FAQ: The Yoast SEO workoutsYoast SEO and Yoast SEO Premium comes with a lot of exciting features. To get the best out of them, in the quickest way, we made it possible for you to do some easy workouts! To answer all your questions about the Yoast SEO workouts, we created this FAQ. Dive in!
Table of contentsWorkouts available Yoast SEO free and Yoast SEO PremiumThe configuration workout Workouts available only in Yoast SEO Premium The cornerstone approach workout The orphaned content workoutGeneral FAQ about the workoutsRead more about the workouts
Workouts available Yoast SEO free and Yoast SEO Premium
The configuration workout is available in both Yoast SEO Premium and Yoast SEO free. It is an essential workout that helps you configure up some essential Yoast SEO settings!
The configuration workout
What is the goal of the configuration workout? Yoast SEO does a lot of work for you in the background. For example, it automatically adds structured data to your pages, so search engines can understand your content. It can also make technical SEO improvements to your site. However, to do all of that well, it needs your input. That』s why we created the configuration workout! In a few steps, we』ll help you set up some essential Yoast SEO settings, so it can get you the best results. Why do I need to do SEO data optimization first? Yoast SEO needs to perform SEO data optimization for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the data optimization lets Yoast SEO scan your site as Google does. It will then be able to give you better optimizing tips. The plugin will also automatically solve some of the technical issues it finds in the background. As a result, your pages may load faster! Secondly, the plugin scans your content and counts your internal links. Based on that, it can show you the internal links pointing to your cornerstones and suggest posts you can link to your cornerstones from. That is crucial for the internal linking and the cornerstone content workouts in Yoast SEO Premium to work properly. I tried to do the SEO data optimization but it didn』t work. If the SEO data optimization failed, or you got stuck, you can find some useful tips in this help article. Why are you asking to track my data? To make Yoast SEO work well and keep improving it, we need some information about you. For example, what other plugins and themes you use, so we can make sure they work seamlessly with Yoast SEO. Or which features you use most often so we can give them some extra attention. Of course, we can』t collect that information without your permission. So, in this step, you can let us know if you would be ok with us collecting that kind of basic data.
Workouts available only in Yoast SEO Premium
Yoast SEO Premium comes with multiple features that help you improve the SEO of your site. For example, in the Premium version of the plugin, you』ll find the internal linking suggestions, the cornerstone content filter, the link counter. However, since all these features are separate, it may not be immediately obvious to you how to use them together to get the most out of them. With the workouts in Yoast SEO Premium, that becomes much easier!
The cornerstone approach workout
What is the goal of the cornerstone approach workout? Ultimately, the goal is to help you make your most important posts and pages easy to find by linking to them. But why is linking that important? Because search engines follow links to find new content. The more links there are to a page, the more important search engines will think it is. Now, some pages on your site are more valuable than others. The ones that contain the essential information that you want to rank with are called cornerstone content. So, you need to make sure these cornerstones have a lot of links pointing to them. With the cornerstone approach workout, you』ll ensure your cornerstone content is well linked, making it more likely to rank! Why should I use the cornerstone approach workout? Very often, people are eager to write new content. And, just as often, they forget to add enough links pointing to it. That is a pity because then it』s harder for search engines and people to find that content. By doing the workout, you ensure that the posts you want to rank with get enough links pointing to them to help them get found and ranked! I marked an article as cornerstone. Why don』t I see it in the lists? Did you mark your article as cornerstone in one tab while the workout was still open in another? Then, all you need to do is go to the tab with the workout, and refresh the page. You should then see the cornerstone articles in the lists. If that doesn』t work, go back and make sure that the article you wanted to mark as cornerstone has the Mark as cornerstone content toggle switched 「On」.
The orphaned content workout
What is orphaned content? It』s the content that doesn』t have any links pointing to it. Content that gets no links is hard to find, both by visitors to your site and search engines. In Yoast SEO, we consider six months or older content with less than three links as orphaned content. What is the goal of the orphaned content workout? The goal of the workout is to motivate you to clean up your site. What does that mean, exactly? It means that Yoast SEO helps you find the posts and pages on your site that don』t receive any links. Then, it lets you decide what to do with those pages: improve them, remove them or hide them from the search engines.Whatever you decide, the plugin will help you execute your decision. So, if you decide to delete some pages, it will help you redirect them properly. If you want to hide content from search engines, the plugin will automatically output the right code that gives instructions to search engines not to follow that page. Finally, if you decide to keep and improve some of your orphaned content, the plugin will help you find posts and pages from which you can link to the orphaned content. As a result, you will end up with fewer old and irrelevant pages, and you will improve the user experience on your site. Why should I use the orphaned content workout? The workout can motivate you to do one of the most tedious tasks: cleaning up! We all dread it, but we have to do it from time to time. And it』s not only about motivation. The guidance through the workout can save you a lot of precious time while helping you clean up your site and make your orphaned content findable! It is a small effort with a big payoff!
General FAQ about the workouts
What kind of effect will the workouts have on my site? Just like working out in real life, the effects may not be visible straight away. And when you work out for the first time in a while, it may seem overwhelming. But, if you consistently keep up the work, you will start seeing results. For example, linking your posts will improve your site structure and make your content easier to find. And content that is easy to find is content that gets read, engaged with, and, ultimately, content that ranks! And, getting rid of old content will make the overall experience on your site much better and prevent your visitors from ending up on dead-end pages. Do I have to complete all the steps in the workouts to improve the SEO of my site? The short answer is: yes. We tried to make it as easy and convenient as possible to get the best out of the Yoast SEO features by creating doable workouts. The workouts help you set up Yoast SEO, create a better site structure, and clean up your site, which is essential for SEO-fit sites.
Read more about the workouts
Do the SEO workout to rank higher with your best contentAn SEO workout to clean up your contentThe configuration workout helps Google understand your site
