Yoast SEO is one of the popular and oldest SEO plugins for WordPress. Though Rank Math SEO plugin grabbed many features from Yoast, it is definitely a good alternative if Yoast SEO does not work on our site. You can get redirection, content AI and many other advanced features with Rank Math. If you are considering getting rid of Yoast SEO, here is how to easily migrate from Yoast SEO to Rank Math SEO plugin.
Why Not Yoast SEO?
Here is how Yoast SEO dashboard looks like at this point of time completely filled with promotional ads. Though Rank Math also shows an advertisement, it has a neat and easy to use interface.
- You need to insert the table of content block on each page manually.
- Premium Yoast version will cost you $99 per year which is not worth for the money.
- Though both plugins will create database tables, Yoast will bloat the DB with huge tables due to indexing each hyperlink on the pages.
- Options like redirect setup is premium in Yoast while it is included in the free Rank Math SEO version.
Migrating from Yoast to Rank Math
Whatsoever is the reason, migrating from Yoast is easy task as Rank Math will automatically grab all required data. For example, your Yoast SEO titles and meta descriptions for each post will be automatically assigned when you install and activate Rank Math plugin.
First, go to “Plugins > Add New” section in your admin dashboard to install and activate “Rank Math SEO” plugin.
After activating the plugin, you will be prompted to create or connect with your free Rank Math account. Click on “Skip Now” button to proceed further if you want to create an account later. However, we recommend creating a free account and connect in this step to avoid errors in the importing wizard.
Rank Math Setup Wizard
The plugin offers easy, advanced and custom pro modes. Select, “Advanced” option and click on the “More” link next to “Your website is compatible to run Rank Math SEO”. Also, make sure that you see a green tick mark before this option.
Scroll down to see the warning message showing that Yoast SEO will create conflict with Rank Math. Click on “Deactivate Plugin” button to disable Yoast SEO on your site. We recommend putting your site in maintenance mode when you do the migration activities to avoid any ranking impacts.
After deactivating Yoast SEO, click on “Start Wizard” button to proceed further. On the next step, select Yoast SEO and click on “Start Import” button.
Rank Math will start importing all your post meta data from Yoast SEO and other selected plugins.
Once importing is finished, follow the on screen instructions to setup Your Site, Analytics, Sitemap and Optimization steps. Finally, you will see the success message showing “Your site is ready”.
Now, you can go to “Rank Math > Dashboard” menu and start customizing the modules.
Note that you can go to “Plugins” page and click “Setup Wizard” link below Rank Math SEO plugin to access the wizard anytime when you want.
