"What's the best WordPress SEO plugin?"
I'm asked that question all the time, and recently took part in a debate discussing which plugin is best. I decided to draft a features list comparing the top three most downloaded SEO plugins to get a better picture of what each plugin has to offer, et voilà!
I'll be comparing and contrasting features of the All in one SEO Pack, vs WordPress SEO by Yoast, vs Platinum SEO. To be fair, there is no loser among the three because each plugin is impressive and will make your WordPress site much more search engine friendly. I'll talk about which plugin is my favorite in the conclusion, so you can review the features bias-free, and implement whichever plugin matches your specific set of needs.
If you know a developer – or anyone that would like their WordPress site to rank well in search engines – please help them out by sharing this review so that these plugins don't go unused.
The plugins:
All in One SEO Pack
Downloads: 9,570,544
Author: Michael Torbert
Plugin page
WordPress SEO by Yoast
Downloads: 761,035
Author: Joost de Valk
Plugin Page
Platinum SEO Pack
Downloads: 656,205
Author: Techblissonline Dot Com (Rajesh)
Plugin Page
Honorable mention plugin: I can't leave out the oldie-but-still-goodie, SEO Ultimate.
Table of Contents
- Setup and First Appearances
- Plugin Features
- Migration/Import/Export
- Page-Level SEO Controls
- XML Sitemaps
- Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, and Open Graph Schema
1. Setup and First Appearances
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warns if WordPress is blocking search engines |
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| Requires a second click to enable plugin |
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| Has its own navigation section | Found under general settings | ||
| Developer ads and news | |||
| 3rd party ads |
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| Pro (paid) version |
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2. Plugin Features
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handy tips and help section | |||
| Configure title tag templates | |||
| Configure meta description templates | |||
| Automatically generates meta descriptions | |||
| Configure meta keyword templates (or disable) | |||
| Disallow search engines from specific sections of WordPress | |||
| Canonical tag support | |||
| noodp Support |
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| noydir Support |
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| Permalinks Optimization (search-engine-friendly URLs) |
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| Redirect attachment URLs to parent post |
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| 301 redirect edits to permalinks |
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| 404 page optimization |
| Breadcrumbs & title tags | Title tags |
| Add custom HTML to the head tag |
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| Use nofollow on category & archive pages |
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| Breadcrumb & internal link optimization |
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| Controls to limit clutter in the head tag |
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| Hide RSS feeds/links |
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| RSS Feed Optimization |
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| Edit access to .htaccess file |
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3. Migration/Import/Export
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plugin data migration support |
| From All in one SEO, Headspace2, & other Yoast plugins | From All in One SEO |
| Ability to export data for backups and migration |
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4. Page-Level SEO Controls
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edit title, meta description, and meta keywords tags | |||
| SERPs snippet preview while you type (see screenshot below) |
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| Page analysis (based on target phrase) with feedback and tips |
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| Set 301 redirects |
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5. XML Sitemaps
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| XML Sitemap Support |
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| Pings search engines |
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| Include/Exclude content types |
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6. Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, and Open Graph Schema
| All in one SEO Pack | WordPress SEO by Yoast | Platinum SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics Support |
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| Google Webmaster Tools verification | With custom header settings | With custom header settings | |
| Bing Webmaster Tools verification | With custom header settings | With custom header settings | |
| Alexa verification | With custom header settings | With custom header settings | |
| Open Graph Support |
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There you have it! I'll repeat myself in saying that all three plugins are fantastic and one of these three plugins should be active on every WordPress installation (that is intended to appear in search engines). With that being said, I'm a huge fan of Yoast's WordPress SEO plugin. It is by far the most complete and has the best looking user interface. I'm certain that it's only in second place in terms of downloads because it hasn't been around as long — but just give it some time.
