate your site’s visibility on search engines, knowing how to setup Yoast SEO in WordPress is a must. This plugin simplifies complex optimisation tasks, helping you focus on what you do best—running your business. Partner with Bird, your trusted WordPress SEO Agency in UAE, to ensure your site is fully primed for organic growth and maximum exposure in Google and other search engines.

Yoast SEO is the go-to solution for websites everywhere because it combines powerful features with user-friendly controls. Let’s dive into each step so you can harness all its benefits for your WordPress site.

1. Installing and Activating Yoast SEO

Getting started is straightforward. To install and activate Yoast SEO:

• Log into your WordPress dashboard.
• Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
• Type Yoast SEO into the search bar.
• Click Install Now on the Yoast SEO plugin by Team Yoast.
• Once installed, hit Activate.

After activation, you’ll spot a new SEO menu item in your sidebar—your launchpad for all settings.

2. Configuring the Setup Wizard

Yoast’s onboarding wizard guides you through the essentials—no guesswork required. Simply:

• Click on the SEO > General tab.
• Open the Configuration Wizard.
• Answer the questions about your site’s type (blog, online store, news site, etc.).
• Enter your company or personal details, including logo and social profiles.
• Choose whether your site is ready for indexing (for private or works-in-progress sites, you may opt to discourage search engines).

This wizard sets up the foundational SEO settings, ensuring your pages are correctly represented in search results.

3. Optimising Titles and Meta Descriptions

Snappy titles and compelling meta descriptions can make all the difference in click-through rates. In Yoast:

• Go to SEO > Search Appearance.
• Select the Content Types tab to customise titles and metas for posts, pages, products, and more.
• Use variables like %%title%% and %%sep%% to automate dynamic SEO tags.

Best practices:

• Keep title tags under 60 characters.
• Limit meta descriptions to 155–160 characters.
• Include your primary keyword near the beginning of both.

4. Setting Up XML Sitemaps

XML sitemaps are critical for search engines to navigate and index your content. Enable and submit yours in minutes:

1. Visit SEO > General > Features.
2. Toggle the XML sitemaps switch to “On.”
3. Click the question mark icon, then “See the XML sitemap.” This provides your sitemap URL (usually yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml).

To submit your sitemap to Google Search Console:

• Log into Search Console and select your property.
• Go to Sitemaps on the sidebar.
• Enter the URL (e.g., sitemap_index.xml) and click Submit.

5. Using the Focus Keyphrase Feature

Yoast’s Focus Keyphrase tool zeroes in on your target term. Here’s how you use it:

1. Edit or create a new post/page.
2. Scroll down to the Yoast SEO meta box.
3. Enter your main keyword or phrase into the Focus Keyphrase field.

You’ll see red, orange or green lights indicating:

• Red: Major issues that need attention.
• Orange: Room for improvement.
• Green: Good optimisation score.

Aim for green across the board by weaving the keyphrase naturally into headings, the introduction, body text and image alt attributes.

6. Optimising Readability Score

A well-structured article keeps readers engaged. Yoast’s readability analysis checks for:

• Sentence length (avoid overly long sentences).
• Paragraph length (keep them short).
• Use of transition words (however, therefore, meanwhile).
• Passive versus active voice (opt for active when possible).

Tips to improve readability:

• Break text into subheadings (H2, H3).
• Use bullet lists for complex ideas.
• Highlight important terms in bold.
• Include images or infographics with descriptive alt text.

7. Enabling Breadcrumbs & Site Schema

Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumbs improve user experience and provide rich data to search engines:

1. Head to SEO > Search Appearance > Breadcrumbs.
2. Toggle breadcrumbs “On.”
3. Paste the PHP snippet into your theme files where you want breadcrumbs to appear (often header.php or single.php).

Site Schema

Yoast automatically adds structured data to your pages. Schema helps search engines understand:

• What your content is about.
• Business details (hours, logo, address).
• Article mark-up, author info, and more.

Simply ensure the Schema feature under SEO > General > Features is toggled on.

8. Regular SEO Audits with Yoast

SEO isn’t a one-off task. Keep your site in top shape by:

• Visiting the SEO > Dashboard weekly for alerts and updates.
• Reviewing the Site Health under WordPress Tools to fix any critical issues.
• Updating old posts: revise meta data, refresh content, and re-analyse focus keyphrases.
• Monitoring performance in Google Analytics and Search Console for trends and opportunities.

Conclusion

By following these steps—installing Yoast SEO, configuring the wizard, optimising titles and metas, setting up sitemaps, using focus keyphrases, enhancing readability, enabling breadcrumbs and schema, and running regular audits—you’ll have a rock-solid SEO foundation. Remember, consistency is key: keep your content fresh, monitor your Yoast reports regularly, and refine your approach based on real data.

With your newfound understanding of how to setup Yoast SEO in WordPress, you’re well on the way to better rankings, increased traffic, and stronger online visibility. If you need expert assistance, our team at Bird is always ready to help as your trusted WordPress SEO Agency in UAE.