Interested in SEO optimization for your website? You definitely must have come across Rank Math and Yoast SEO. In summary, these two remain some of the most popular plugins on WordPress that help in improving the SEO performance of your website. Which do you use? This post will give you a clear no-nonsense comparison between Rank Math and Yoast SEO; this comparison would be done focusing on three fundamental aspects: features, pricing, and performance.
Problem: The SEO Dilemma for WordPress Users SEO is important;
through it alone, your website will rise to the highest rankings on Google, leading to organic traffic. As a fact, since there are over 70,000 searches on Google every second, not optimizing correctly for SEO is a loss of potential visitors and sales.
The solution, for most WordPress users, involves using an SEO plugin. But with Rank Math and Yoast SEO in the market vying for your attention, it comes across as hard to make the right choice.
Are you paying for more features than you need on Yoast SEO? On the other hand, could you be losing out on premium benefits by remaining on Rank Math’s free version?
Agitation: The Overwhelming Choice between Rank Math and Yoast SEO
Both Rank Math and Yoast SEO are coming with a big list of features and claims that it’s very hard to make out who fits a person’s bill.
- Rank Math claims to have more features than any other free SEO plugin out there; it sometimes refers to itself as the “Swiss Army Knife” of SEO tools. But does it overcomplicate things for users who just want to focus on the basics?
- On the contrary, Yoast SEO has been in the market since 2010 and is trusted by millions of websites. However, with time, many users feel Yoast has become bloated and keeps hard-selling its premium version.
Solution: Breaking It Down – Features, Pricing, and Performance
Let’s make the process of decision-making simpler by breaking down three main categories of this comparison: Features, Pricing, and Performance.
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Features: What You Get with Each Plugin
Rank math features
Rank Math
Rank Math is known for swarms of features in its free version. Here’s what you get:
- SEO Analysis: This inbuilt SEO audit tool checks more than 40 SEO factors on your website.
- Multiple Keyword Optimization: Rank Math will cover you for up to 5 focus keywords in the free version, optimizing your content.
- Schema Markup: It contains a detailed schema generator that supports more than 20 types of structured data.
- Google Search Console Integration: Link your website directly to Google Search Console from the WordPress dashboard.
- Automated Image SEO: Automatically add ALT and title attributes to your images, based on settings you have customized.
- 404 Monitor and Redirection Manager: Locate the broken links with this feature and move them to their respective URLs in a very simple way.
Get started with Rank Math Pro today!
yoast seo features
Yoast SEO
While Rank Math is full of features, Yoast SEO in its core version keeps it minimalist. Here’s what you get:
- Focus Keyword Optimization: You could optimize your content for 1 focus keyword, and it would do an in-depth analysis.
- Readability Analysis: Know exactly how to improve the structure of your content when it comes to readability and user experience.
- XML Sitemaps: Automatically generated XML sitemaps will help Google understand the structure of your site.
- Breadcrumb Navigation: User navigation through your site improves by automatically generating breadcrumb trails.
- Social Media Integration: Allows customization of how your posts look when shared on social media.
Get started with Yoast SEO Premium plugin today!
Verdict:
Rank Math clearly outshines Yoast SEO, especially in the feature department of its free version. The ability to optimize for multiple keywords and the inclusion of schema markup without added costs certainly seals the deal for Rank Math as more feature-rich. Yoast SEO covers all bases, but a lot of the advanced features can be locked behind its premium version.
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Pricing: Free vs. Premium Plans
Rank Math Pricing
Free Version: As earlier stated, Rank Math free version allows a generous set of features.
Pro Version: The Pro version will cost $59 for one year and thus includes features such as:
- Ability to optimize unlimited keywords.
- Advanced Schema Markup (eCommerce, local SEO, etc.).
- Custom Schema Builder for more detailed SEO customization.
- Analytics integrated with Google Analytics and AdSense.
- SEO Performance Reports.
There’s also a Business plan that costs $199 per year and includes client management, white-label reporting, and more, among others.
Yoast SEO Pricing
Free Version: Yoast SEO free version is somewhat basic when compared to Rank Math.
Premium Version: Yoast’s Premium is priced at $99 per year for a single site and covers the following features :
- Up to 5 focus keywords.
- Suggestions for internal linking.
- Redirect Manager, which handles 404 errors.
- Content insights on how often the use of certain keywords is made.
- 1-year support.
Verdict:
Rank Math is more value-for-money, given that the price gap between the Pro version of Rank Math and the Premium plan of Yoast is larger. For those who want to have an advanced capability in SEO, the price of Rank Math is more competitive.
Yoast SEO or Rank math
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Performance: How They Affect Your Site’s Speed and SEO
Rank Math Performance
Rank Math is a lightweight plugin considering its rich feature set. In fact, a test made by WP Johnny presented very good page speed performance by Rank Math. With fewer external requests and a smaller plugin size, it doesn’t take that much toll on page load times.
Moreover, Rank Math was built with clean and efficient code to help make sure your site does not slow down even when you have a lot of features activated.
Yoast SEO Performance
Recently, Yoast SEO has been roasted over the past years for slowing down websites. While still a powerful plugin, Yoast SEO makes more requests in your site’s database-ESPECIALLY in its premium version.
Tests have shown that Yoast adds extra time to page load speed-especially because of its features like readability analysis and internal linking suggestions. This perhaps is not felt in smaller websites.
Verdict:
Speaking of performance, Rank Math wins with flying colors due to its lightweight and efficiency. It has a lot cleaner code and optimization than Yoast SEO for those where site speed matters.
Conclusion: Which SEO Plugin to Choose?
If you are a beginner or just want the core of the functionality, then probably Yoast SEO would be enough for you. It’s simple, well-established in the niche, and gives you all the core features you might need.
If you want a more feature-rich, performance-driven SEO plugin that will give you more for your money, Rank Math is indeed the winner. From its strong offering for free down to its competitive premium plans, Rank Math’s offering gives you what you need to get the job done without slowing down your site.