SEO · 12 Oct 2021 · 2 min read

Best WordPress plugins for better Google rankings

Every website owner wants to rank higher in search results, and on WordPress, the right plugins do a lot of that work for you — handling meta tags, sitemaps, schema markup and site speed without requiring custom code. The wrong plugin, though, can just as easily slow a site down or work against its SEO. Here are five worth knowing.

1. Yoast SEO

One of the most widely used SEO plugins, and one of the easier ones for a beginner to pick up. It adds meta boxes to every page and post so you can set a focus keyword, canonical URL and meta description, and its readability analysis gives practical suggestions for improving a post before you publish it. It also handles schema markup, XML sitemaps, breadcrumbs and “noindex” content.

2. All in One SEO Pack

A solid alternative to Yoast that works reasonably well straight out of the box for beginners, generating meta tags and optimising titles automatically. More advanced users get a Robots.txt editor and finer control over how search engines are notified of changes. It also covers image SEO, sitemaps, schema markup, AMP support and duplicate content detection.

3. Google XML Sitemaps

A no-frills plugin that does one thing well: generating and maintaining an XML sitemap automatically as you publish. It gives more control than the sitemap WordPress now includes by default, without adding the extra features — and extra weight — of a full SEO suite.

4. Squirrly SEO

Built for beginners, offering real-time content suggestions as you write and basic competitor analysis to see how you stack up against similar pages. It also tracks audience engagement and gives actionable advice for improving click-through rates, alongside sitemap, schema and Google Analytics integration.

5. SEOPress

A comprehensive, white-labelled plugin free of upsell ads, covering custom XML sitemaps, keyword-based content analysis, redirect management and Google Analytics integration. It supports unlimited keywords and dynamic titles and meta descriptions, which makes it a capable option for a site with a lot of content to manage.

Conclusion

SEO is ongoing work, and a well-chosen plugin makes the mechanical parts of it — sitemaps, meta tags, schema — far less tedious. Try a couple of these against your own site’s needs before settling on one.