Rank Math Vs Yoast SEO: the Showdown

These days virtually anyone with a website, whether for blogging or business, understands the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and how it helps in reaching a wider audience. For some time now, Yoast SEO has been used by those seeking to improve their SEO with a simple plugin. However, Rank Math is gaining greater traction as site owners look for every possible advantage to advance their business. 

Both tools have a lot to offer, but is one better than the other? If so, which one should you be using to get the best results?

Introduction to Yoast

Yoast offers you several tools and useful features to help you boost your SEO. Some of the features work to optimize individual posts, while some others are focused on your site as a whole. The end result is meant to improve your ranking on search engines, becoming more visible to your audience, and spreading your reach.

Some Yoast features are available for free, but there is also a premium edition available which provides greater functionality.

Introduction to Rank Math

Rank Math is a newer SEO plugin which was launched in 2018 but had been in development for several years prior to that. Like Yoast, it has a free version with extensive features, but offers premium plans that offer you more tools. Rank Math is also integrated with Google Search Console and has been adopted remarkably quickly by users. 

Features

Both Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO are excellent tools that you can use to improve your SEO. Both have a lot to offer and share certain features, but while they serve the same purpose, there are some differences between the two.

Common Features Between Yoast and Rank Math

Here are some features that are common to both Yoast and Rank Math:

• Set SEO titles/ meta descriptions. This allows you to create templates that apply to content automatically. You can also manually make adjustments on individual pieces of content.
• Set social media descriptions. Using this, you can control text and images for Twitter and Facebook.
• Focus keyword analysis. This tool lets you enter keywords to see how optimized your content is for those keywords. In the case of Rank Math, you can enter multiple keywords, while Yoast allows only one keyword in the free version.
• XML sitemap. This allows for the creation of a more customizable XML sitemap.
• Search console. Use this to connect your site to Google Search Console. This will automatically submit your sitemaps and let you conveniently view Search Console analytics in your WordPress dashboard.
• Internal link suggestions. While working in the editor, you will receive suggestions about other content on your site that you can link to. This is included in the free version of Rank Math and the Premium version of Yoast.
• SEO Breadcrumbs. Use this to add breadcrumbs to your site. 
• Redirections. Use the redirection manager to create and manage 301 and 302 redirects. This is part of Rank Math’s free version and Yoast Premium.
• Basic WooCommerce SEO. This allows you to set up products, shop titles, and descriptions. 

These are just some of the features that are shared by both plugins. Several of the shared features that are free in Rank Math, however, are paid features in Yoast.

Features of Yoast That Rank Math Doesn’t Have

Yoast offers some interesting tools as paid add-ons, including:

• Local SEO that supports multiple locations

• Video SEO to help your videos rank in Google Videos
• News SEO, which makes your site more compatible with Google News
• Enhanced WooCommerce, which is an add-on that adds additional functionality to your WooCommerce SEO

Features of Rank Math That Yoast Doesn’t Have

Rank Math offers a useful feature in the yearly package which will offer a yearly analysis revealing how successful your keywords have been. They also offer the Video, News, and multi-location Local SEO like Yoast, but they do so as part of their Premium plan, rather than as paid add-ons.

Ease of Use

When choosing an SEO plugin, many will consider ease of use an important factor.

Which is Easier to Install and Set Up?

Both Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO provide wizards to guide you through setup. Both are straightforward and intuitive in their use. The average user should have no difficulty in setting up either plugin.

Which is Easier to Use Day to Day?

As with the setup, both Yoast and Rank Math are intuitive and easy to grasp and both are easy to work with. Rank Math, however, can be used in either Easy or Advanced mode. The Easy mode does all the work for you, applying default options to make things easier for those who feel a bit overwhelmed by all the available settings. The Advanced mode allows complete control and is suitable for those with more experience and SEO specialists.

Yoast, having been around longer than Rank Math, has an interface that is familiar to many, even if it appears somewhat dated. This can make it more comfortable for daily use in the eyes of some users. 

Pricing Comparison

As mentioned above, both Yoast and Rank Math offer free and premium versions. 

Comparing the Free Tiers

You will find many useful tools in both Rank Math and Yoast. Rank Math, however, has a significantly longer list of functions available at the free level. In fact, Rank Math was only available at the free level for quite some time. 

Comparing the Pro Plans

Both plugins offer premium versions with greater functionality. Rank Math is the more affordable option for three reasons:

• There is only one Premium level with Rank Math. Yoast, on the other hand, has multiple premium extensions that are added individually.
• Rank Math supports unlimited websites. Yoast does not offer an unlimited license.
• Rank Math’s top-level prices are still lower than those of Yoast.

Coding and Development Comparison

Despite the long list of features, Rank Math is designed to be as fast as possible, with precise and efficient coding that enhances its speed. Yoast’s code is nearly 50% larger, resulting in more requests and bulk on your website and a decrease in speed.

Conclusion: Which Do We Recommend?

Rank Math and Yoast both do their jobs well and offer excellent tools for optimizing your site’s SEO. The primary differences between the two are the coding, which makes Rank Math faster, and the fact that many of Rank Math’s free features are only available at the Premium level with Yoast.

If you are simply looking for the most features, Rank Math may be the choice for you, but if you don’t plan to make use of the extra features, either plugin will do well and may come down to your personal preference, or the desire to go with a more established version with a longer history. 

Either way, you will end up with an excellent tool for your site’s SEO.