All in One SEO vs Yoast, which is the best SEO plugin for bloggers? Both are popular WordPress plugins. I am sure experts out there will recommend one over the other.
I know you’ve probably seen many blog posts on Pinterest recommending Yoast. However, is that really the right WordPress SEO plugin for you? In this blog post, I am going to go over the features of both plugins. So that way you can make the decision for yourself.
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Table of Contents
What is a WordPress SEO Plugin?
a WordPress SEO plugin optimizes your blog for search engines. For example, when it comes to writing blog posts, it tells you how to optimize your blog post for search engines.
An SEO plugin even tells you how to optimize your blog for search engines. It does this through tasks that you have to accomplish for SEO. It’s like having an SEO checklist.
Why Should You Use WordPress SEO Plugins?
Without an SEO plugin for WordPress, it’s hard to optimize for search engines on your own. WP SEO plugins take all the guesswork out of it. For example, SEO plugins make generating sitemaps easier.
All In One SEO vs Yoast: Which is easier to install and set up?
AIOSEO Install and Setup
The first step is to download and install AIOSEO. Then activate it. All in One SEO will take you through the setup wizard. Then click on the let’s get started button. The setup process includes four steps. Once you are done going through the setup wizard, you’ll see the general settings tab.
What I like is that AIOSEO includes a video in the general settings tab. This video helps you to understand the setup process. The general settings tab is divided into 5 different sections. There is a help icon in the general settings tab for all the different features listed there.
When you’re finished setting it all up, AIOSEO gives your blog an SEO score. You can use this score to see what you need to improve on.
If you would like more guidance on how to fully set up AIOSEO read this guide.
Yoast Install and SetupÂ
First, you have to download, install and activate Yoast. Then go under the general settings tab to launch the configuration wizard. The configuration wizard takes you through the setup process.
Similar to AIOSEO, each page has different tabs to configure your settings. If you get lost and confused, click on the purple question mark for help.
Unlike AIOSEO, Yoast has a 12-step installation process. Yoast doesn’t give you an SEO score when it’s done setting up.
If you would like more information on how to set up either plugin check out this blog post.
I have to say AIOSEO is the winner here. It has fewer steps in the setup process. I like the fact that it gives you an SEO score.
All in One SEO vs Yoast: Which One is Better at Everyday SEO Tasks?
AIOSEO Everyday tasks
AIOSEO gives you an SEO score for each post you write. If you click on the panel with your SEO score, it shows you the content analysis panel.
On top of that, you’ll get an SEO score for each main keyword in your posts. At the bottom of each post, you’ll see a post editor box for SEO.
In this box, you can add your focus keyword, edit the URL settings for the post, add your meta description, edit your social media settings for the post, and there’s a link assistant.
If you click on the social tab, you can edit your post’s Facebook title and description. You can do it for Twitter too.
The link assistant gives you internal linking suggestions. But this feature is only available with the paid version.
What I like about the URL settings is that you can have it automatically updated to the current year. It allows you to even add the month and day to the URL.
If you want an analysis of additional related keywords you have to get the premium version.
AIOSEO On-Page SEO Analysis
AIOSEO tells you where to put your main keyword in your post. There is an additional page analysis feature. This is helpful for on-page SEO. Their page analysis tool checks for:
- Focus keyphrase in content
- Â Focus keyphrase in the introduction
- Â Focus keyphrase in the meta description
- Â Focus keyphrase in URL
- Â Focus keyphrase length
- Â Meta description length
- Â Content length
- Â Internal links
- Â External links
Yoast Everyday tasks
Yoast does have the same social media feature as AIOSEO. This means you can change your post title and description for Facebook and Twitter. Yoast scores your readability just like AIOSEO.
You can enter your main keyword, meta description, and change the URL of your post. If your post is cornerstone content you can mark that it is with their cornerstone tab.
What I like about Yoast’s post SEO editor is you can preview the meta description for mobile devices. AIOSEO doesn’t have that feature.
I like Yoast’s keyword analysis. It tells you everything you need to do to optimize for on-page SEO. Yoast tells you keyword density too. No having to guess often to add your main keyword.
But just like with AIOSEO, you have to get the premium version in order to get an analysis of related keywords.
Yoast On-Page SEO Analysis
Like I said before Yoast’s SEO analysis tells you if you haven’t added your main keyword enough. What’s different about theirs is that it checks for:
- images
- alt description. It even tells you if you’ve added too many keywords to the alt description.
- Internal links
- External links
- keyword length
- Meta description and length
- SEO title width
- Keyphrase in subheadings
- Keyphrase length
- Keyphrase in introduction
- Keyphrase in URL
- length of your post
- and checks to see if you’ve used the keyword before
All in One SEO vs Yoast: When it comes to on-page SEO analysis I think Yoast does a slightly better job. That’s because it checks your keyword density, alt description in images, and images.
All in One SEO vs Yoast: Indexing and Sitemaps
Now the whole point of SEO is for search engines to find your blog posts. Sitemaps help search engines to find you. This is another benefit of using a WordPress SEO plugin. I am going to go over how AIOSEO and Yoast compare.
AIOSEO Indexing and Sitemaps
AIOSEO automatically generates sitemaps for you. There is a page that allows you to manage your sitemaps. Under the sitemap settings page, you can choose what type of posts to include. I like that you can even include custom pages. This means you can add landing pages, sales pages, etc. to your sitemap.
This would allow search engines to find those pages. AIOSEO even allows you to generate a sitemap for video content on your blog.
Yoast Indexing and Sitemaps
Yoast also automatically generates sitemaps. Unlike AIOSEO, it doesn’t have a dedicated sitemap page. You can’t exclude certain posts in your sitemap with Yoast.
Just like AIOSEO, you can connect to webmaster tools like Google search console, bing and others. If you upgrade to the premium version, you can activate video sitemaps.
AIOSEO vs Yoast: When it comes to sitemaps AIOSEO is better. It gives you more control and you can include video sitemaps at no extra charge.
Additional Tools and Features
Both come with additional tools and features. Let’s go over which features they have.
All in One SEO Additional Tools and Features
All in One SEO comes with:
- Bad bot blocker
- Social media integration
- file editor
- import and export SEO data
- performance manager
- open graph meta tags
- user access control
- XML sitemap
- Robots.txt
There are a few functions that All in One SEO doesn’t have. It doesn’t have breadcrumb navigation or data import from Google search console. But it does have the nofollow tag option. With AIOSEO you can add the nofollow tag without having to code it manually.
Yoast Additional Tools and Features
- Breadcrumb navigation
- open graph meta tags
- import/export SEO data
- data import from Google webmaster tools
- social media integration
- XML sitemaps
- robots.txt and .htaccess editors
It’s a close call between All-in-One SEO and Yoast in this area. It’s just a matter of your preference.
Pricing and Support
Both offer limited free versions of their plugins. If you want full access to either plugin you’ll have to upgrade to the paid plan. The pricing is definitely different between the two.
AIOSEO Pricing and Support
All in one SEO has four different pricing plans. There’s the basic plan, plus plan, pro plan, and the elite plan. The basic plan supports 1 site, the plus plan supports 3, the pro plan supports 10 sites, and the elite supports 100.
Each plan comes with a different level of support. You’ll get priority support with the pro plan. The elite plan comes with premium support. The basic and plus plan come with the standard backing.
Each plan comes with standard features. But the higher priced the plan the more additional features you get. The elite plan comes with the most features.
The basic plan is $49.99, the plus plan is $99.50, the pro plan is $199.50, and the elite plan is $299.50. Look at the screenshot below to look at the premium features of each plan.
Click here to get more information about pricing.
Yoast Pricing and Support
Yoast has different WordPress plugins and Shopify. There’s a Yoast plugin for video, local, news, etc. But we are going to focus on the regular Yoast SEO WordPress plugin. The premium Yoast SEO plugin is $89 for one site. If you want to add more sites you’ll have to pay more.
In order to get access to all of the Yoast plugins, you’ll have to go with the plugin subscription which is $229 billed annually. But you can only use it for one site.
You can read more about Yoast’s pricing.
The winner when it comes to pricing is All in One SEO. For $49 you get access to more features for one site. Whereas with Yoast it’s $89. With AIOSEO, there’s more features with the premium plan.
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Conclusion: All in One SEO vs Yoast
Which is better when it comes to using a premium SEO plugin? I would have to say the best premium SEO plugin between the two is All in One SEO. AIOSEO is cheaper for one site and has more premium features.
Just like Yoast, you can use all-in-one SEO for eCommerce too.
If you’re looking for the best free SEO plugin for WordPress, both have good features in their free version. It just depends on what features you’re looking for. I hope this comparison between All in One SEO vs Yoast helps you make an informed decision.