Table of Contents
A lot of the time when I download a new app or install a new plugin I spend what feels like a huge amount of time making sure I know how it all works and I figured it was time I shared the knowledge. That’s why I’ve finally written all about how to make the most of Yoast for your blog.
I’ve broken down each section of Yoast and how to implement settings that are best for a blog. Once you’ve added the Yoast plugin to your site there will be a configuration wizard and this just gets it to a point where it’s easy to do the rest of the setup. It appears as SEO in the dashboard menu – it infused me the first time I was trying to find it. As well as taking it section by section, I’ve also broken down all the info for each tab within each section as there’s quite a few and it can get confusing.
I apologise this is going to be a very long post so grab a cuppa and a snack plus a notepad as you may want to take some notes.
The main thing that you need to remember is to save each section as you go. There is a handy save changes button at the bottom of each section and I recommend you use it to make sure that everything is saved and you don’t have to go back and repeat any steps.
1. General
Dashboard
This section of Yoast gives you any notifications they feel the need to send you or to alert you to any potential problems with your WordPress site.
Features
SEO Analysis – Turn this on to enable the traffic lights feature for your SEO when you’re writing blog posts. This is what I use for my SEO and it keeps me right on simple things like have I written enough or have I used my keyphrase enough.
Readability Analysis – Turn this off as it doesn’t understand that the way we write sentences and paragraphs for blog posts is different from other content that is produced. It’s not something you need to use as it won’t actually help your blogging and you’ll end up more frustrated than if you didn’t use it.
Cornerstone Content – I also turn this off as I can’t figure out what benefit this is for my blog.
Text Link Counter – Again turn this function off as it’s not one that you need.
XML Sitemaps – I have this turned on as I’ve submitted a sitemap via Yoast. However, this isn’t essential and if it’s something that you don’t know how to do then I wouldn’t worry about it.
Ryte Integration, Admin bar menu and Security for authors – All of these options are also off as they’re not necessary.
Webmaster Tools
Webmaster Tools, I’ll be honest is one of those sections that you really don’t need to worry about. Using this section you can verify your site with different search engines but I’m not very clear on what the benefits of this would be.
2. Search Appearance
General
Force write titles – Disabled
Title Separator – you can choose which element of punctuation separates your blog name and post title on search engines and social media. You can use whichever you feel most importable with.
Homepage SEO Title – I have this as my site title and page as what shows up for the homepage but there are other options you can set if you wish. I’m just fairly minimalist when it comes to my blog.
Homepage Meta Description – this is what shows up on Google (see picture below) that describes your blog. Keep it short and accurate.
Knowledge Graph – This shows whether the site is about a person or a company. Mine is set to person but I don’t have a picture or logo uploaded here as I’m not too clear on what would happen if I did.
Content Types
Posts – Yes you want these to show up in search results
Date Snippet in Preview – I have this eat to hide as I don’t think it adds anything to the potential readers choice when they see it.
Yoast SEO Meta Box – I have this set to show because I want to set the meta info for each post.
SEO Title – My settings for this are Title, Page, Separator, Site Title. They’re the fairly standard settings and I think they’re what you need.
Meta Description – Leave this blank so that you can type a new meta description for each blog post. If you type one in here it won’t be unique and you want a snippet for each blog post if it’s searched for rather than a generic one.
Pages – I use the same settings as above for pages as I do for posts. Although they have different content I treat them the same way.
Media
Always have this set to yes as it makes sure your images display correctly.
Taxonomies / Archives / Breadcrumbs / RSS
These four sections are ones I don’t use and therefore leave with the standard settings. If you want to do your own research and change the settings just do me a favour and let me know what you find out. I the words of Cogsworth “If it ain’t Baroque don’t fix it”!
3. Search Console
Google no longer gives Yoast access to this function. If you want to use Search Console then you need to set it up manually via Google. I’ll admit I do have it set up but I barely use it. Part of my mission for this year is to actually use and figure out how it can benefit my blog.
Once I do figure it out I promise it will be a separate blog post.
4. Social
Open Graph Meta Data – If you want an image to show on Facebook with your link then I would have this enabled. It pulls through either the featured image or the first image in your blog post. To make sure it’s the one you want I would make sure you’re using the featured image function as Facebook doesn’t always take the right image.
Image URL – Use Canva to create an image – use my post to find out how. Then upload the image to your WordPress media library. I would do this in a separate window so that you can copy the URL over.
Title – This is your blog name.
Description – Use the button to copy your blog meta description into the box as it’s the best thing to have showing on social media to describe your site.
Default settings – I use the same image URL as above. this means I know what will show if I happen to be sharing a blog post without an image. I’ll be honest and say this is rare for me as due to my theme I need to have images on the homepage or it just looks bizarre.
Add Twitter card metadata – you want to have this enabled. It uses the metadata you’ve already provided.
From the drop-down menu choose “Summary Card with Large Image”. This means that when you share a link to Twitter you get the large image and link and you don’t have to upload a separate image (only works on Twitter not Buffer, Hootsuite etc). It uses the image you’ve uploaded in the Facebook section so make sure you use the right dimensions (1200 x 630 pixels).
Confirm your site with Pinterest – using the link on the page and then add the code you’re given to the box and hit save. this helps pull your images through to Pinterest out someone uses a browser extension or the Pinterest option within Safari to add the post themselves.
5. Tools / Premium / Courses
These 3 sections of Yoast are ones that I just don’t use. It’s a combination of the fact that I don’t need to use them plus Yoast trying to push their premium services. I can honestly say this is something that you definitely don’t need. The free version works fine and does everything that bloggers need it to.
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Once all the settings are in place you’re good to go and don’t need to worry about them. The only thing I change regularly is my Twitter/Facebook meta image as I have a bad habit of changing my header regularly and I want to make sure my branding is consistent.
If you do get stuck with anything Yoast does have a pretty awesome knowledge base too. It explains the way section and can help you with the ones that I don’t use.
Well, that’s it my full guide on how to make the most of Yoast for your blog. Hope it’s helped shed some light on all its features and functions. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t take straight away. These changes can take anywhere from 24-48 hours to take effect.
