You just got Yoast SEO, and you are ready to get the most out of it! Or, have you already been using it for a while and know your way around it? Either way, you should use some essential Yoast SEO settings to let the plugin work at its best. That』s why we』ve created a Yoast SEO configuration workout! In five steps, we guide you in setting up Yoast SEO the right way! Read on to learn more about each step.
Pro tip
Since Yoast SEO 17.7, we』ve replaced the configuration wizard with our new configuration workout. If you haven』t updated to the latest version of our plugin yet, make sure to do so and you』ll be able to do this workout right away! The configuration workout is available in both the free and Premium version of Yoast SEO.
Using the Yoast SEO configuration workout
If you just installed Yoast SEO, you』ll find a link to the workout at the top of your general WordPress Dashboard, as well as on top of all the screens of the Yoast SEO settings (see image). The link takes you to the Workouts screen, where you can find and access the Configuration workout by clicking the Start workout button. If you』ve finished the workout but want to revise some steps, you can find it in the Workouts menu item of the SEO menu (see bottom of image). Now, let』s go through the workout』s steps. Optimize SEO data This step is essential because it allows Yoast SEO to see your site as Google does. That means that it can see the indexable objects on your site and, as a result, it can give you better SEO tips and improve your site』s technical SEO performance. If you have a lot of content, this step may take a while. But, you can safely move on to the next steps while your data is being optimized. If the data optimization is not complete when you are done with the rest of the workout, you will need to wait for it to finish. Site representation. In this step, we ask you to add some information about the type of site you have. We use the data you insert here to inform Google about your site and increase the chance it gets featured in Google』s Knowledge Panel. First, we ask you to tell us if your site represents a person or an organization. What is the difference exactly?OrganizationChoose Organization if you have a professional or a company website. For example, if we were filling in the data for yoast.com, we would choose Organization. You』ll then need to add the Organization』s name, logo, and tagline. A tagline is like a slogan for your brand. For example, Yoast』s tagline is 「SEO for everyone.」 Do you already have a tagline? Then write it here. If you still don』t have one, think about your mission statement and summarize it here in a catchy sentence.PersonIf you have a personal or a portfolio site, choose Person. For instance, the writer David Mitchell has a website. If he were to fill in this workout, he』d need to select Person and add a name, logo, and a tagline. In his case, the tagline on his website is 「New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas.」 Important: If you have 「admin」 as your name, we strongly advise you to create a new user with a different name. Having admin as your publicly displayed name is bad for security and SEO. Social profiles We』ll use the social profiles you add to give Google more context about your site so that it can include them in the Knowledge Panel. Again, the steps are different depending on whether you are filling in the settings for a person or an organization. OrganizationIf you are filling in the workout for your Organization』s site, add the URLs of the Organization』s social profiles in the input fields. PersonIf you are filling in the workout for a personal site, add the social profiles of the Person the site represents. To do that, you should go to the Users screen in a new browser tab. You can access the Users screen by clicking the link in the workout. Then, follow these steps: 1. On the Users page, hover your mouse over the username you want to edit. 2. Click 『Edit』 to access the user』s profile.3. Scroll down to the 『Contact info』 section and4. Fill in the URLs of the personal social profiles you want to add. 5. Click Update user at the bottom of the screen, close the tab and return to the workout. Help us improve Yoast SEO To keep improving the plugin, we need some user data. However, to be able to track your data, we need your permission. You can learn more about the data we track in this usage data help article. Sign up for our newsletter Finally, in the last step, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter. By doing that, you』ll get regular SEO tips and news in your mailbox! So, you』ll always be up-to-date with the latest SEO developments that can help you improve your site. Click the Finish this workout button to finish the workout By clicking the button you will complete the workout, and you』ll be able to leave the screen, or go and do the other workouts available in Yoast SEO Premium! Clicking the View other SEO workouts button will take you to the Workouts settings screen with an overview of the other workouts.
Do the other Yoast SEO workouts and keep your site SEO fit!
Did you know that in Yoast SEO Premium, there are two more workouts? Make sure to check them out as well! They can help you clean up your site and make your content easier to find. Read more by clicking on these links:
Learn more about the benefits of doing the Yoast SEO workoutsDo the cornerstone approach workout to rank with your best contentDo the orphaned content workout to clean up your site FAQ: the Yoast SEO workouts