Yoast  SEO plugin for WordPress is my favorite. If you are blogging in the English language, this is not a plugin you should ignore!

Blogging in India is here to stay.  Whether you are writing on your blog in English, Hindi or regional languages, one thing you can’t ignore is making it ready for your readers. Just like you need to give directions to your home, for a guest to find it, you must give direction to the search engines.

Following your well-crafted signals, search engines will send all the people who need to read your blog, your way.  That’s readership, traffic and the lifeline of a blog. How you give direction to the search engines what SEO or search engine optimization all about. It’s not hocus-pocus, super techy or any underhand stuff unless you want it to be!

I started blogging in 2014 and the free Yoast was my friend even back then.I upgraded to the premium version once the blog earned its keep.Here’s a full list of tools and resources I use to blog .

Yoast SEO free or Paid? What should you do if you are a new blogger?

If it’s a free WordPress blog, plugins are not allowed so Yoast can’t help .ut you will still be helped by using proper signaling terns on your blog. But for all those with their self hosted WordPress.

Do you have a little budget in the second year of blogging or maybe the third year? Planning to buy a premium plugin and wanting the one thing that will make your life easier? Wait no more, buy Yoast Premium. If you and a few friends buy together, you will get an even better deal. I  am not a tech expert or an SEO expert, but Yoast makes my life a breeze.

How do I use Yoast SEO?

Here are 7  Quick & Easy ways Yoast SEO makes my Blog post-Unique.Even when  I am super busy, these are a few things I  never skip.

1) Fill in the multiple target keywords and synonym options in Yoast. When it’s a premium Yoast, you can target five keywords or synonyms. How does this help you? Some of the keywords may have lower competition and will help your post rank easily. Check for keyword density and Yoasts suggestion about what this article seems to be about and tweak accordingly.

2) Tweak the headline, to make it ideal.

3) Check the meta description so that it answers the burning question, the Google searcher may have and have my main keyword in it.

4)Check my internal linking and link to posts suggested by Yoast. The orphan posts with no internal links pointing towards them are the hidden gold in your content reserve. These orphan posts are easy to find with the premium Yoast plugin.

When after doing the above four,  I have time, I do the next three things.

5) I make images appropriate for Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Images I make separately using Canva or any other image editor. Upload the pictures and SEO optimize them.

6)Then I write a good Twitter and Facebook description with keywords and appropriate hashtags for each platform, to help in reader engagement. This makes your content shareable and interesting for my readers. Best to do if you want to make content useful for your readers

7)Checking  Readability of the post comes somewhere between.

Readability varies, depending on your writing voice, the category of your post and the target audience.

Grab a copy of the Checklist  here.

One thing I never miss

I  check the questions Google search shows, for that particular keyword. Then I make sure my article is helpful and answering those questions.   Voice search is going big, and you need to answer the questions people may ask smart devices. That will help your post make a difference. You are writing for people, and they should love it!

One thing to remember about Yoast:

You aim for the green signal, but sometimes you may want to keep it yellow. Yoast is a guiding light, but never make your post robotic stuffed with keywords. Write first, then edit and optimize.

Is a Free version for Yoast Plugin available?

Yes! Its feature packed and perfect to get you started on the right path.

Is the paid version worth it?

Yes!

When should you buy a paid version for the best deal?

Cyber Monday have awesome deals for most tech stuff.

Contact Neha if you want to get group buying options and wonderful deals!

Don’t forget to read about updating your Yoast SEO plugin.

Conclusion:

Help will always be there for people who seek.  Search engines, internet, you, and I am all part of the magic making it happen! Yoast is a tool, you are the one in control.Blogger in your life has her/his birthday coming up? Check this Gift Guide for Bloggers, to make your life easier.