Congrats that you have chosen RankMath Pro for your WordPress website. To make things easier for you, we have compiled this detailed RankMath Pro tutorial for you.
Let us begin!
RankMath has been one of the most popular WordPress SEO plugins until now.
Whether it is a website or blog content, the tool provides excellent features and functionality beyond simple on-page optimization.
Following its success, RankMath recently launched its new version – Rank Math PRO – on November 9, 2020.
It is a paid, premium version of Rank Math. You get access to countless advanced features that you would not get with the previous FREE version by paying nominal charges.
The PRO version is going to change the way you do SEO for your WordPress websites. Even non-technical individuals can perform tons of SEO activities to rank their website high in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) in a hassle-free manner.
Besides, you do not have to pay for free features available with Rank Math.
In this RankMath Pro tutorial, you will learn about all the core and basic features of Rank Math Pro and see it is worth buying or not.
So let’s get started:
Why choose RankMath Pro over other SEO Plugins
Is Rank Math better than Yoast? This is almost a never-ending debate.
To kick things off, we are providing a hands-on comparison of both plugins here.
Let’s check out:
RankMath Pro vs. Yoast
Launched in 2010 by an SEO consultant – Joost de Valk – Yoast is the most popular SEO plugin. On the other hand, WordPress’s Rank Math was launched in 2018.
Though the plugin is relatively new, its install count has reached over 500,000 sites, and the number is constantly growing.
Keep reading this RankMath Pro tutorial to know the difference between Yoast and RankMath Pro.
Set Up Configuration
Yoast comes with an 8-step setup wizard to make basic settings like organization type, authors option, site type, search engine visibility, title setting, etc.
RankMath Pro, on the other hand, provides an easy and clean wizard design with just five steps. You can sign up via Google, email, or Facebook. Then, enter your site’s name, search console details, sitemap configuration, advanced optimization, and your site are ready.
In addition, Rank Math Pro offers more options and automates most of your SEO tasks, like redirecting attachment pages and making external links no-follow.
User Interface
When it comes to the UI, the Yoast SEO plugin is more focused on functionality compared to aesthetics. The interface is tidy and organized with well-defined categories. But some users may find it not too interesting.
In comparison, Rank Math Pro features a clean and intuitive dashboard. Each feature is defined inside the box, accompanied by its status. The visually appealing interface feels modern and provides a better user experience.
Keyword Assigning
Keyword Assigning helps generate keywords, compose meta and title tags, and set the content's permalink focus keyword. So, this is an essential feature of any SEO tool. Because without these settings, you cannot optimize your web pages or posts.
With Yoast’s free version, you can assign only one keyword. You have to buy the premium version to assign multiple keywords. Also, it provides three optimization signals – green, orange, and red.
You can check the SEO and readability scores and the Google page review. In addition, Yoast can also analyze different languages – Dutch, French, English, Spanish, and German.
With the Rank Math free version, you can assign up to five keywords. To assign more keywords, you have to buy Rank Math Pro or Rank Math Business, depending on your business needs. Setting up meta tags and permalink is the same as Yoast.
It shows the SEO score in numbers from 0-100. When the score reaches 80 or above, the SEO signal turns green. You have to optimize the content until the score turns green.
Here, both plugins offer almost similar functionality. One positive thing about Rank Math is that it automatically starts keyword suggestions (including long-tail keywords) according to Google keyword suggestions. You won’t find this facility with Yoast.
Performance
You would not feel much difference in the performance of both SEO plugins. But, research and users review suggest that Rank Math Pro is very lightweight, efficient, well-coded, and fast.
Updates
Rank Math provides updates more frequently than Yoast. So, the former is striving to grow more.
Pricing
You can download both SEO tools for free at WordPress.org. Also, both developers sell premium versions with advanced features. Rank Math has long been available for free. The Pro version came in November 2020 with added new features.
Top-level prices of Rank Math are significantly lower than Yoast SEO. The premium plan supports unlimited websites that you won’t find with Yoast SEO.
Winner: Yoast Vs. Rank Math Pro
With Rank Math (free or premium version), you get access to more features, such as 404 detections, analysis for multiple keywords, a redirect manager, internal link suggestions, to name a very few. Yoast SEO either charges or does not offer many of these features.
If you want to use these advanced SEO features, then Rank Math Pro may be the right choice for you. One nice thing about Rank Math is, it is modular, allowing you to disable features that you do not want to use.
Features of RankMath Pro
Everyone who uses WordPress looks for a perfect and easy-to-use SEO plugin that can handle most of the optimization.
If you are searching for the same, then Rank Math Pro can be a great choice. The plugin can handle most of the on-page SEO activities, including technical optimization.
Let’s take a deeper look into the advanced features of Rank Math PRO:
Page and Post SEO Optimization
Rank Math PRO lets you easily optimize your web pages and blog posts.
As you start with a new blog post, you will see an orange or pink button on the right.
Click on this button to see how the SEO score of the page or the post. It also lists helpful suggestions to optimize further. You can edit the elements of the snippet, including the post/page title, meta description, and the URL. For each page and/or post, you can also set multiple focus keywords. Use the checklist to optimize your content based on the helpful explanation for each item.
Advanced Google Analytics Integration
The PRO version lets you easily link your site to Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
For this integration, you need to the Rank Math free account first. Next, log in with the Google account associated with the Analytics and Search Console account for your site.
Once this is set up, you can see the Google Analytics as well as the Search Console information in the WordPress dashboard. It lets you monitor your site's performance, track keywords, and see how your target audience finds you.
One more useful feature with Rank Math PRO is the Rank Tracker dashboard. This feature lets you see the SERP ranking of your keywords and the number of clicks each bring to your site. Accordingly, you can optimize your content and compare your website. That’s all without leaving the dashboard.
Schema Markup
The Schema in Rank Math PRO is more powerful than the free version. It automatically detects the right Schema markup for pages, products, posts, and other elements on your website.
In addition, you can quickly configure the Schema manually, snippets, and set one from 840+ different Schema types. You can customize headlines, snippets and perform code validation to ensure it appears as expected in search engines.
WooCommerce SEO
The awesome PRO version allows great WooCommerce integration with advanced product scheme for SEO purposes. In addition, you can set multiple parameters for products, including SEO title and meta description.
Set the default Rich Snippet for every new product added to the site. Alternatively, customize the rich snippet to have the product details like product name, product description, SKU, etc. These details show up in SERPs and positively impact your store’s ranking.
Additionally, this integration gets your product to show up in the Shopping tab on Google organically.
Automatic Video Detection for Video Schema
Rank Math’s PRO version automatically detects the page for videos and prepares them for Video Sitemaps and Video Schema.
That’s a piece of good news because even if you forget to add the Schema for videos, PRO does that for you. This helps with a better ranking of your pages or posts.
Other Features of Rank Math PRO
In addition to these notable features, Rank Math PRO also offers many other functionalities, as listed below:
Detect Orphan Pages
Orphan pages are not linked to any other section of your website. So, users do not know where to go next if they need more information. Search engines could not find and index these pages. So, these are not good for your website.
The PRO version makes it easy to detect orphan pages on your site and act immediately to avoid losing much traffic.
In simpler words, the tool helps keep your posts and pages up to date while skyrocketing your SEO.
Watermarked Social Media Images
Protect your images with the PRO plugin. Using the plugin, you can add a watermark to your social media images to protect them from copyright-violation.
Automated Image SEO
Rank Math PRO provides a lot of interesting features for image SEO. You can auto-generate image captions optimized for search engines. As a result, this saves you a huge amount of time!
You can also access the ALT option to add great image descriptions that are important from an SEO perspective.
Elementor
The plugin integrates smoothly with Elementor, one of the most popular and easy-to-use website builders.
While the previous version also offers the same, the PRO version comes with added functionalities for offering endless possibilities.
Local SEO
Rank Math PRO sets up your website for success in local SERPs. In addition, the plugin supports multiple locations for your website in an optimized manner. It is so easy to set up that even novice users can do it in a hassle-free manner.
How to Install and SetUp Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin [Step-by-Step RankMath Pro Tutorial]
Installing Rank Math Pro to your WordPress website is simple. You have three options to do so:
- Through the Admin Panel
- Through FTP
- Upload Plugin Through the Admin
For the most part, it is best to download the plugin directly through the WordPress repository. The only drawback with this method is – some servers may reject uploads above a certain file size. As a result, you will get error messages when trying to install larger plugins using this standard way. In this case, you can try uploading the plugin using FTP!
Let’s continue with this RankMath Pro tutorial to learn these methods:
Method 1: Install Rank Math Pro Through Admin Panel.
This is the easiest way to add the functionality of Rank Math Pro to your website.
Hover over the plugins option in the WordPress menu.
Now, click the Add New option. On the Add Plugins page, type in Rank Math in the search box on the right.
The first result will be Rank Math. Click the Install Now button to start the installation process. Once the installation has been completed, the Installation button will change to Activate button. Click the button to complete the installation and activate the plugin. You will then land on the WordPress plugins screen with Rank Math listed as Installed plugins for your site.
Method 2: Use FTP to Manually Upload Rank Math Pro Files
Use your FTP or SFTP login details provided by your hosting provider. Then, follow these steps to manually upload the plugin. Check out the following four steps in the RankMath Pro tutorial to upload the plugin:
Step 1: Download the Plugin Zip File.
Download the Rank Math SEO Plugin zip file to your computer. All the files are neatly organized into one zip file for your ease. You can directly upload this file to WordPress. Once the download has completed, extract the plugin .zip file on your local storage.
Step 2: Connect To Your Server
Use your SFTP or FTP login details to connect to your server using tools like CyberDuck or FileZilla.
Step 3: Upload the Folder To wp-content/plugins/
Navigate to wp-content/plugins/ directory of the site where you want to install the plugin. Make sure that you overwrite any existing Rank Math plugin files. This will cause data loss because all information is stored inside the database of your site.
Step 4: Activate Rank Math in your WordPress Site.
Once all files have successfully transferred, navigate to the site’s WordPress Dashboard > Plugins.
Finally, select & activate both plugins: Rank Math SEO and Rank Math SEO Pro.
If you do not want to use FTP or SFTP, then move on to the next method.
Method 3: Upload Plugin Through the Admin
Once you have downloaded and extracted the Rank Math SEO plugin on your device, follow these steps:
Step 1: On the Add Plugins page, click on the Upload Plugin button on the top.
Step 2: Drag-and-drop the file onto the panel. Alternatively, click on the Browse button and find out the file on your hard drive.
Step 3: Next, click on Install Now to upload and install the file.
WordPress will upload and unzip the file into the plugins folder. Once the uploading finishes, on the next screen, click the Activate Plugin button to activate the plugin.
SetUp a Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin
Moving forward, we will learn each and everything related to using the Rank Math setup wizard to set necessary aspects on your WordPress site. These settings are essential for excellent SEO performance.
Starting the Setup Wizard
As the first step in this RankMath Pro tutorial, Rank Math's first installation automatically initiates the setup process. You can cancel this automatic process and make manual settings or do it later.
To manually run the Rank Math Pro setup wizard, follow these steps:
- WordPress Settings
- Rank Math
- Dashboard
- Setup Wizard Tab
Next, you will see the following window on your screen for the setup process:
In each step of this RankMath Pro tutorial, the plugin asks some questions and configures all required SEO settings accordingly.
In the first step, Rank Math asks you to choose from three modes:
- Easy Mode
- Advanced Mode
- Custom Mode
The Custom Mode of the plugin is available with Rank Math Pro only. The Advanced mode offers many more advanced settings compared to the Easy mode. Fortunately, you can switch mode any time.
At the same step, Rank Math also conducts a compatibility check of your website to check whether there are any issues when you set this up. In case of no issues, you will see the following message:
Your Site
The next – Your Site – informs Rank Math about your site, such as business type, company name, logo for Google, etc. Based on your answers, the plugin generates and adds a code on the backend of your website. Google uses this code to understand your website. This step in this RankMath Pro tutorial asks for the following pieces of information:
- “Your Website Domain” is
“Your Website Domain” is your site’s name. It tells the type of business is this.
Choose the right option from the drop-down menu. The options are categorized into two types – Personal or Business.
Based on your selection, you will see a different set of fields on your screen.
- Business Type
It helps Rank Math identify the type of business you operate. Take time to choose the right type from the drop-down list.
If you do not find the right type that best describes your business, select Organization.
- Company Name
The plugin automatically populates this field based on your website’s domain name. If you want, you can change this field and enter the correct name.
- Bran Logo For Google
Upload the logo of your website – personal or business. Based on that, Rank Math will add the right code to your site for search engines to know what your logo is.
Note: It is entirely Google’s decision when your website appears in the knowledge graph.
Click Add or Upload the file to add your logo. Drag and drop or upload the logo file to the WordPress media manager.
Click on the Use File button, and you will see the logo right below the option. Follow the recommended file size:
- Minimum supported resolution: 160X90 px
- Maximum supported resolution: 1920X1080px.
Default Image for Social Share
When you share any of your posts on social media, the link is accompanied by an image. The accompanying image can be the featured image or any other images used within the post. But, if your post does not have any image at all, it shows up empty, which does not look appealing.
The Default Social Share Image is used when a post is shared which does not have images. The recommended image resolution for this option is 1200X630px.
Finally, click on Save and Continue and go to the next step in this RankMath Pro tutorial.
Analytics
Tracking success metrics is critical to ensure that you are in the right direction. That is why Rank Math comes with a powerful and useful analytics module that provides useful business insights right inside the WordPress admin.
On the screen, click on the Connect Google Services. Select an account that you want to use for Google services and grant the following permissions to RankMath Pro one by one:
- Create new Google Analytics Property.
- Edit management entities for Google Analytics.
- View Google Analytics data.
- View AdSense data.
- Check and manage your Search Console data for verified websites.
- Manage your list of domains and websites that you control.
Now, configure your Search Console, Analytics, and AdSense.
- Search Console: Select your site from the Site drop-down and target country.
- Analytics: Select your Account, Property, and View. If you have not installed Google Analytics, use toggle allows Rank Math Pro to do it for you. With this, you will see additional options.
- AdSense: Rank Math Pro offers the AdSense data module and shows data inside your website.
The Analytics module helps Rank Math display useful GA and GSC data. In addition, it also verifies your site with Google Search Console automatically. Click on the Save and Continue button, and move on to the next step.
Sitemap
Sitemaps help search engines index your web pages. Rank Math Pro has a built-in, Google compliant sitemap generate that automatically populates your site’s sitemap.
Make the following settings at this step:
- Include Images: Choose if you want to include images in the sitemap. Advisably, turn this option off if your website has thousands of images. Otherwise, this could affect the indexing of your site.
- Public Post Types: Choose post types for the sitemap.
- Public Taxonomies: Choose taxonomies for the sitemap.
After configuring these settings, click the Save and Continue button to move to the next step.
Optimization
In this step, you make some SEO tweaks that make a huge difference to your site. You have to make the following settings in this section:
- Noindex Empty Category and Tag Archives: For tags and categories that do not have any posts, having them indexed is a waste of your crawl budget. This setting automatically no-indexes such tags and categories, saving your SEO juice.
- Nofollow External Links: Adding the rel= “nofollow” attribute to many links on your website can be time-consuming. Enabling the “Nofollow External Links” makes all external links nofollow, saving you time and money.
- Open External Links in New Tab/Window: With this setting, you can keep users from leaving your site when they click on external links. Enabling this option makes Rank Math add a code snippet to all external links, saving you time.
After making all these configurations, click the Save and Continue button to move to the next section. So, you learn to make this optimization setting in this RankMath Pro tutorial.
Ready
In this section, you will get a confirmation that your site is ready. Now, click on the Setup Advanced Options and configure the following settings:
Role Manager
On this page, you can configure extensive role management features, including:
- Administrator
- Editor
- Author
- Shop Manager
- Shop Accountant
- Customer
- Contributor
- Subscriber
- Shop Worker
- Shop Vendor
You may see fewer or more roles based on the plugin you have installed and the roles you have created.
404 Monitor and Redirections
Get rid of broken links with Rank Math’s 404 error monitor and redirect manager. If you are already using another plugin for this purpose, simply disable it and use Rank Math.
Click the Save and Continue button to move to the next step.
Schema Markup
Schema means metadata about your websites, and it gives the context of your site to search engines.
Using Rank Math’s comprehensive Schema manager, you can add Schema to all your web pages and posts.
By default, all settings are disabled. Enable these settings as per your preferences.
Click the Save and Continue button to complete the setup. Then, return to the dashboard.
So, start following this RankMath Pro tutorial to set up your site’s SEO.
RankMath Pro Pricing
You can download the free version from the official website of Rank Math. The free version gives access to a wide range of features.
But if you want to access advanced features, you need to sign up for Rank Math Pro. This premium version of the plugin costs just $59 per year.
Using this version, you can benefit from many options that take your website’s performance to a high level.
The premium version offers:
- Unlimited personal websites
- A powerful Schema generator
- Ability to track 500 keywords
- Advanced Google Analytics Integration
- Image SEO PROs
- WooCommerce SEO PRO
- Local SEO PRO With Multi Locations
- Automatic Video Detection for Video Schema
- 840+ Schema Types Supported
- Import GSC & GA Data from Particular Country
- Watermarked Social Media Images
- Track SEO Performance of Individual Posts
…and many more. This plan is suitable for startups and solopreneurs.
If you are a specialist, a business, or an office proprietor, then go for the Business plan. Rank Math SEO Business plugin gives access to even more advanced features sought-after by large-class businesses.
Backed by 2,000+ 5-star reviews and 650,000+ happy users, the plugin comes with a 30-day moneyback guarantee. So you can have peace of mind knowing that your investment is safe.
Is RankMath Pro Worth It?
The quick answer is – yes!
Rank Math PRO is a very powerful plugin with robust SEO features required for optimizing your website. You will get access to many of these features even with the free version.
Built-in support for rich snippets, Schema markup, WooCommerce SEO support, keyword suggestions, and the ability to track keywords! You get all these and many more features for a single annual price.
In addition, Rank Math Pro can work with all popular page builder plugins, including Divi, Elementor, and others. The built-in WooCommerce SEO support lets you easily optimize the SEO ranking of your product pages.
But there is no lifetime pricing option. Also, customer support is facilitated only through a ticketing system.
Despite that, Rank Math Pro certainly is worth purchasing if you seriously want to rank your website among the top results in search engines.
Hopefully, this RankMath Pro tutorial helps you boost the SEO performance of your website.
What are the new features of RankMath available in 2022-2023 Q1?
Content AI is a personal AI assistant that is integrated into Rank Math SEO tool for WordPress. It uses artificial intelligence to analyze the content of a website and provides suggestions for improving the on-page SEO. With Content AI, users can optimize their content for target keywords, check the readability score, and get recommendations for improving the content structure. The tool can also suggest relevant internal and external links to improve the authority of the website. Overall, Content AI is a powerful tool that helps users optimize their content for search engines and improve their website's ranking.
FAQs: RankMath Pro SEO Plugin
Q1: I am using Rank Math Free and want to upgrade to Pro. Will I lose my current settings with the upgrade?
Answer: No! Every setting you make with any version of Rank Math Pro is stored in your WordPress database. With the upgrade, your settings will be transferred to the Pro version of the plugin.
Q 2: Is the PRO plugin so heavy that it can make my site slow?
Answer: Rank Math is a compact, lightweight plugin despite its limitless advanced features. It does not jeopardize the loading speed of your site.
Q3: Is Rank Math Pro safe?
Answer: Rank Math Pro is relative a newer SEO plugin than its competitor Yoast SEO. So, it’s obvious to question the safety of your website when using the former.
As you see in this RankMath Pro tutorial, this premium tool and all plugin versions are safe to use. It comes is backed by a well-established WordPress development team (MyThemeShop).
Due to its impressive features, the plugin has gained an unmatched reputation over a short period of time. The tool touts itself as the “Swiss army knife of WordPress SEO.”
So, you can trust the reviews of thousands of Rank Math users and leverage the plugin without worrying about your site's safety.
Q4: Can I migrate to Rank Math Pro from other SEO plugins?
Answer: Yes! You can easily migrate to the Pro version from any other SEO plugin. The Rank Math SEO Pro setup wizard takes you through the entire migration process.
What’s more, the plugin also imports all your settings in the existing SEO tool in one click.
Make sure you follow the right process for a smooth and easy migration.
