Author 詩語

Contribute and make features available in your language

Contribute language data

If you speak a language other than English, you can help us with your native speaker knowledge. You can do this by contributing language data such as word lists, for example. Have a look at this overview of features per language to see which Yoast SEO features already have support for your language. If support is still missing, you can contribute using the forms we』ve set up! We』ll then review this data and, if possible, implement it.

Function words

We』ve set up a function words form which you can use to provide us with lists of function words. Function words mark grammatical relationships. They carry little meaning on their own. This category includes words such as the, and, and for, for example. Since they carry little intrinsic meaning, we filter them from your keyphrase when carrying out the keyphrase analysis, and we use them when we create internal linking suggestions in Yoast SEO Premium.

Transition words

These words are used for the transition word assessment. This assessment tells you whether you have enough transition words in your text. You can send in words for your language using the transition word form.

Sentence length

The sentence length assessment tells you whether you have too many long sentences. We base this assessment on resources such as style guides, readability research, etc. You can contribute resources for your language using the sentence length form.

Consecutive sentences

The consecutive sentences assessment warns you if you have a number of consecutive sentences starting with the same word, making your writing sound too repetitive. When checking this, we skip certain words such as the article the, for example. You can send in a list of words that can be skipped using the consecutive sentences form.

Contribute to the codebase

If you are a developer, you can also contribute directly to our code base! All of our code and most of the language data we use are open-source. The assessments and their accompanying analysis functionality are part of our Yoast SEO JavaScript library. This means anyone can make a PR to expand a check for their native language, or improve our word lists if you』ve spotted any errors.

My business is not listed! Can you add it?

In short: no, we can』t, unfortunately.

All the business types listed in the Local SEO plugin, are taken from the schema.org website. Schema.org is a collaboration between the four big search engines (Google, Yahoo, Yandex and Bing). They are the ones that decide which business types to list, so unfortunately, we can』t add them ourselves.

If you want to check the list on schema.org, just go here: https://schema.org/LocalBusiness. All the types that are in the list of our Local SEO plugin, are subtypes of Local Business. Or, of course, they』re subtypes of subtypes of Local Business.

Note: We check the schema.org website and update if there are any changes. So keep an eye on that list!

My type isn』t listed. Which should I pick?

If your business isn』t listed, please choose the closest, most relevant, business type. If no other types are relevant, please select the top item, which is Local Business.

How to fix missing Schema property: missing field 「sku」

The warning missing field 「sku「 occurs in Google Search Console when a product has no SKU (stock keeping unit) defined. According to Schema.org, the sku property refers to 「merchant-specific identifier for a product or service」.

You can add a SKU in WooCommerce. In addition, if you use WooCommerce SEO, all you』ll need to do to fix the missing field 「sku「 issue is to add the product SKU in the WooCommerce meta box. The WooCommerce SEO plugin will output the correct Schema for you automatically!

Fixing the missing Schema property: missing field sku

To allow WooCoommerce SEO to automatically add the missing field 「sku」 to your product, follow these steps. Select the product you want to add a SKU to from the Products overview. In the Product editing screen, scroll down to the WooCoomerce meta box. You will see a box with different tabs. The settings of the General tab show first by default. Click on the Inventory tab. You will see the Inventory tab options. Add the SKU in the SKU input field at the top of the meta box. You can add up to 255 alphanumeric and special characters in the input field. Click the Update button at the top of the Product editing screen. WooCommerce SEO will automatically output the missingsku field.

WooCommerce SEO can solve this issue for you, but it also does much more for your product pages! Get it now, and increase the chance your products rank!

Use the WooCommerce SEO plugin to solve this issue and more!

Get best practice technical SEO for ecommerce, automatically! And make your products stand out in the search results.
Get WooCommerce SEO »Only $69 USD / per year (ex VAT) for 1 site – incl. 1 year free updates and support

List of function words

What are function words?

We make a difference between function words and content words in the Yoast SEO keyphrase analysis and prominent words analysis. Function words mainly express grammatical relationships between content words. They don』t have much intrinsic meaning on their own. That』s why we filter them in our analysis for a growing number of languages.

What words are counted as function words?

Below you find all languages for which we have support for filtering function words. Please select the language link below to view the plugin files containing the function words for the specific language.

English function wordsGerman function wordsDutch function wordsFrench function wordsSpanish function wordsItalian function wordsPortuguese function wordsRussian function wordsPolish function wordsSwedish function wordsIndonesian function wordsArabic function wordsFarsi function wordsHebrew function words Hungarian function wordsNorwegian function wordsTurkish function words

Read more about the function word check in Yoast SEO.

Sitemap error: XML or text declaration not at start of entity

Are you seeing one of the following sitemap errors?

XML or text declaration not at start of entity

XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document

In this article we provide you with steps you can follow to solve this issue.

This issue typically happens when a plugin or theme function incorrectly adds empty whitespace at the beginning of the sitemap. Please view the source code of your sitemap following the steps here.

Solution

As much as we』d love to help, our plugin does not cause this issue. However, the cause most often is an empty line at the beginning (before the <?php line) or end of the wp-config.php or functions.php file. If there is no empty line in these files, we highly recommend running a conflict check to identify what outputs the empty whitespace.

You may also need to clear your cache from your plugins/theme/CDN such as Cloudflare/server caching etc. If you are not sure how to clear cache, please speak with your developers or contact your host provider.

Once you have identified whether your theme or a plugin causes the issue, please contact the developers of the theme or plugin for assistance finding and removing the whitespace.

Sitemaps are great for helping crawlers find their way around your site. But, you know what is even better? An optimized site structure! Yoast SEO Premium makes it easy to improve and control the structure of your site. Among the many other benefits, it also comes with an internal linking feature and content filters. Their job is to make sure your audience and search engines find the posts and pages they need on your site.

How to customize your Yoast SEO experience

Yoast SEO comes with a lot of features that get your posts and pages in tip-top SEO shape. We believe that everything the plugin offers is valuable and that it』s good to take advantage of these tools. We』ve carefully built the features in Yoast SEO based on extensive research and experience. Each one has a role to play in making your site perform and rank better. That is why we』ve enabled our features by default when you install the plugin. Of course, there might come a time when you』d like to turn some features off. You can do that in the General settings of Yoast SEO.  We want to make sure you know the value and function of each feature. So, in this article, we shortly explain what each feature does, and how you can use the features to customize your Yoast SEO experience. 

Note: Some of these features appear both in the Yoast SEO meta box, and the Yoast SEO sidebar. To learn more about the sidebar settings, read: How to optimize your content with the Yoast SEO sidebar!

Turning some of these features off will likely have an effect on the SEO of your website.

Transition words in your language

The readability analysis in the Yoast SEO plugin comes with a transition words check. This check assesses whether you use enough transition words throughout your text. In this article, we』ve listed examples of transition words in the various languages we support.

EnglishGerman DutchFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseRussianPolishCatalanSwedishHungarianArabicHebrewIndonesianTurkish

English

The transition words check is available in English. See the list below for examples of transition words in English.

Single wordsMultiple wordsTwo partsaccordinglyabove allboth … and additionallyafter allif … thenafterwardafter thatnot only … but alsoafterwardsall in allneither … noralbeitall of a suddenwhether … oralsoall things consideredno sooner … thanalthoughanalogous toaltogetheralthough this may be trueanotheranother key pointbasicallyas a matter of factbecauseas a resultbeforeas an illustrationbesidesas can be seenbutas has been notedcertainlyas I have notedchieflyas I have saidcomparativelyas I have shownconcurrentlyas long asconsequentlyas much ascontrarilyas shown aboveconverselyas soon ascorrespondinglyas well asdespiteat any ratedoubtedlyat firstduringat laste.g.at leastearlierat lengthemphaticallyat the present timeequallyat the same timeespeciallyat this instanteventuallyat this pointevidentlyat this timeexplicitlybalanced againstfinallybeing thatfirstlyby all meansfollowingby and largeformerlyby comparisonforthwithby the same tokenfourthlyby the timefurthercompared tofurthermorebe that as it maygenerallycoupled withhencedifferent fromhenceforthdue tohoweverequally importanti.e.even ifidenticallyeven moreindeedeven soinsteadeven thoughlastfirst thing to rememberlastlyfor examplelaterfor fear thatlestfor instancelikewisefor one thingmarkedlyfor that reasonmeanwhilefor the most partmoreoverfor the purpose ofneverthelessfor the same reasonnonethelessfor this purposenorfor this reasonnotwithstandingfrom time to timeobviouslygiven thatoccasionallygiven these pointsotherwiseimportant to realizeonceonce in a whileoverallin a wordparticularlyin additionpresentlyin another casepreviouslyin any caseratherin any eventregardlessin briefsecondlyin caseshortlyin conclusionsignificantlyin contrastsimilarlyin detailsimultaneouslyin due timesincein effectsoin either casesoonin essencespecificallyin factstillin generalstraightawayin light ofsubsequentlyin like fashionsurelyin like mannersurprisinglyin order thatthanin order tothenin other wordsthereafterin particularthereforein realitythereuponin shortthirdlyin similar fashionthoughin spite ofthusin sumtillin summaryundeniablyin that caseundoubtedlyin the event thatunlessin the final analysisunlikein the first placeunquestionablyin the fourth placeuntilin the hope thatwhenin the light ofwheneverin the long runwhereasin the meantimewhilein the same fashionin the same wayin the second placein the third placein this casein this situationin timein truthin view ofmost compelling evidencemost importantmust be rememberednot to mentionnow thatof courseon account ofon balanceon condition thaton one handon the condition thaton the contraryon the negative sideon the other handon the positive sideon the wholeon this occasiononly ifowing topoint often overlookedprior toprovided thatseeing thatso as toso farso long asso thatsooner or latersuch assumming uptake the case ofthat isthat is to saythen againthis timeto be sureto begin withto clarifyto concludeto demonstrateto emphasizeto enumerateto explainto illustrateto listto point outto put it another wayto put it differentlyto repeatto rephrase itto say nothing ofto sum upto summarizeto that endto the end thatto this endtogether withunder those circumstancesuntil nowup againstup to the present timevis a viswhat』s morewhile it may be truewhile this may be truewith attention towith the result thatwith this in mindwith this intentionwith this purpose in mindwith attention towith the result thatwith this in mindwith this intentionwith this purpose in mindwithout a doubtwithout delaywithout doubtwithout reservationSee the full list of English transition words and two-part English transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

German

The transition words check is available in German. See the list below for examples of transition words in German.

weildochmit anderen wortenso dassSee the full list of German transition words and two-part German transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Dutch

The transition words check is available in Dutch. See the list below for examples of transition words in Dutch.

omdatmaarnet alster conclusieSee the full list of Dutch transition words and two-part Dutch transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

French

The transition words check is available in French. See the list below for examples of transition words in French.

cartoutefoissi bien queen raison deSee the full list of French transition words and two-part French transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Spanish

The transition words check is available in Spanish. See the list below for examples of transition words in Spanish.

porqueperoa causa desin embargoSee the full list of Spanish transition words and two-part Spanish transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Italian

The transition words check is available in Italian. See the list below for examples of transition words in Italian.

perchéperòa causain sentesiSee the full list of Italian transition words and two-part Italian transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Portuguese

The transition words check is available in Portuguese. See the list below for examples of transition words in Portuguese.

poiscontudopor causa deem sumaSee the full list of Portuguese transition words and two-part Portuguese transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Russian

The transition words check is available in Russian. See the list below for examples of transition words in Russian.

потомуоднакопотому чтов итогеSee the full list of Russian transition words and two-part Russian transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Polish

The transition words check is available in Polish. See the list below for examples of transition words in Polish.

ponieważjednakz uwagi żew podsumowaniuSee the full list of Polish transition words and two-part Polish transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Catalan

The transition words check is available in Catalan. See the list below for examples of transition words in Catalan.

perquèresumintpel queen a resumSee the full list of Catalan transition words and two-part Catalan transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Swedish

The transition words check is available in Swedish. See the list below for examples of transition words in Swedish.

emellertidmeni syfte attför att sammanfattaSee the full list of Swedish transition words and two-part Swedish transition words that Yoast SEO recognizes.

Hungarian

The transition words check is available in Hungarian. See the list below for examples of transition words in Hungarian.

mivelazonbanahhoz hogymás szóval

Arabic

The transition word check is also available in Arabic. See the list below for examples of transition words in Arabic.

Single wordsMultiple words بينماعلاوة علىحيثمامن ناحية أخرىهكذاعلى سبيل المثالكذلكفي النهايةكمابناء على ذلكSee the full list of Arabic transition words that Yoast SEO recognises.

Hebrew

The transition word check is also available in Hebrew. See the list below for examples of transition words in Hebrew.

Single wordsMultiple words למרותלא כל שכןבשבילכמו כןכגוןבזמן האחרוןמלבדלטווח ארוךמפאתלא כל שכןSee the full list of Hebrew transition words that Yoast SEO recognises.

Indonesian

The transition word check is also available in Indonesian. See the list below for examples of transition words in Indonesian.

Single wordsMultiple words berikutberbeda darikeduakendatipun begituterutamanyadengan pemikiran initerdahulupada waktucontohnyaseperti yang sudah dijelaskanSee the full list of Indonesian transition words that Yoast SEO recognises.

Turkish

The transition word check is also available in Turkish. See the list below for examples of transition words in Turkish.

Single wordsMultiple words fakatdemek kiamafarz edelim kiçünküdolayısı ileyüzündenbunun yanı sıratopyekunkısaca söylecek olursakSee the full list of Turkish transition words that Yoast SEO recognises.

Yoast SEO meta box is blank

If the meta box is missing entirely, please see this article.

If the Yoast SEO meta box looks like this on your posts, pages or custom post types, you know there』s something wrong.

Possible causes

JavaScript is disabled

The Yoast SEO meta box relies on JavaScript to perform all its tasks. If JavaScript is disabled, Yoast SEO cannot function properly. Please follow the tutorial on enable-javascript.com to enable JavaScript in your browser. This should solve the problem.

There is a JavaScript error

Browsers are pretty sensitive to JavaScript errors. If any plugin is throwing a JavaScript error, your browser will stop executing JavaScript altogether. This means that other plugins can stop Yoast SEO from working properly. Luckily your browser is very good at locating those problems. To learn how to check for JavaScript errors, read this article in our Help Center.

Avast is blocking Yoast SEO

The antivirus software 『Avast Antivirus』 has a feature called 『Script scanning』. It is supposed to block malicious scripts, but has been reported to block important Yoast SEO files as well.

To prevent this feature from blocking Yoast SEO, you can add your own URL to the 『Script exclusions』. For more information, please refer to Avast』s FAQ at avast.com/faq.php.

Outdated Plugins, Themes, and WordPress

Please check and confirm that you have the most recent versions of your plugins (Yoast included), your theme and your WordPress.

None of the above

If none of the above works to resolve the issue please perform a conflict check.

Optimizing the SEO title and meta description of your homepage

On the general tab under Search Appearance, Yoast SEO allows you to edit the SEO title and meta description of your homepage. Your homepage is obviously an important part of your website. Although homepage SEO doesn』t really exist as such, having a good SEO title and meta description in place for it is still key.

In most cases your homepage will rank for the name of your business or brand anyway, and those are usually the only terms you want it to rank for. But you still need to convince potential visitors that a click is worthwhile. That』s where the SEO title and meta description come in.

Note: if you have a static page as your homepage, you won』t be able to edit the SEO title and meta description under the Homepage heading. Instead, you can edit the SEO and meta description on the static page itself, using the Yoast SEO metabox. The message will link you through to it, as the image below shows.

Message displayed on the general tab under Search Appearance when you are using a static page

SEO title

By default, Yoast SEO will generate your homepage SEO title by displaying the Site title, the name of the page, a separator and the tagline. But you might want to do something completely different. On the yoast.com homepage we have our mission, then a separator, then our brand name as the SEO title. This, then, is your chance to customize your homepage』s SEO title to your liking!

To customize your SEO title, you can either just fill in an SEO title you like, or use the snippet variables. We have an entire article explaining what snippet variables do, so check that out if they confuse you. Make sure your homepage』s SEO title is on brand, and captures what your visitors can expect from your business or site.

Meta description

By default, the meta description for your homepage will be empty. That means it』s extra important to fill one in yourself! If you don』t, search engines will have to automatically generate one, and it』s unlikely to be as good as a well-written message you』ve tailored to you and your visitors』 needs. 

Your homepage meta description is your business card. Make sure it』s inviting and that it mentions your USPs. Of course, we have lots of tips on creating the ideal meta description on our blog. Please note that the meta description field under the homepage heading doesn』t feature the feedback that you are used to in the Yoast SEO metabox. When writing it, make sure you don』t go over 155 characters. It might be a good idea to test your meta description in a post first, to get the feedback from the Yoast SEO metabox.

Add custom fields to Yoast SEO Premium plugin settings

It is possible to scan custom fields with Yoast SEO. Note that you can do that only with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin and it only works on posts, products, custom post types, pages etc. It is not available on media attachment pages, taxonomies, archives, 404 pages, search pages, or author pages. In this post, we give you a step-by-step guide on how to add custom fields to Yoast SEO Premium.

To be able to add the custom fields to Yoast SEO, you need to know their names. If you are not sure what the names of the custom fields are, follow the steps in this post – Find the correct custom field name.

Related articles

Create your own custom field for use with Video or Yoast SEOAdd a custom filed in the Video SEO plugin settings

How to add custom fields to Yoast SEO Premium

Log in to your WordPress website. When you』re logged in, you will be in your Dashboard. Click the SEO item menu in the admin menu on the left-hand side. The menu expands with additional menu items. Click on Search Appearance. The Search Appearance screen opens. Click on the Content Types tab on the Search Appearance screen. There are two boxes with settings. One is for Posts, and the other one is for Pages. They both contain a custom field name input box. Add the custom field name in the input box at the bottom of the Posts/Pages settings. You can add multiple custom fields in a comma-separated list, like this: customfield,customfield2,customfield3 Click save changes.

Using Advanced Custom Fields (free or pro)

Yoast SEO (free or Premium)

If you want Yoast SEO to scan fields from advanced custom fields please install the ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO plugin. You can learn more about this plugin here: Plugin Compatibility.