Sunday, March 29, 2020

How to Set Up All in One SEO Pack A Yoast SEO Alternative

When people think about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)  and WordPress, their mind often jumps directly to Yoast SEO. After all, its the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress, but is it the only good option? Not at all, and you should definitely get to know the competition. In this case, thats All In One SEO Pack.All In One SEO Pack is one of the most popular WordPress plugins available,  but it doesnt get near as much attention as Yoast SEO. Thats why we decided to take a long hard look at it to see what it has to offer.In this article, well cover its features, pricing information, and guide you through the basic settings. Then, well break down how it compares to Yoast SEO. Lets get started! Heres how to set up All in One SEO Pack:An introduction to the All In One SEO Pack plugin All in One SEO Pack Author(s): Michael TorbertCurrent Version: 3.2.9Last Updated: September 26, 2019all-in-one-seo-pack.3.2.9.zip 88%Ratings 61,774,317Downloads WP 4.7+Requires All In One SEO P ack  has been downloaded more than 30 million times since 2007, and is actively installed on more than a million WordPress websites. As its name gives away, this is an all-in-one SEO solution for users of all skill levels.The plugin is the work of several developers, but mainly Michael Torbert  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  a  WordPress pro and Meetup organizer. Currently, the plugin has been translated into 57 languages.Key features:Supports XML sitemaps.Includes support for Google Analytics and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).Comes with its own built-in API.Integrates with WooCommerce.Generates meta tags automatically.Includes some WordPress performance tweaks (more on this later).Price:All In One SEO Pack is a free plugin with a premium counterpart  that costs $79 per year for an unlimited site license.The premium version does include a few added perks, such as priority support, access to video tutorials, advanced Google Analytics options, and additional social media integration. How ever, the free version is quite good, and is the product this review is based on.How to set up All in One SEO PackKnowing the plugins basic features is not enough to compare to Yoast SEO, so were going to walk through its basic setup. After installing the plugin, youll find a new All in One SEO tab in the WordPress admin area sidebar menu.The vast majority of the settings that youll interact with while using the plugin are right on this screen. From the get-go, youll notice the layout isnt as stylish as Yoast SEO, but this isnt a beauty pageant, so lets focus on substance.General settingsThe basic set:Each setting includes a question mark link on the left which leads to plugin documentation. It means help is a click away if you arent sure about some setting.General settings include configuration of canonical URLs,  forcing HTTPS, and more. In general, stick to the defaults for these options unless you know what youre doing. As for forcing your site to load over HTTPS, if you have a certificate, go for it!Home page,  title, and custom post types  settingsHome Page Settings appear below the general settings and can be used to set your home page title, description, and keywords.Things get more interesting once we move into the Title Settings section. Here,  you can determine specific settings for all your WordPress content. We recommend sticking to the defaults unless you prefer a different title style – if so, remember to update every field accordingly to remain consistent.The Custom Post Types section enables you to turn SEO options on or off for any kind of post. If there are any type of posts where you dont see yourself doing any SEO work, feel free to turn those off.After the custom post type settings, youll find a variety of self-explanatory settings you can use to verify your site with search engines, exclude specific posts and pages from search  engine indexing, and additional advanced fine-tuning options.Keyword settingsThe last section of the general settings is the Keyword Settings section. Within this section, you can enable or disable the use of meta keywords (which are of dubious value). If you do enable keywords, you also have the option to use your categories and tags as meta  keywords, and to generate keywords automatically.Miscellaneous settingsOn top of the optimization capabilities, All In One SEO Pack also offers a few general performance tweaks for your WordPress website.  You can find these by going to All In One SEO   Performance.Available options include an option for modifying your memory limit (which may get overridden, so we recommend doing it manually), raising the execution time to prevent timeouts, and forcing rewrites so plugins and themes wont override your title settings:Editing titles and descriptionsIf youve used Yoast SEO, youll already be familiar with the process of editing page titles and descriptions. With All In One SEO Pack installed, a new admin meta box will be added to the post editor, and you can use it to craft a custom title and description for each post and page.Enabling additional featuresAt this point, you may find yourself wondering about elements such as  Open Graph integration and XML sitemaps. All In One SEO Pack does not set up these features by default. However, they can be enabled by going to All In One SEO Feature Manager.Additional features available in the feature manager include support for custom  robots.txt files, a settings import and export tool, and a bad bot blocker.All In One SEO Pack and Yoast SEO comparedAll In One SEO Pack does a fantastic job as a comprehensive SEO tool thats great for both beginners and more advanced users.The biggest gripe we have with All In One SEO Pack is that is just isnt as intuitive or polished as Yoast SEO. In addition, it doesnt offer the built-in readability and keyword optimization tools that Yoast SEO offers. However, the truth is that those are really praises of Yoast SEO, rather than su bstantive gripes with All In One SEO Pack.If youre well-versed when it comes to keyword optimization, and dont want or need help with content readability, All In One SEO Pack might just be the tool for you.  In short, we recommend that beginners stick to Yoast SEO. However, if you have a bit of experience with keyword optimization, All In One SEO Pack will serve your needs just fine.ConclusionWhile Yoast remains our preferred pick for WordPress SEO, we were pleasantly surprised by All In One SEO Pack. Its a robust tool that makes on-page SEO a walk in the park thanks to features such as:Effortless title and description optimization for every type of post.Easy XML Sitemap and Open Graph meta tag generation.Excellent documentation thats conveniently linked to each plugin setting, making it easy to get help when you need.Do you have any questions in relation to how to set up All In One SEO Pack? Feel free to submit them in the comment section below.

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