18 Top SEO Plugins To Solve WordPress Optimization Issues- Crocoblock

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of actions that are necessary for a site to rank higher in search results. Every SEO specialist knows that it’s not easy to get Google to love your site. To do this, you need high-quality content, usability and accessibility of the site at a high level, fast loading speed, a great deal of time, and a whole bunch of other things. And nevertheless, we go for it because a pumped SEO and high site ranking are effective ways to develop the business.

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Why Do I Need SEO Plugins?

In the case when it comes to sites on WordPress, you can make the task easier with the help of optimization plugins. Many great plugins allow you to automate most of the processes, and in some cases, one good plugin can replace the work of an entire SEO agency. 

SEO plugins will help you to:

• create AMP pages
• generate XML sitemap
• set up redirects correctly
• automatically add nofollow and noindex tags
• optimize image sizes and titles
• check for availability and add meta tags
• count and optimize keywords
• configure caching to increase loading speed 
• other custom functions depending on the selected plugin

There are a huge number of SEO plugins. Some are very well known, and some are not. Paid and free, with simple functionality and a bunch of advanced options, the plugin’s choice is yours. I’ll try to help by talking about the 18 best WordPress SEO plugins in this article.

18 Best WordPress SEO Plugins 

As always, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all plugins are in random order. Also, for convenience, I will divide the list into multipurpose SEO solutions and plugins that act pointwise. For example, they only create XML Sitemaps, or only cache the site, and so on.

7 best all-in-one SEO plugins

Yoast SEO Review

Yoast SEO is the most well-known and commonly-used SEO plugin over there. Over 5 million downloads, a 5-stars rating, and over 40 localizations make it even one of the most popular plugins in the WordPress directory overall. This April, our JetEngine became compatible with Yoast SEO too.

Yoast SEO is a complex solution that provides plenty of features within its free version, but its premium can replace an on-staff SEO. There is content optimization, tips for internal links, a reminder to freshen up the page 6 months after publication, and much more. Also, premium subscription grants you access to SEO academy by Yoast and full-fledged technical support by email. 

Top basic features:

• Access to courses
• SEO and readability check
• Creation of XML project map
• Setting canonical URLs and meta tags
• Header and description templates
• Displaying snippets in preview mode
• Schema.org integration (it increases chances of getting to SERP rich results) 

Top premium features:

• Access to the whole SEO academy
• User support via email 
• Social media previews available
• Content optimization for synonyms and related keywords
• Automatical redirects 
• Ability to extend features with News SEO, Video SEO, Local SEO и WooCommerce SEO addons 
• Integration with Elemenor and Zapier 

Pros:

• This is an old reliable plugin with a huge audience and high ratings
• The free version allows you not only to understand how this plugin works but really helps with the optimization

Cons:

• The price starts from €89 (per 1 site) which might be too much. But it still much much cheaper than hiring a specialist 
• Full-fledged support is available for paying customers only

Price: $0 to $756.50 

Rank Math Review

Rank Math is a well-known solid WordPress SEO plugin that helps to improve site ranking. The plugin is universal and copes well with any site from blogs to eCommerce, etc. It evaluates the content of your site by 40+ SEO factors and provides recommendations for improving it. XML Sitemaps, automatic image SEO, social media optimizations, WooCommerce SEO, and much more are also on the list of features. 

Rank Math comes with free and premium versions. The free version is more than enough to try out this plugin since it provides all major features. But if you need time-efficient automatic options and advanced integrations, paid one is definitely worth considering. 

Top basic features:

• 30 SEO tests and reports
• 18 pre-defined Schema types
• Auto canonical tags
• Facebook Open Graph, Twitter Cards
• Auto redirects generation
• Broken links monitoring 
• One-click import from all major SEO plugins

Top premium features:

• Google Analytics integration
• WooCommerce SEO 
• 24 pre-defined Schema types and 840+ Shema types supported
• Keywords and posts tracking
• Orphan pages detection
• Advanced images optimization 

Pros:

• The support is legendary
• Many advanced features available for free unlimitedly
• Easy and intuitive 

Cons:

• Documentation could be more extensive 

Price: $0 to $199

AIOSEO (All in One SEO) Review

AIOSEO is another decent complex SEO solution known for being easy to set up and beginner-friendly. The plugin is constantly updated and adapts to each new algorithm that Google and other search engines introduce. 

The main perk of this plugin is the proprietary TruSEO algorithm. It analyzes the site and provides you with an SEO checklist, following which you will increase the chance to get to the top of search results. It’s nice that you can optimize an unlimited number of pages or posts for an unlimited number of keywords without even buying the paid version.

Top basic features:

• XML sitemaps
• Automatic generation of meta titles, meta descriptions
• Open Graph for better looking in social media
• All popular social media integrations 
• Integration with Google Analytics and other webmaster tools
• Schema markup
• RSS SEO Sitemap
• TruSEO score
• Settings migrator for easy switching from other SEO tools

Top premium features:

• Video and news SEO Sitemaps
• Optimization of product pages and categories via Advanced eCommerce SEO support for WooCommerce
• Redirection manager
• Optimization of taxonomies
• Access to premium forums and video tutorials

Pros:

• Features are optimized not only for Google but also for Yandex, Bing, and Baidu
• Many advanced features available for free

Cons:

• Annoying pop-ups on the site
• Video tutorials available for paid users

Price: $0 to $299.50

SEOPress, on-site SEO Review

SEOPress is one of the relatively recent all-in-one SEO plugins. It seems to me that newly-developed plugins have at least one undoubtful advantage. They usually try to make the product at least a little better than their competitors. For example, this plugin offers some features for free that other plugins only provide in the premium version like preview mode for all social networks.

And the premium version not only pleases with even cooler features but also costs much less than other complex SEO plugins.

Top free features:

• XML sitemaps and Images XML sitemaps for better ranking
• Content analysis for an unlimited number of keywords
• Preview for mobile and desktop Google search results, and Facebook and Twitter
• Custom canonical URLs
• Meta robots and meta descriptions
• Redirects in CPT, post, and pages
• Google Knowledge Graph
• Integration with Google Analytics

Top premium features:

• Allows importing and exporting metadata to and from CSV file
• Schema protocol markup
• Schema organized breadcrumbs
• Monitoring for 404 errors
• Redirects manager
• WooCommerce support

Pros:

• Gives even more opportunities if working with Elementor
• Much cheaper than its rivals
• No ads and white label even within the free version

Cons:

• While some of the usually paid features are available for free here, some of the usually free features, on the contrary, are paid
• Installation wizard may seem a bit overwhelming for newbies

Price: $0 to $39

The SEO Framework Review

The SEO Framework is a comprehensive SEO plugin that uses artificial intelligence to generate effective meta tags in any language. The features of this plugin are quite advanced and at the same time, it is practically free.

With a paid subscription, you will get API access, support of more than 1 site at the same time, and a couple more features. There are also several paid extensions.

This plugin is ad-free and white-hat. Another detail of the plugin is a color indication on the pages in the control panel. When you hover over a color, you will see a recommendation for improvements. 

Top free features:

• Open Graph for better looking in social media
• Schema integration
• Automatic creation of title and description
• Color indicators with improvement recommendations for each post on the control panel
• Canonical tags automatical generation
• XML sitemaps
• Generation of critical SEO meta tags according to the current WordPress environment 

Top premium features:

• Premium extensions: HoneyPot, Articles, Focus, and more
• Access to more than 1 site at the same time
• Private support
• API requests 
• Google Analytics support

Pros:

• Plugin where functions are available for free without restrictions
• The plugin automates a large piece of work, for example, it generates titles and descriptions 
• No ads

Cons:

• Some of the recommendations are quite difficult to understand if you are not a pro
• The documentation could be better

Price: $0 to $324

SEO 2021 by Squirrly Review

SEO 2021 by Squirrly is another all-in-one SEO plugin that is great for beginners. The plugin’s creators mark it as a Non-Human Private SEO Consultant that relies on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud services to create the most effective SEO strategies.

The plugin has a premium version and a free one, which has all the same functions but is limited in terms of the volume of requests. Also, free Education Cloud is available to all plugin users, and in the first 14 days of use, the plugin will give you one hint every day to improve the ranking.

Top free features:

• Bulk SEO option for controlling all post types in a single panel
• Content marketing analysis for an unlimited number of pages
• 13 Schema types integrations
• Creating and managing robots.txt
• Live assistant for content optimization
• Sitemap XML for images, videos, Google News, and more
• Open Graph preview
• Twitter card preview and validation

Top premium features:

• Support service by phone
• Increased limits of focus pages
• Increased limits of new keywords suggestions

Pros:

• Handy hints for beginners
• Unlimited content analysis within the free version
• Free SEO educational materials

Cons:

• The interface looks outdated 
• No live chat on the website

Price: $0 to $75.99/mo

Slim SEO Review

Slim SEO is a rare case of a completely free all-in-one WordPress SEO plugin. The plugin is called Slim for a reason because it makes it easy for aspiring SEO optimizers to get started. All processes are automated here, the plugin independently generates meta tags, breadcrumbs, sitemaps, and much more.

If you want, you can install this plugin and it will do everything by itself. As for developers, Slim SEO provides options for configuring how the plugin will work exactly.

Top features:

• Auto-generation and optimization of meta tags, including title and description, robots, Open Graph, Twitter Cards 
• XML Sitemaps
• Breadcrumbs generation and flexible styling
• Schema integration

Pros:

• Free, lightweight
• Totally automated
• Extended documentation

Cons:

• Not frequently updated
• Does not allow to change meta tags manually

Price: $0 

11 best SEO plugins for solving point problems

Strive Review

Strive is a content calendar plugin for WordPress. Publishing high-quality content is one of the best ways to grow your search traffic, and Strive makes this much easier by giving you a beautiful, interactive editorial calendar to plan your content.

The Strive plugin also includes a Revisions feature, which makes republishing outdated content much easier. You can turn any published post into a revision, and then take your time making all the edits you need. Once finished, the revision can be scheduled and will show up in the calendar alongside all the other posts.

Top features:

• Interactive calendar in your WP dashboard
• Post statuses for tracking your progress
• Custom post checklists to organize your workflow
• Post revisions for republishing content
• Pipeline view of all your post drafts

Pros:

• Beautiful design
• Easy to use
• Frequently updated and well-supported

Cons:

• No free version available

Price: $7/month

Schema Pro

Schema Pro is a very powerful plugin that helps with all aspects of utilizing schema on a website. The plugin is very simple to use and provides a simple point and click interface that enables you to make your website compatible with all the latest schema. All you need to do is select a page or post, select a schema, map the two together and the plugin handles the rest.

Schema Pro is compatible with a wide range of schema types, including review, local business, article, service, product, course, recipe, person, job posting, book, event, software, video, FAQ, and how-to schema.

Top Pro features:

• Use on unlimited websites
• Control display rules
• Advanced schema type support
• 100% ACF compatible
• Live schema testing
• Premium support

Top Growth Bundle features:

• Astra Pro plugin
• 180 Starter Templates
• WP Portfolio plugin
• Convert Pro plugin
• Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder
• Ultimate Addons for Elementor
• SkillJet Academy Membership
• Extensive Training

Pros:

• Simple to use and requires little setup
• No coding skills or SEO knowledge required
• Fully compatible with the latest schema standards
• Frequently updated

Cons:

Price: $63 per year for Pro and $174 for Growth Bundle

Schema Review

Downloaded almost 100,000 times, Schema is probably the most popular free WordPress schema markup plugin. It supports different types of schemas and generates rich snippets for different search engines.  

Rich snippets will highlight your site in the search results and increase CTR (click-through rate). 

Top features:

• Easily implements different Schemas: articles, video, people, review, and four more 

Pros:

• Better looking in search results
• Thanks to this, Facebook reposts also show more accurate information

Cons:

Price: $0

Semrush SEO Writing Assistant Review

Semrush SEO Writing Assistant is one of the plugins that offer not a complex solution, but a point one. In this case, we are talking about content optimization. The plugin provides recommendations for improving the text based on the analysis of the top 10 search results for the given keywords and region. The plugin checks the text for uniqueness, tone of voice, keywords, and readability. It also checks the correctness of links.

This is a free plugin created by one of the most famous companies developing SEO products.

Top features:

• Provides total readability score and improvement recommendations
• Recommendations are based on the given keywords
• Suggests related keywords
• Checks the relevance of tone of voice

Pros:

• A plugin developed by the team that makes SEO products for over 10 years

Cons:

• Only one set of recommendations is available for free

Price: $0

WP Rocket Review

WP Rocket is a smart caching plugin. Once installed, it significantly speeds up the site by caching pages, compressing images, and so on. High loading speed is pleasant not only for your visitors but also significantly affects the SERPs. Fast-loading websites have a bigger chance to get to the top.

The plugin does not have a free version, but its functionality is clear from the description, and the quality of its work is highly appreciated by millions of users around the world. This is a simple plugin that any novice webmaster can use without any problems. 

Top features:

• Page and browser caching
• GZIP files compression 
• The plugin won’t affect sensitive pages, i.e. products purchasing ones 
• CDN integration for increasing loading speed for users located too far from your server
• Automatic and manual database cleanups that allow deleting comments, posts, etc. in a few clicks 

Pros:

• A smart algorithm that does not touch the sensitive pages
• Probably the easiest-to-use plugin in its niche
• Comprehensive documentation

Cons:

• No free version
• No live support

Price: $49 to $249

Nofollow for external link Review

The simplest plugin that blog editors will definitely like. As the name suggests, this plugin automatically adds nofollow tags to third-party links. At the same time, you can pre-configure sites that the plugin won’t be affecting.

Top features:

• Inserts rel=nofollow and target=_blank automatically to all external links 
• Allows configuring site exclusions

Pros:

• Does exactly what it says

Cons:

• Last updated 8 months ago

Price: $0

LiteSpeed Cache Review

LiteSpeed Cache is a free 5-star WordPress plugin downloaded over 2 million times. It optimizes website performance by caching it at the server level. All cached pages are stored on the LiteSpeed server and have nothing to do with the WordPress server.

The plugin works great with other popular software, including WooCommers and Yoast SEO.

Top features:

• Support of multiple CDN
• Critical CSS auto-generation 
• Cloudflare API
• Page speed score optimization
• Image optimization
• Lazy load

Pros:

• Very intuitive and simply does its job
• Speeds up the site

Cons:

• Not compatible with Google PageSpeed

Price: $0

W3 Total Cache Review

W3 Total Cache (W3TC) is also a caching plugin that speeds up the website. It integrates CDN (content delivery network), implements lazy loading and other best practices for website speed optimization. 

Top features:

• Compatibility with any hosting sorts
• CDN management with media library
• AMP pages generation
• Caching of posts, pages, RSS feeds, objects, CSS, JavaScript, and more in memory/on disk/on CDN
• Minification of posts and pages, RSS feeds
• Lazy Load

Pros:

• Many free advanced options for developers (which is also a con if you are a newbie)
• It really shows good performance
• Supports all major CDN providers
• Constantly updated

Cons:

• Too confusing and overwhelming for beginners and not too much support provided
• Lots of adds 

Price: $0

XML Sitemaps Review

The Sitemaps protocol is usually supported by complex SEO plugins, but this plugin will definitely be helpful if you prefer using separate SEO solutions. Everything is clear from the name: the plugin creates XML Sitemaps. And sitemaps, in turn, help search engines better see the structure of the site and display it correctly in SERP.

Top features:

• Creates complete sitemaps for better crawling

Pros:

• Simple and free 5-star plugin 

Cons:

• Not sure if there are any

Price: $0

Spider Blocker Review

Spider Blocker is a WordPress plugin that blocks common bots that slow down the website. 

Top features:

• Prevents all bots that slow down the site from viewing it
• Eazy rules of importing and exporting 

Pros:

• Zero footprint
• Allows adding bots manually

Cons:

• Probably not the tool any newbie could use easily

Price: $0

Broken Link Checker Review

Broken links cause a bad user experience and also affect badly site ranking. Broken Link Checker is a free WordPress plugin that monitors or external and internal links and helps fix those that are broken. 

Top features:

• Monitors all links on the website 
• Finds broken links, redirects, and missing images
• Notifies about broken links by email or in a Dashboard (you can configure this manually)

Pros:

• Saves time by automating monitoring
• Improves user experience

Cons:

• Sometimes it brings false reports

Price: $0

How to choose a WordPress SEO plugin?

As you can see, there are many plugins with similar functionality on the list, and each has its pros and cons. Most likely, there is no single ideal solution, but downloading, let alone buying each one to understand which one is best for you, is also not an option.

To decide at the start, it is important to analyze all the options you like in advance. What to look for:

SEO Plugin features

Everything is clear here: before starting work, you need to understand what problem you need to solve and whether the selected plugin can do it.

Compatibility with third-party plugins

Before choosing an SEO plugin, make sure that it supports integration with your other work tools if needed.

Price

Of course, the price of a plugin is often dictated by the wealth of its options, but again, you may not need all of them, and you will not be able to pay a lot.

The number of users

If we are talking about a plugin from the WordPress directory, then everything is simple, this number shows off on the main page. The more users trust a plugin, the better it rather is. Also, pay attention to the number of reviews. If there are millions of downloads and few reviews, this is suspicious. If the plugin is not in the directory, it is still easy to determine the approximate number of users by checking the statistics of page visits in SimilarWeb, and also by looking at reviews on various resources.

Reviews

Always study reviews in the directory, and services such as G2 Crowd, TrustPilot, and others.

Security

An important point that many do not think about. It is important that the plugin is updated frequently and is up to date with the latest version of WordPress, this minimizes the chance that the plugin may be harmful to your site.

User support

Most of the premium plugins offer good personalized support, the free ones are most often supported through reviews in the directory and forums. Pay attention to how quickly developers respond to user requests, this is important

Best WordPress SEO Plugins FAQs

Sum Up

Hope it was helpful! I will be glad to hear feedback from you in the comments. Also, don’t hesitate to tell us about your favorite plugins.