It is often a decision to make on which SEO program you should choose.
I had to decide between using Yoast or All In One SEO and the answer surprised me.
Why did I choose to try Yoast?
I have traditionally used Yoast as my guide because it advises on structure and settings and keeps you honest. However, it does distract you from writing content as you duck and dive between fixes.
I then went to All In one and life was less complicated as the green lights had gone.
Writing a review recently I chose Yoast as my format because the question had been asked in Quora on a regular basis.
My goal was to find the most suitable SEO format and stay with it for the long term. No more ducking and diving.
You research as you review
Like any good reviewer, I went back to basics and had a look at what Yoast really represented.
Yoast is not that old. Started about 10 years ago by Joost De Valk, it grew gradually until 2015 when his wife Marieke, a recently graduated PhD student, joined full time. Together they sold shares to Micheil and Omar to form a board of four and a staff of about 15.
Interestingly, the name Yoast is a translation of Yoost and has no real meaning.
The last five years have seen a big spurt with over 100 employees covering most countries around the world.
With over 2,500,000 connections and an upgrade fee of $89 I believe they are well in the money.
The role that Marieke took encompassed staff support and marketing and the results have really shown.
To me, this was really an exercise in how successful good marketing can be.
Two companies doing the same thing. There can only be one winner.
Training and support at Yoast
This is always an important consideration and the Yoast group do it very well.
They have an academy for training in a free version, advanced version and a technical version to top it off.
Full knowledge base and regular SEO tips newsletters are available and
Of course, online support is available as well.
When I checked the support forum I did find a couple of negative comments that made me wonder if my research was correct.
I upgraded to a Pro-account on one of my sites and had trouble getting it installed, try as I might the Pro installation eluded me.
My chance to try support at Yoast.
I work with all sorts of communication however I have a dislike of Google Messenger. A couple of friends use it but generally, I ignore it, sometimes to my peril.
Yoast responded to Messenger and I missed the first reply so I tried again.
This time they were lucky I got the reply. Explained my issue and waited for a response. It was very quick. I had not ticked an appropriate box in my set up.
However, it was explained where I had gone wrong, they did it for me and had me going very quick.
I awarded them with a five-star review.
Guidance on SEO
The green light feature certainly leads you along and is ever-present demanding your attention.
Having written many blogs on SEO we continue to write in the most comfortable way but I am endeared to Yoast and want to change.
Changing is easy.
Good SEO is a continual challenge and the rules are not pliable, you will get penalised easily.
We took the opportunity to reinstall Yoast to a site with about 150 current posts active
| Install Yoast SEO plugin | A normal WordPress operation |
| Activate the Plugin | Click activate |
| Disable the old plugin | Click disable All In One |
| Go to SEO tools | Input and edit |
| Change the settings | learn a few things |
Using an install plugin
Having a lot of data on the site I needed to be sure it was all bought across.
I found a plugin called SEO data Transporter and followed the directions.
As part of the migration process, you’ll install the SEO Data Transporter plugin. This 3rd party plugin will facilitate the transfer of all your data and settings from All in One SEO to Yoast SEO.
Once you’ve installed the SEO Data Transporter plugin, you’ll choose which plugin you’re moving away from, and which plugin you’re moving to. Click “analyze” to see what records and elements are compatible, and click “convert” to make the conversion.
WP 101
There was a problem because The keyword and Meta description did not come across on many of my pages.
This meant toggling back and forward a few times but with little result.
I went back and changed a few sites and found that I had made mistakes in my setup on many posts. No keyword in the Meta description, it was more than the allowed amount of words and I had made some spelling mistakes.
I went through and revisited each page making the necessary changes.
When I was all finished and happy I found the Yoast Pro bulk change tool.
Oh well, it was done I shall know next time.
Installing a site map
This is an essential part of SEO and is done for you to act with Yoast SEO plug-in.
This is the same with Social media plugins
However, you do need to go to the Google search console and install it independent of the Yoast installation
You are now looking good and can start writing. However, first up do your focus Keyword and meta description.
I am an experienced writer and I have messed up the meta description but Yoast had me searching for my mistake.
Conclusion
I am making mistakes and I decided to return to Yoast as my principal SEO tool
We cannot afford simple errors in our SEO and I have found all too many in a short time.
Has it improved my site? Only time will tell. my weekly stats are all up but that may just be activity.
The Google console has recognised all my links so that is something
Finally, the answer you have wanted, Is Yoast the best choice of SEO?
The answer my friends is YES, I have gone back and am staying put.
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