Rank Math vs Yoast SEO: Is Rank Math Better than Yoast? (pros, cons, and when to choose one plugin over the other)

You've just started your WordPress site and you're facing a "Rank Math vs Yoast SEO" dilemma.

Which plugin should you use?

Or maybe you've already been running a WordPress site for a while now and you've been using Yoast during all this time.

But recently you've been having doubts that you're using the best tool: what's all this fuss about Rank Math?

Is Rank Math better than Yoast? 

Which one should you choose?

And how do you choose? 

In this post, you'll get straight answers to questions like:

• "What do I get when I choose Rank Math?"
• "When exactly would I choose Rank Math over Yoast SEO?"
• "Are there any reasons not to use Rank Math over Yoast?"
• "What do I get when I choose Yoast?"
• "When is Yoast a better solution for me?"

1. What You Get When You Choose Rank Math: Top Features

Expect to get far more features for free.

Here are the most powerful ones:

• Rich snippets
   
• A dedicated SEO audit tool: you get a site-wide SEO analysis tool integrated right into your WordPress dashboard; it evaluates your pages based on... 40 SEO factors, so expect a much more detailed technical insight into your web pages
   
• a visually-attractive UI: unlike Yoast SEO, Rank Math doesn't trade aesthetics for functionality; you have all your options organized into categories, which makes each operation far more intuitive
   
• full schema support (for any type of content on your WordPress site, from Article to events, to video, product, and... recipe)
   
• the option to noindex certain pages as you publish them
   
• the option to optimize the same page for up to... 5 focus keywords (for free...): you get to check the SEO score for all of them
   
• auto-link suggestions
   
• redirects and 404 monitoring
   
• local SEO 
   
• Google search control integration 
   
• clearer content analysis: instead of rating your content as "OK", "Good", or "Bad", Rank Math uses numbers in its SEO scores, making its analysis more to the point, more accurate

So, getting back to your dilemma — "Rank Math or Yoast?" — from a feature set standpoint we can say that:

Rank Math offers you much more functionality... out of the box (i.e. free of charge).

2. Rank Math vs Yoast SEO: You'll Want to Bet on Rank Math If...

• you know your way around SEO, so you can use it to its full potential by checking every little setting you have there
• you want to cut down on your plugins: since you get so much built-in functionality "by default", you don't need so many plugins (i.e. plugin for scheme support) or to get yourself tangled up in additional coding

3. 2 Reasons NOT to Choose Rank Math over Yoast SEO

For there are a few... inconveniences of using Rank Math that you should be aware of when you run a "Rank Math vs Yoast 2020" comparison:

• indexing: it won't show up under your site:mydomain.com, so you'll need to go and click "Request Indexing" in the Google Search Console yourself
• too many features: checking every single setting there might get a bit... overwhelming, especially if you're new to technical SEO or you just don't have that much time at your disposal

4. What You Get When You Choose Yoast SEO

Now, since it's a "Rank Math vs Yoast SEO" dilemma that you're struggling with, let's put the spotlight on the latter, as well.

Here's why you'll want to go with Yoast:

• 70% of its features are free
• you can add unique tags, meta titles, and descriptions to all your web pages
• you get to rank your WordPress website quickly (and, once it's reached a decent position, to level up to its premium version, maybe)
• you can generate a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console 

5. You'll Want to Go with Yoast SEO If...

"Should I use Yoast?"

You should if you're an SEO beginner.

Or simply not familiar with all the technical aspects of SEO (maybe your WordPress site doesn't need that much SEO work done).

Then, Rank Math's heavy load of powerful features might seem too discouraging and... unnecessary for you.

In that case, you might want to use Yoast.

It's beginner-friendly, it helps you start your website ranking quickly and... it's backed by a huge community of WordPress site owners who've been using it for years.

The END!

Do you now have a clear answer to your "Rank Math vs Yoast SEO" dilemma?

But what if you do have a personal winner, yet just the thought of having to carry out all those SEO tasks recommended by your plugin is enough to... stress you out?

Maybe you don't have enough people available in your team to handle them. Or the time needed to complete them.

If so, just shift the burden to us.

Drop us a line and let's get your WordPress site evaluated for SEO issues and areas to be improved.

With that list at hand, we're ready to come up with its best version for both search engines and visitors.

Image by Surote Wongpaiboon from Pixabay