Rank Math SEO Plugin: best free SEO WordPress Plugin for 2020

[dropcap txtcolor=”#dd3333″ style=”dropcap1″]H[/dropcap]ave you heard of Rank Math SEO Plugin? This is a free SEO WordPress plugin that offers a lot of useful functions. And so it is a real alternative to Yoast. The most important features and a short comparison of the two plugins can be found in my post.

Rank Math has been advertised as the insider tip by many bloggers for some time.

That makes me rather skeptical but curious at the same time.

So, I replaced the SEO plugin with the old and tried and tested Yoast on a rather unimportant website because I hate to take a risk in the SEO area.

And the relatively unknown newcomer immediately agreed to me! Not only the functions, but also the handling and the look appealed to me straight away.

Since my experience with Rank Math was absolutely positive even after 6 months, I also changed this website some time ago.

About Rank Math SEO Plugin

Rank Math is a fairly new SEO plugin developed by Mythemeshop. Mythemeshop has been offering themes and plugins for WordPress for a long time. The SEO-optimized theme schema or the WP Review plugin are particularly well known.

Although the SEO tool has only been around since 2018, it already has a lot of fans and there are more every day. Why? Quite simply:

It offers a lot more functions than the usual SEO plugins and is also free of charge.

Rank Math Pro

There is currently no paid version of Rank Math SEO plugin. But a premium version is planned. What it will cost and what functions it will offer are not yet known.

Nevertheless, Rank Math SEO Plugin remains free with all its features.

The top features of Rank Math

In addition to the usual basic settings, Rank Math SEO Plugin offers many additional and practical features. Exactly these are not included with most other providers. And if you do, you have to buy a premium version.

Here are the most important features and a short comparison to Yoast SEO Plugin.

Save plugins

A big advantage of Rank Math:

Some plugins are superfluous because Rank Math already contains functions that are otherwise covered by extra tools.

Here are a few examples:

• Redirect plugin
• Nofollow plugin for links
• Schema plugin
• XML sitemaps
• Breadcrumb plugin

Scheme markup – rich snippets:

There are many advantages to using structured data for your content. Rich snippets make it easier for search engines to understand your content better & faster. And maybe this will make your snippet stand out more in the search results and improve your ranking.

I have already tested various rich snippets plugins. Now I don’t need one anymore because Rank Math SEO plugin already has the most important markups.

You can currently use the following rich snippets:

• Items
• Book
• Course
• Event
• Jobs
• Music
• Product
• Recipe
• Restaurant
• Video
• Person
• Service
• Software application
• Google autosuggest

The autosuggest function is really helpful. If you enter your focus keyword, you will automatically get keyword suggestions from Google search. You no longer have to go through Google search.

To be able to use this function, you must first register at rankmath.com.

Multiple focus keywords:

Do you want to optimize your posts for multiple keywords? No problem! Because with Rank Math you can enter up to 5 focus keywords.

Redirect manager

Broken links occur on every website. But so that the user does not receive an error message, you should redirect the links.

Of course there are a lot of plugins for that too. Rank Math already includes a redirect manager and also a 404 monitor.

So you can do without another tool!

The Redirect Tool is not just easy to use. It even offers the option of setting a 410 redirect. So mark a URL as deleted (gone). Few plugins offer that.

Also Read: 11 Best SEO Plugins for WordPress to Rank Better in 2019

Link suggestions:

Internal links are very important for the optimization of your website. And of course they also offer added value for the reader.

Rank Math offers you good help for this. The plugin makes suggestions for the internal link directly when writing.

Unfortunately only for posts marked as Cornerstone content.

Google Search Console:

Would you like to view the data from the Google Search Console directly in WordPress? Then you can set it up quickly with Rank Math SEO Plugin.

In addition to an overview, you are also shown a search analysis and the submitted sitemap.

And a keyword tracker will be available soon.

Also Read: 6 Best Ways To Use Google Search Console To Track Your Blog Success

Content analysis:

The content analysis at Rank Math works similarly to most SEO plugins.

While Yoast SEO Plugin works with a traffic light system, Rank Math SEO Plugin assigns a score. You can see how well your blog post is optimized based on points.

The criteria for evaluating the content are very similar. And of course, both tools make sure that you apply the most important basics. For example, length of the text, keyword density, structuring, image description, meta description, etc.

Rank Math, on the other hand, is more about power words and numbers in the SEO title.

As with all SEO tools, don’t forget:

They’re just recommendations. Make the most of it and think of your readers when blogging.

Performance:

How does the plugin change affect the loading time? I actually noticed a difference when I switched from Yoast to Rank Math.

Here are the results:

Yoast SEO Plugin performance: 583ms

Rank Math SEO Plugin performance: 544ms

The pages are now also loaded a little bit faster in the backend. Maybe it’s because I was able to remove some plugins. Thanks to Rank Math I was able to save 2 straight away: redirect and schema.

Also Read: How to read the new Google Page Speed ​​Insights and what’s the metrics say?

SEO analysis:

In a short SEO analysis, Rank Math checks the current status of your website. At a glance you can see where and how you can optimize individual points.

The following main points are checked:

• SEO basics
• Advanced SEO
• performance
• safety
• Social SEO

Of course, this report does not replace a professional SEO check. But it gives a good first overview of the basics.

Import from other SEO tools

If you are already using an SEO plugin, you can easily transfer the settings to Rank Math.

The plugin supports automatic import for many WordPress SEO plugins. E.g. – Yoast OR All In One SEO.

I’ve only had good experiences with Rank Math SEO Plugin import. With several websites everything worked fine.

Nevertheless, you should of course make a backup beforehand. For security, you can also use the Yoast SEO Plugin exporter. You can save all settings as a text file and import them again.

Feature roadmap

What’s next with the development of the plugin? The developers at Rank Math SEO Plugin provide transparent information here. In a roadmap you can read which features are planned.

And you can always bring in ideas in the support area and ask for help. Overall, the developers seem to be listening to the wishes of the users.

Rank Math vs. Yoast

Meanwhile, more and more WordPress users are switching from Yoast to Rank Math. Because the previous market leader offers significantly less in a direct comparison.

Here is a brief comparison of the main differences.

Also Read: How Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin help to Optimized WordPress

Is it worth the switch?

Whether a changeover is worthwhile for you depends entirely on your requirements and expectations.

If you expect Rank Math to automatically catapult your website to # 1 on Google, I have to disappoint you. Rank Math is also just a tool but a tool with a lot of possibilities. So if you need and want to use the many features, I can absolutely recommend it!

If you are happy with the current SEO plugin, you can continue to use it.

My experience with Rank Math

For me, Yoast is still a very good and solid plugin. I worked with it for many years and was satisfied with it but just satisfied.

I have been considering whether to switch to SEOPress for a long time. But then I discovered Rank Math. And so far I’m more than satisfied with it. Because here I can save several plugins and get additional functions included.

So I find the link suggestions, rich snippets or Google Suggest super useful. So far I can only really report positive things about the plugin! For me it is the best free alternative to Yoast.

Keep it in Mind:

Rank Math will not automatically improve your rankings. It is also just a tool that you use. What you make of it is entirely up to you.

Share your view on the Rank Math SEO WordPress Plugin in the comment section below!