Yoast vs Rank Math SEO : The Battle of Plugin Сontinues

Plugins are used to help with accessing SEO tools while working in WordPress. To understand which plugin is easier to work with, I created a “virtual battle” of the Yoast plugin versus Rank Math. I previously compared Yoast to All in One in the article Yoast vs All in One SEO Pack.

What is Rank Math Plugin?

Rank Math is one of the plugins created by the MyThemeShop team, its functions are intelligent and automated.

Plugin features:

• Step-by-step setup wizard;
• A simplified Rich Snippets layout setup (read more about Rich Snippets in this article …). The second name is Google Schema Markup. With its help, you can optimize the website’s content in a few clicks
• Does not complicate the code too much
• The Rank Math plugin is integrated into the Google Search Console by developers. This allows you to track the keyword rankings of the website on Google
• Adding icons
• SEO-auditing. The website can be checked with one click, thanks to the expanded analysis tool in the plugin. There are 34 built-in detailed SEO tests and each of them has a detailed content analysis and recommendations for correction
• 301 redirects
• Built-in 404 error monitoring
• Optimization for local search
• The plugin provides individual access for each user if the site is being managed by several of them at once
• External links can be closed using nofollow
• Adding ALT to pictures
• “Breadcrumbs.”

Briefly About Yoast SEO

This plugin appeared in 2008 and at first, was positioned as an SEO tutorial. It made it to the list of plugins in October 2010. Today, Yoast SEO is available in 17 languages and has been downloaded 25 million times. 

The plugin features include:

• Automated URL installation
• Site map creation
• RSS customization
• Metadata preview
• “Breadcrumbs”
• Page content analysis
• Page titles and mass-editor descriptions 
• 301 redirects

SEO Rank Math or Yoast: A Comparison of the Technical Settings and Features

The technical SEO settings are the main reason to install plugins. Now you can compare which one is better for each task and by the end of the article, you will see a comparison table.

Website Map

Rank Math

Site maps can be easily configured in the plugin. The page types are divided into lines, so you can immediately see what goes into the site map.

What can be configured on Rank Math:

•  Removing specific pages from the site map.

• A Google reminder when the site map changes.

What cannot be configured with the plugin:

• The priority on the site map
• The refresh rate of each page

Yoast

It also has limited settings, you can not set the priority and frequency of page refreshing, but it is possible to delete unnecessary pages from the site map.

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

Robots.txt

Both plugins allow you to edit the robots.txt file.

Settings in Rank Math:

Settings in Yoast:

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

Indexation

Rank Math

Here you can restrict indexation for different types of pages through meta robots. It has more options compared to Yoast, you can configure:

• No archive.
• No snippet.
• No image index.

Yoast

There are fewer settings, but they are less complicated. The index and noindex are shown clearly.

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

Canonical Settings

Both plugins will install canonical immediately after installation. Since it is impossible to use two canonicals, it is important to remember that only 1 plugin should be active.

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

URL Settings

Rank Math

• Fast and secure URL stripping, allows the removal of /category/.
• Removes stopwords from permalinks (a, and, the).

The plugin also allows you to change the URLs of specific pages.

Yoast

It can also remove /category/ and allows the changing of the address of the page.

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

Redirects

 Rank Math

It’s easy to set up redirects using Rank Math, but first you will have to turn on the required module.

It allows massive redirect configuration which is quite convenient. For example, you can configure all 404 pages to answer 410, which is a good solution for problems involving broken links.

Redirects can also be configured separately for each page.

Yoast

This plugin can also configure redirects and permanent redirects, but unfortunately, this can only be done in the advanced version.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

Micromarking

Rank Math

Once you turn on the SCHEMA module you can configure the micromarking for different types of pages.

Then you can choose the layout type for different pages. This is very convenient because you can massively set such an important SCHEMA parameter.

Yoast

 The micromarking configuration is limited here to the name of the organization and logo.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins

“Breadcrumbs”

Rank Math

“Breadcrumbs” can be configured.

Yoast

Also allows “breadcrumbs” to be configured.

Conclusion: It’s a draw.

Linking to Google Analytics and Search Console

In terms of linking to Google Search, the Rank Math vs Yoast competition doesn’t favor the latter. Yoast has an option to set up access to the Google Console, but Rank Math can monitor some indicators from its administration panel.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

SEO Image Optimization

Rank Math

Rank Math has a separate tab for ALT and Title configuration.

Yoast

Here we can only restrict the images from indexation.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

SEO Yoast and Rank Math: Content and Metadata Optimization

To improve the website traffic, the content and metadata have to be optimized.

Possibility of Mass Title and Description Configuration

Both plugins have an option of mass title and description configuration, a setting that is very important for SEO.

Here’s how they look in the Rank Math plugin:

The screenshot below shows Yoast configuration.

Conclusion: It is a draw.

Content Analysis

Both plugins can perform content analysis, so it is up to the user to decide which one is more convenient and easily understandable.

Yoast

Here you can see detailed recommendations for content editing, they should not be followed completely, just remember that the content should be executed expertly. It needs to fully reveal the topic, it is better to use terms, but keywords and LSI are necessary.

 Rank Math

This plugin’s recommendations are more clear. Rank Math is more useful from the perspective of SEO-recommendations. The plugin informs us about the keyword usage in the URL, title, description and tells us how many words we need to add.

Yoast has recommendations without enough specificity.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins. 

SEO Yoast vs Rank Math: Social Network Integration

Rank Math does a better job of identifying the content on social networks. It has a preview of the text repost in the social network so you can immediately see how the link will be displayed after it is shared. An added benefit is that the link image is added by default. If you forget to set a separate photo for Facebook or Twitter, a picture from the site will be used.

Rank Math also has a larger number of social networks, they even have SoundCloud, Reddit, and Tumblr. 

While Yoast only has Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

Which Plugin Configures Faster, SEO Yoast, or Rank Math?

Without prior experience, the fear with setting Rank Math and Yoast will be the same. In terms of speed, the plugins are very similar in structure and settings, but Yoast will win here since the main functions are available immediately after the plugin is turned on while certain modules in Rank Math must first be activated.  

Conclusion: Yoast wins.

SEO Yoast vs Rank Math: Beginner’s Choice

For WordPress beginners, the Yoast plugin would win for two reasons:

1. There’s no need to start up the modules
2. Rank Math has more settings, some of them are less important and users may feel confused.

Still, Rank Math has a Setup Wizard for beginners.

Every user will win here.

Conclusion: Yoast wins.

Which Customer Support Is Better?

In terms of customer support, the plugins are identical and both of them have a Facebook group.

Rank Math

Facebook

• Rank Math has an FAQ section right in the admin panel, which is a huge plus.

• As I’ve mentioned earlier the plugin has a Setup Wizard.

• Tech support is available almost 24/7.

Yoast

It also has a group on Facebook but it does not have a built-in FAQ section. Also, tech support is only available for premium subscribers.

Facebook

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

Premium Version Comparison of SEO Yoast and Rank Math

SEO Yoast Premium differs from the basic version with:

• its ability to add up to 5 focus-words into content
• a redirect system
• its social network snippet preview and adding it to video content.

Rank Math and Yoast premium are equals, but R ank Math gives a lot of functionality for free. 

Conclusion: Rank Math wins.

The Shortcomings of SEO Yoast and Rank Math

Comparing the Yoast and the Rank Math plugins is impossible without considering the flaws of both plugins.

Yoast SEO:

• Heavier than Rank Math, it increases the loading times due to increased HTTP-requests
• Fewer technical settings
• A lot of functions are available in the premium version, while the free one offers very few
• Tech support is only with the premium version
• No Setup Wizard for novices

Rank Math has other shortcomings:

• When you connect several websites with ads, the plugin requests access to the user’s account. 

Benefits of SEO Yoast and Rank Math

Each plugin has its benefits. 

Rank Math’s benefits

• Possibility of AMP configuration

• It is the best plugin for the forum-websites thanks to these settings

• Can be configured for Local Search

• Fast tech support 
• It has a lot of options for technical configuration

SEO Yoast benefits

• Has only the most important settings, nothing redundant
• Has a convenient interface
• Good possibilities for different kinds of business in the premium version

Can You Use Rank Math and SEO Yoast at the Same Time?

Using Rank Math and Yoast serves no purpose for several reasons: 

1. The plugin functions interchangeable in many cases
2. High possibility of bugs and errors 

Therefore, when installing a different plugin, it is better to click the “Deactivate the plugin and import settings” button.

Quickly Importing Settings

When transferring the plugin settings, you will receive a warning when two plugins are being used and errors will occur.

To quickly transfer settings from Yoast to Rank Math, you must use the import settings, the export and import page in Rank Math looks like this.

Which Is Better, Rank Math, or SEO Yoast?

Both contenders did an excellent job, but today Rank Math wins by a good margin. If you still choose Yoast, use version 3.3.4. It has more features compared to the latest versions.

The comparison table clearly shows the main characteristics of the Yoast and Rank Math plugins. It will become a pros and cons list for those who still do not know which to choose.