Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin Settings 2020: #1 Yoast SEO Alternative (No Doubt!!)

Due to the Yoast SEO plugin bug, many websites saw a search engine ranking drop. It was in 2018.

From that day, many people have lost the trust and started looking for the best Yoast SEO plugin alternative.

At the same time, MyThemeShop has come up with a new WordPress SEO Plugin called Rank Math. And, I have moved from Yoast SEO to Rank Math SEO Plugin.

In this article, I will be sharing the complete Rank Math SEO Plugin settings with pictures. Yes, I tried to create self-explanatory pictures to make it easy for you to follow.

This Rank Math tutorial will mainly focus on how to install Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin, configure Rank Math Plugin and optimize your WordPress site SEO using Rank Math SEO plugin.

Why Rank Math SEO Plugin Is Better Than Yoast SEO Plugin?

I will not spend much time here comparing both Rank Math Vs Yoast SEO plugin features. They both are doing great.

But what I have noticed is that Rank Math SEO plugin has a couple of features as FREE which will come under Yoast SEO premium version.

Just check the screenshot below. I have removed 5 WordPress plugins after configuring Rank Math SEO plugin. I think this is enough to give them priority over Yoast SEO Plugin.

Disclaimer: This article is not a sponsored one. As a WordPress blogger, I always love to explore new plugins and tools to improve website performance. That’s the reason I thought to try Rank Math SEO plugin. Without trying that how can I know which one is better among Rank Math vs Yoast SEO plugin?

Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin Settings: Complete Guide To Optimizing WordPress Sites With Rank Math

#1. Install Rank Math SEO Plugin

Go to your WordPress dashboard => Plugin=> Add New Plugin => Search Rank Math SEO

Install and activate the plugin.

#2. Set Up Rank Math SEO Plugin

As soon as your installation is done, you will be prompted to connect with your MyThemeShop account. You can skip this if you haven’t registered with them.

Next page will display the Rank Math Wizard option. Click on the button and start the configuration of Rank Math SEO settings.

Majority of the websites will have Yoast SEO plugin already installed. So, on the next screen, you will find the options to import Yoast SEO settings data to Rank Math. This is a very smooth process and you don’t have to worry about this.

You will get 4 types of settings to import Yoast SEO data. Don’t change anything and continue.

• Import Setting: Imports Yoast SEO’s settings and the metadata you’ve set for your website.
• Import Post Meta: Imports the metadata for posts, pages, custom posts [SEO title, description, OpenGraph data, robots meta, and more].
• Import Term Meta: Imports the metadata for the category, tag, and other taxonomy’s archives.
• Import Author Meta: Imports the metadata for author pages.

#3. Select Your Website Type

Just keep it simple. For me, it is a personal blog, so I kept the selection. Rest of the details fetched by default, if you want to change a few settings go ahead. It is self-explanatory only.

#4. Google Search Console Settings in Rank Math

We all know the importance of setting up Google search console with your website. With Rank Math SEO settings, you can authorize your website and keep a track of your search console records easily.

If you have not added or verified your website in Google search console yet, then follow this tutorial to set up your Google search console first.

#5. Configure Sitemap Using Rank Math SEO Plugin

Well, Rank Math sitemap settings are also similar to Yoast SEO sitemap file only.

I like the clean URL of Google XML sitemap plugin. But there is no point to keep 2 sitemap plugins in a website.

Anyway, sitemap settings are also very easy to understand. Make sure to tick out the options which are not required in the sitemap.

#6. SEO Optimisation (SEO Tweaks) in Rank Math SEO Settings

Optimizing your WordPress site SEO is a crucial part. So, make sure you read the options and their settings properly.

You can easily handle a couple of crucial SEO settings of your WordPress website. E.g. Nofollow external link, nofollow image link, open external links in the new window, redirect attachments etc.

You will get the Rel=Nofollow checkbox automatically while adding any link in your blog post.

#7. Complete Rank Math WordPress SEO Settings

After that, you are done with your basic settings of Rank Math SEO Plugin.

Advanced WordPress SEO Settings Using Rank Math Plugin

If you think you are done with the Rank Math SEO settings, you are not 100% correct.

With this much of settings, your website will work as it would have with Yoast SEO plugin. But, Rank Math provide even more advanced options to control many small settings.

Although I would recommend you Not to change so many things. However, it is good to know every single setting and their usage.

To explore more settings options, you can click on the button from the complete setup screen or you can go to your WordPress dashboard => Rank Math. You will find a screen like below from where you can go to every section and try out more settings.

On the right side, the entire Rank Math SEO settings options will be available item wise like below.

From here you can do even more specific settings using Rank math SEO plugin. Let’s explore every section one by one.

#1. General Settings (SEO Settings)

#2. Edit Robots.txt File using Rank Math

#3. Edit .htaccess File using Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin

#4. Advanced Sitemap Settings

#5. Manage User Roles for Multi-Author Blogs

#6. Website SEO Analysis using Rank Math SEO Plugin

Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin Settings: Conclusion

So, this is the complete Rank Math SEO review tutorial. I am sure you can follow the screenshots above and easily set up this plugin. Although Rank Math is a new WordPress SEO Plugin, I found it far better compared to Yoast SEO, All in One SEO, SEO Pressor etc.

This is not the end, there are many awesome features which is yet to come. Couple of them are:

• Google Webmaster Central Integration [In Progress]
• Keyword Comparison & Google Trends Tool [Coming Soon]
• News Sitemap for Submitting Websites on Google News [Coming Soon]
• Video Sitemap For Video Websites [Coming Soon]
• Link Builder – Very Handy For Internal Linking [Coming Soon]

I have put enough effort to create these screenshots to make this Rank Math SEO plugin tutorial easy for the readers. If you find this helpful, then don’t forget to share this article in your social profiles.

If you find any issue while doing the settings for your site, feel free write a comment below and let me know. I will try my best to solve the queries.

Also, I want to make this an ultimate Rank Math SEO settings guide for everyone. So, your valuable suggestions are always welcome.

I have created an infographic to showcase the features of Rank Math from the original piece of MTS website. If you find it useful, feel free to share in your blog.