Without proper search engine optimization(SEO) , your website is unlikely to reach a large audience. Until recently, Yoast SEO was the go-to SEO plugin for most users, with its helpful content tips and easy setup process. Today, Rank Math is quickly establishing itself as the new SEO powerhouse, which may give you the question: How does Rank Math vs Yoast SEO compare?
Both tools are suitable for users with any level of experience. Even if you are a beginner, you should have no problem following the tips provided and optimizing your posts for your main keywords . However, if you want to delve into your site’s SEO, you’ll find that Rank Math has far more options than its competitor.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to these two plugins, then compare Rank Math vs Yoast SEO in four key areas to see their differences.
Let’s begin!
Rank Math vs Yoast SEO overview
Created in 2010 by Joost de Valk, Yoast SEO (which is how the creator’s name is pronounced) is a powerful yet intuitive tool ,
This plugin allows you to add your main keywords to your posts and include meta tags without touching a line of code. It also analyzes your posts for readability and gives you practical suggestions to improve them.
Yoast SEO is available for free with limited functionality. This gives you access to advanced options like internal linking tips , a redirect manager, and much more.
Rank Math, on the other hand, is relatively new. Launched in 2018, it comes with smart automation features, which help you optimize your site in just a few clicks.
It is also integrated with Google search console and various keyword positioning tools, thus offering an advantage over a competitor. Plus, it’s lightweight, as you can disable features you don’t need.
Both are great tools for SEO and simplify the process, thanks to their intuitive features. However, they do have some slight differences, which we review below.
Rank Math vs Yoast SEO: main features compared
Now that we’ve introduced both tools, let’s see how they compare in four key areas.
1. Optimization of keywords
Any SEO plugin should allow you to optimize your pages for a focus keyword. Both Rank Math and Yoast SEO do it well.
By default, Rank Math allows you to assign five keywords to your posts. However, you can easily increase this number until you have an unlimited number of keywords by using a filter that you can add to your page editor.
Yoast SEO allows you to optimize your posts for just one keyword or up to five if you buy the Pro version. While adding more keywords isn’t necessary for SEO, it can increase your page ranking because you can include variations or synonyms of related key phrases.
Both tools give you keyword optimization tips within your post editor and show you a green light when everything is fine. For example, they’ll ask you to include your main keyword in headlines and monitor keyword density within the text.
With Yoast SEO, you can find SEO tips at the bottom of the page or in the editor sidebar ( if you click the Yoast SEO icon on the editor toolbar ):
Rank Math shows its features only in the sidebar, which you can activate by clicking the Rank Math button on the toolbar:
Overall, both tools offer similar tips. However, Rank Math gives a numerical rating for your keyword optimization efforts, where a score above 80 is the most optimal. The Yoast SEO rating is less specific, showing an orange dot when your content needs improvement or red when it’s unacceptable.
Also, positioning in the sidebar is much more convenient when editing the post. For these reasons, we believe Rank Math has a slight advantage in this area.
2. Content optimization
Optimizing content and keywords go hand in hand. However, Yoast SEO offers a readability analysis and helps you write better posts, further boosting your SEO efforts.
Similar to its keyword analysis, Yoast SEO shows a green light if your article reads well for an average user. If there is a problem, it will suggest improvements, with an option to highlight areas that need modification:
For example, you may want to use more transition words or rewrite the sentences in active form. Note that Yoast provides suggestions based on the Flesch reading ease score , which indicates how easy or difficult your text might appear to readers.
Rank Math offers similar tips on content readability. However, they are part of your site’s overall SEO score (between 0 and 100) rather than a separate analysis:
While it’s not known whether readability has a significant impact on your site’s SEO, we do know that a positive user experience (UX) is a contributing ranking factor. Therefore, Yoast has an advantage in this area, as it helps improve the overall quality of your posts.
3. Other SEO tools
As your SEO knowledge progresses, you will likely want to access tools that go beyond basic post optimization. Both Rank Math and Yoast SEO offer:
- Google Search Console integration
- Automatic canonical URLs
- XML sitemap
- Social media optimization
- Breadcrumb SEO
- Preview of the post
- Site verification
- Markup scheme
However, Rank Math provides many more tools for free. Features like internal linking and high-performance keyword suggestions are only available to premium Yoast SEO users. Rank Math also allows you to redirect users to a new page, preview social media shares or access advanced keyword analysis, all for free.
Additionally, Rank Math includes features that aren’t available with Yoast at all. For example, the keyword rank tracker, which helps you track your site against the competition.
You can also analyze your highest and lowest ranking posts and take advantage of an advanced schema generator, which allows you to choose from a list of predefined templates or generate your own.
Some additional features you can enjoy with Rank Math include:
- Google trends integration
- SEO for images
- Automatic image captions
- Advanced redirects (301, 302, 307, 410 and others)
- 404 error log
- Automatic filling of data for video diagram
- SEO alerts and failed tests
- Advanced options for ‘nofollow’ links
- Role manager
- Local SEO
For these reasons, we believe Rank Math has an edge over Yoast when it comes to offering a wide range of SEO options.
4. Ease of use
Both Rank Math and Yoast SEO are intuitive and simple to set up. They provide interactive procedures that guide the user through each step.
However, Rank Math comes with two modes: easy and advanced. The former is useful for beginners, who may find all the settings too complicated. Rank Math will do all the work for you and apply its default options.
Advanced mode is best suited for SEO professionals and specialists who want complete control over their sites:
Rank Math also boasts a modern interface that improves your UX. The dashboard is clean and colorful, the content analysis is understandable even for novice users.
On the other hand, Yoast SEO comes with its traditional dashboard that has changed little over the years:
It might look dated, but it’s familiar to users who remain brand loyal. Plus, it’s simple to navigate and its tips are easy to follow. Overall, we prefer the Yoast SEO dashboard, but who’s ahead in this section is largely a matter of personal preference.
Rank Math vs Yoast SEO: Which Is Best?
Both plugins are impressive and it’s fair to say there’s no wrong choice. However, if you are an advanced user, you will undoubtedly be able to improve with Rank Math.
It comes with advanced features that no other SEO plugin on the market can offer. You will be able to:
- Generate highly customized markup schema
- Monitor 404 Errors
- Deepen your keyword analysis
- Have full control over your redirects
- Create custom XML sitemaps
- Optimize your site for devices like Alexa
All these features are available for free. Therefore, it is an excellent inexpensive solution for professionals or anyone serious about SEO of their site.
Plus, Rank Math is modular, which means you can choose the features you need without overloading your site. The plugin is also three times lighter than Yoast SEO, making it the optimal solution for performance-conscious users.
However, if you need basic SEO on your site, Yoast SEO is still a good choice. The free version is more than enough to optimize your content for your chosen keywords, with helpful tips that beginners will appreciate. Plus, Yoast SEO gives you access to free and premium SEO courses, so it’s a valuable resource for anyone new to SEO and wanting to delve into SEO.
Rank Math’s interface is easy to use and you can automate most tasks even if you don’t know much about SEO. Therefore, it is a good and comprehensive tool for both beginners and advanced users.
Conclusion
If you want to be visible online, SEO is required, which is why you need a specialized WordPress plugin.
Yoast SEO is still the market leader due to its comprehensive content analysis and ease of use. However, Rank Math has recently gained ground, so it’s worth exploring both options and making sure you’re choosing the best tool for your site.
In this article, we have compared Rank Math vs Yoast SEO and looked at their optimization options.
In summary:
- Yoast SEO is an excellent tool for beginners. It will help you write better posts and optimize your content for focus keywords. You will need to upgrade to access any advanced settings.
- Rank Math is a great tool for SEO specialists who need to dig deeper into content analytics and optimization. It also allows you to add unlimited keywords and fully control your on-page SEO for free.
Good job.
