K.I.S.S. = Keep it simple stupid (10)

I’m no genius. I’m like you. I need help remembering all this SEO stuff. Fortunately, I use a plug in which you may be interested in.

It’s called Yoast SEO. (No, I don't get paid to tell about Yoast SEO)

Yoast took me from mediocre SEO to "ya, gonna have a hard time keeping me out of a top 10 rank in Google."

Yoast does two things. 1) it gives me total control over my meta tags. Nothing is left to chance. 2) Yoast is an automated mentor telling me where I'm screwing up in my content in addition to the meta tags.

My keywords are in the top 5 in Google searches on my sweepstakes site.

Match Yoast with the type of article writing I discovered by accident back in 2007 which Google loves then it's quite a combination.

Yoast is a great teacher. As I studied Yoast's critique then the recommendations became second nature to me so I'm cranking out content with little concern over SEO. Practice makes perfect.

Hmmm, I think that means I like it.

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11/29015 update: Good news. I fixed the problem with Yoast messing with my editor. It appears it is a browser issue. I switched to Firefox for my editing and everything works fine. Previously, I was using the new Edge browser and Edge was not playing nice with Yoast and my editor.

So ignore the update below and have fun with Yoast.

11/20/15 update: Yoast released version 3.03 and it has all but crippled my post editor. I had to deactivate the plug in until such time that Yoast fixes their new version. If you are using the old version before 3.03 then don't let Yoast auto-update. The old version works just fine.

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Seventeen reasons why I use Yoast SEO:

1 - Yoast automatically checks my posts/pages and tells me where I screwed up.

2 - Every time I make a post or page, Yoast teaches me how to improve my writing.

3 - It checks to see if my keyword is in the URL.

4 - It checks to see if my content is easy to read using the Flesch Reading Ease test.

5 - It checks to see if my keyword appears in subheadings.

6 - It checks to see if my keyword is in the image alt tags.

7 - It checks to see that I have at least one outbound link.

8 - It checks to see if my keyword appears in the first paragraph.

9 - It checks to see if my keyword density is within normal parameters.

10 - It checks to see if my keyword is contained in my post/page title.

11 - It checks to see if my page title is within the 70 character limit.

13 - It checks to see if my meta description is appealing.

14 - It checks to see if my keyword is in my meta description.

15 - It checks to see that I have more than the 300 word minimum in my post/page.

16 - It checks to see that I haven't used my focus keyword elsewhere on my site.

17 - It gives me full control of my meta tags.

(update) If you are running the plug in All-in-One SEO then deactivate it. Yoast and All-in-One will conflict if running at the same time. Don't delete the All-in-One files just yet because you may want to return to using All-in-One some day. All-in-One SEO is still a good plug in and I recommend it if you don't want to use Yoast.

One of the WA members told me about this plug in to help me with inputting meta tags manually. What I discovered is that the plug in is a whole lot more than just meta tags. This plug in reviews my article to see just how SEO friendly my article is. If I mess up somewhere then the plug in tells me what to correct to make my content SEO friendly.

Once installed, the plug in displays some boxes for your meta tags in your page editor right below the article you are composing. You fill in those meta tags and then save your article as a draft.

Next you will see a colored dot right beside the “update” button. Green is great. Yellow is ok. Red or brown means your article sucks. It’s not SEO friendly content.

Beside the dot is a link called “check.” Click on that and you will automatically scroll down the page to discover a whole list of things you can do to make your article SEO friendly.

Missing your h2 tag? The plug in will tell you. Meta description too short? Yep, the plug in will scold you for that too. Title too long? Is your text too difficult to read? Did you forget your alt tag in your image? Did you forget your authoritative and internal links? Yep, the Yoast SEO plug in will harass you until you get it right.

Yoast will reward you with a bright green dot when your article is SEO friendly.

I really like this tool. I can make some really good SEO friendly content with this plug in. This plug in saves me so much time and helps me to remember all the little things which makes my articles SEO friendly.

I use the free version. I don’t see a need to upgrade to the pro version at this point.

Well, those are the keys to how I make SEO friendly content.

Now tell me where to send the bill for teaching you all this stuff.

Here’s to your success … GrampaMike

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