Yoast SEO vs. All in One SEO: which SEO plugin to choose on a WordPress site?
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Yoast SEO vs. All in One SEO: which SEO plugin to choose on a WordPress site?

On a website, most of the traffic comes from natural traffic (or "organic traffic"), making it even more important to have a tool on your WordPress site to optimize the natural search engine optimisation. Many companies with a website want to get their site to the top of Google's search results (and other search engines) and there are tools, some of which are completely free, called "plugins" to achieve this. this goal more easily. Among the stars of SEO plugins for WordPress: Yoast SEO and All in One SEO that we propose to review here.

Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO, the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress, is almost no longer to present. It is now one of the most downloaded and forms a complete solution for any website with SEO needs.

Yoast SEO allows adding an SEO title, meta description and keywords on every page and every post of a WordPress site.

A custom title to become the main site title, title for archives, categories and other pages can also be created through Yoast SEO for WordPress. But Yoast SEO doesn't stop there! It allows to add OpenGraph meta tags, Twitter Cards and sitemaps. It also takes care of informing the search engines during a site update.

The list of features of Yoast SEO for WordPress is very long. The tool, nevertheless, is easy to install and very simple to use. Its handling is also fast.

Install and configure Yoast SEO

Once installed, the Yoast SEO plugin offers a quick owner tour for its new users. Even beginners will not be outdone, because the explanations have the merit of being clear. If the number of possible settings on this tool makes getting started a little complicated a priori, the quick visit to Yoast SEO is a real added value for this SEO plugin for WordPress.

It is in SEO > General that we find all the features behind Yoast SEO. The webmaster tool is particularly interesting, in that it allows you to integrate a site with several programs, including Google and Bing.

In the Titles & Metas tab, on Yoast, we get to the heart of the matter, with the possibility in particular of specifying a title model for all aspects of the WordPress site (the home page, the publications, the pages , etc.). Of course, it is possible to choose not to index this or that article by default, to present a date in the snippets of search engines and many other things…

Yoast SEO also allows you to activate the breadcrumb trail, which is very useful in terms of navigation and SEO, giving search engines more precise information about the structure of the site.

Content analysis by Yoast

Let's face it: content analysis is not Yoast SEO's forte. Wanting to please Yoast at all costs is therefore a mistake in itself… and can lead to complex and time-consuming tasks. However, if we stick to the main elements: title, description and main keyword, the whole thing holds together and the indications, in the form of green, orange and red lights, are relatively reliable. Note, however, that in some cases, Yoast SEO does not spot the keyword in the first paragraph of content… even though it is there. Other inconveniences exist at the level of content analysis by Yoast, but do not present themselves as blocking factors in terms of SEO.

Yoast SEO and Social Media

Yoast SEO includes some very cool social media features. It is possible, on Yoast SEO, to fill in several page links to social media and even to integrate a site within social media tools including Facebook Open Graph, Twitter Cards, Pinterest and Google +. The Yoast SEO tool allows you to control the content that appears on social media, including the title, meta description and personalized image in particular.

XML Sitemaps

Before hoping to achieve a good ranking thanks to Yoast SEO, the content must be indexed by search engines. If there is no indexing, there is simply no SEO, regardless of the efforts made in terms of SEO and regardless of the quality of the SEO plugin used on WordPress. SEO offers an excellent XML sitemap feature, which takes care of notifying search engines whenever new content is published. Fast and efficient, this solution is really very practical and offers maximum control, knowing that it is possible to exclude certain types of publications from indexing.

All in One SEO

Great competitor of WordPress in terms of SEO plugin for WordPress, All in One SEO is also very well placed, in terms of results and satisfaction of users wishing to optimize their natural referencing on WordPress. The only downside, for French speakers who do not master (or very little) the language of Shakespeare is the following: the tool is not available in French... That said, on closer inspection, Yoast SEO does not manage either correctly the characters specific to French (é, è, à, etc.).

All in One SEO was started by two colleagues, Michael Torbert and Steve Mortiboy, in 2007, 3 years before Yoast SEO was born. The tool is part of a comprehensive collection and has, to date, nearly 27 million downloads, which is 2 million more than its competitor, Yoast SEO.

Install and configure All in One SEO

One of the benefits of All in One SEO is that you can view all of the settings from one place. So there's no need to search left and right: everything is on one and the same screen to start with All in One SEO. More so, each option comes with clear explanations, which is very convenient for beginners. The parameters allow in particular:

  • Define how canonical URLs are handled
  • Specify the title and description of the homepage
  • Configure the style of titles for each type of publication
  • Synchronize the tool with Google webmaster tools
  • Integrate with Google+ and Google Analytics
  • To configure the no index et no follow default for each post type

Content analysis by All in One SEO

Within All in One SEO is an SEO toolbox (SEO meta box) which can be accessed directly through the WordPress editor. From here, post descriptions and SEO titles can be populated for each post, also showcasing the look of the snippet as it will appear in search engines.

Unlike Yoast SEO, All in One does not offer a comprehensive content analysis tool. However, it allows you to configure a canonical URL, prevent certain pages from being indexed by search engines and exclude it from the sitemap. To sum up, this SEO plugin for WordPress allows good control over technical elements and details.

Additionally, All in One SEO allows editing of SEO titles and meta descriptions in large quantities, which, again, is a particularly handy feature for content-rich sites.

All in One SEO and Social Media

All in One SEO offers a module-based approach, which allows users to set aside features they don't need. Among these modules, social media which can be activated or deactivated, depending on the case.

All in One SEO includes a comprehensive list of social media related features, each with clear explanations, accessible even to beginners.

It is possible to associate a site with an unlimited number of profiles, and to connect to Facebook Open Graph. This feature, in particular, allows you to set the default image and dimensions on social media, providing great control over how posts appear on Facebook. It is also possible to configure Twitter Cards there.

XML sitemaps

All in One SEO includes an XML sitemap feature that allows sitemaps to be created automatically and submitted to search engines. The plugin allows you to select the search engines to which the site is submitted and to define the frequency of updates.

Yoast SEO or All in One SEO… it is difficult to choose one or the other of the SEO plugins for WordPress, because their functionalities are similar in many points. Some tend to think that Yoast's breadth of functionality is greater, making this SEO plugin for WordPress more interesting. Language is another aspect to consider, with Yoast being translated into nearly 20 languages ​​around the world. In terms of use, however, All in One SEO wins points, with a particularly pleasant interface. Maybe it's best to try?

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