Yoast SEO vs. Rank Math – which is better?
The above question is haunting many people who are considering switching over to Rank Math. An SEO plugin can surely help, and Yoast has been the go-to choice for more than a decade.
Rank Math is a new player but is giving a tough challenge to Yoast. Many have already shifted to Rank Math and calling it the king of SEO plugins. Is it the truth?
We decide to provide our take on the subject, albeit in a different way. We will get into that, but let’s clear a few things before.
Yoast vs. Rank Math: Who is the Winner
Many old school SEO experts are still holding on to Yoast. Naturally, being in the market for so long does has its advantages. Yoast SEO is a solid plugin that makes your job easy. You can get helpful cues and suggestions on many elements to improve your chances of ranking. Yoast performs like a champion, and there’s no denying it.
Rank Math is also a super SEO plugin for WordPress websites. People who once used Yoast are voting for Rank Math profusely. Needless to say, Rank Math does its job without any compromise, and in some ways, may even trump Yoast.
However, you can’t improve your SEO performance just by switching to Rank Math. You will still need time and effort to build your foothold.
Both plugins are good and will help you boost your SEO score. But Rank Math may be a better choice for some people, based on reviews from users of both plugins. We will highlight a few metrics to assess the two plugins and let you choose the winner for your needs.
So, let’s start with one of the most important considerations of using a plugin.
Intuitiveness
The majority of people like Rank Math for its intuitiveness. The developers have done their job right and placed everything where it needs to be. You will easily find all the features in the right places within a few minutes of exploring the plugin.
Additionally, you have two neat modes to control what you see. The “Easy” mode is perfect for beginners as Rank Math does all the heavy lifting. SEO pros can go for the “Advanced” mode and get full control over their site.
Yoast has a robust UI, but it is rather outdated. You might need a bit of time figuring out how to go about doing your business. Plus, it doesn’t have any easy mode to help out beginners. However, Yoast provides a video for you to learn how to use it. You may also get more content on the internet for troubleshooting and finding your way around.
People used to post-2010 software and SaaS architectures will love Rank Math UI. Old schoolers may prefer Yoast for its straightforward approach.
Features
Features are an important part of choosing an SEO plugin. In this case, Rank Math comes out as the champion when it comes to the number of features. You get more for free that Yoast may not offer or provide for a fee.
However, if you need all the features or not is a different question. Novice admins may lose themselves in the countless features of Rank Math. But if you’re an expert, you can take advantage of the advanced features.
Both plugins will do a reliable job of optimizing your site and improving your SEO efforts. But Rank Math has some additional features or perks over Yoast like-
• You can use up to 5 focus keywords in Rank Math for free (Yoast only allows one)
• Auto-suggests relevant keywords based on your focus keyword
• Manage local SEO for a single location
• Set and manage image alts easily
• Get recommendations for interlinking
• Create and manage redirects
• Keep a tab on your 404 errors
• Incorporate Google Analytics
Yoast SEO and Rank Math has more features in the paid versions. Here too, Rank Math is the clear winner when it comes to the number of features.
You can get similar results from Yoast, but you have to add countless plugins. Rank Math gives you more for free and in the paid version, and no one can deny it.
SEO Optimization
We are now down to the key part of selecting your SEO plugin. Which is best for optimizing your website, Yoast SEO or Rank Math?
As we said before, both plugins are capable of improving your ranking and exposure. They don’t offer the same ways of optimization, but the feel is mostly similar. However, Rank Math may once again make your job easy. This is how-
Content Optimization
Both plugins provide suggestions to make your content stand out. From the length of meta descriptions to the number of internal links, you can get helpful cues to improve your SEO. Where Rank Math shines is in its scoring system where it uses a scale of 100 to rate your content. Scores above 80 mean your content is good and makes the mark.
Yoast offers a three-level scoring system using the colors green, orange, and red. Red means bad, orange means ok, while green means you’re good to go.
You may have seen how changing just a single word may make Yoast go green from red. Many feel it’s not a very adept system to evaluate your SEO performance. Scoring is a far better way, and you can get a wider scale to assess your content.
SEO Benchmarks
Rank Math and Yoast SEO use benchmarks to improve your SEO efforts. People using Yoast must be familiar with the long list of suggestions that the plugin provides. Rank Math, too, provides a range of auto-suggestions to fare better in SEO results. However, there is a catch!
Rank Math uses more updated benchmarks compared to Yoast. This has been pointed out by many Yoast SEO vs. Rank Math comparisons on the internet. Many users, too, feel the same.
Here is a vital area where Rank Math may be a better choice, at least for beginners. You can optimize your site as per the latest trends to get better chances of ranking. Using old benchmarks is surely not the way to beat the competition.
The difference may not be so stark for pros. If you know what you’re doing, both tools are capable of bringing you results. But still, it may be a better choice to go with the latest solutions as the SEO landscape can change in just a few hours.
Performance
Many people vouch for the performance of Rank Math. It is far lighter than Yoast SEO when it comes to file size. Plus, Rank Math has 3-times fewer lines of code compared to Yoast. So, it should load fast and perform with more speed than Yoast. Right?
In theory, Rank Math is a better performer than Yoast SEO. But the difference in performance is so subtle that you will never feel it. So, it can never be said that using Rank Math will speed up your site or Yoast will make it slow.
Focus Keyword Analysis
You already know Rank Math allows up to 5 keywords for analysis in the free version. The limit is removed in the paid version, where you can analyze endless keywords.
Yoast SEO doesn’t stand a chance here as even the paid version allows only 5 keywords.
Site Indexing
Rank Math packs an instant indexing feature that may be useful to many people. It can help you speed up indexing and make crawling easy.
Yoast doesn’t have any such feature, though you can count on auto-indexing.
Pricing
Yoast offers limited functionalities in its free version. You have to pay for advanced features and may also need to invest in additional plugins.
Rank Math has been majorly free, though you get more features in the paid version. But you may never need them as you can get enough features for free.
However, things may not stay the same for long. Rank Math may also start charging money for features you are getting now for free. But till then, it is a better option for those with a limited budget.
Final Thoughts
Rank Math and Yoast SEO are both capable SEO plugins. You know where Rank Math trumps Yoast and vice versa. So, you have all the information to choose the right plugin for your needs. If you’re a beginner, you may want to stick with Rank Math for its user-friendliness.
SEO plugins work well, but they don’t offer the most professional results. Traditional SEO is still the game-changer for most businesses looking to expand visibility. Wizard Communications, with its team of SEO experts, is your best bet for climbing the ranks of Google. Contact us today to know how we can help you gain exposure and boost traffic.