Configuring Yoast SEO Plugin

1. Introduction

This tutorial aims to walk you through the process of configuring the Yoast SEO plugin, a crucial tool for improving your website's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on WordPress. By the end of this guide, you'll understand how to set up and use the main features of Yoast SEO.

Prerequisites: You should already have a WordPress website and basic understanding of SEO.

2. Step-by-Step Guide

Installing Yoast SEO:

1. From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to 'Plugins > Add New'.
2. In the search bar, type 'Yoast SEO' and hit enter.
3. Click 'Install Now' on the Yoast SEO plugin, and once installed, activate it.

Configuring Yoast SEO:

1. From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to 'SEO > General'.
2. You will see a configuration wizard which will help you set up Yoast SEO. Click 'Open the configuration wizard'.

The wizard will guide you through several steps:

• Environment: Select whether your site is live and ready to be indexed or if it's under construction and should be hidden from search engines.
• Site type: Choose the option that best describes your site.
• Organization or person: Fill in your details or your organization's details.
• Search engine visibility: Choose which types of content you want search engines to index.
• Multiple authors: If you have multiple authors writing for your blog, make sure to select 'Yes'.
• Google Search Console: Connect your site to Google Search Console.
• Title settings: Fill in your site's name and choose a title separator.

Best Practices:

• Always complete the configuration wizard.
• Regularly check for updates and keep the plugin updated to the latest version.

3. Code Examples

While most of the Yoast SEO configuration can be handled through the WordPress interface, there are times you may want to use code to customize the plugin's functions.

For example, you might want to remove a specific post type from Yoast's SEO sitemap:

// functions.php

function remove_post_type($value) {
    unset($value['post_type']['your_post_type']);
    return $value;
}
add_filter('wpseo_sitemap_index_links', 'remove_post_type');

In this code snippet:

• We define a function remove_post_type that takes in $value.
• Within the function, we use unset to remove your_post_type from the sitemap.
• We then return the modified $value.
• Finally, we use add_filter to apply this function to the 'wpseo_sitemap_index_links' filter.

4. Summary

We've covered the basic steps to install, activate, and configure the Yoast SEO plugin on WordPress. We've also learned how to customize Yoast's functions using code snippets.

Next steps: Learn more about SEO strategies and how to use advanced features of Yoast SEO.

Resources:

• Official Yoast SEO for WordPress plugin
• Google's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide

5. Practice Exercises

1. Exercise: Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin on a test WordPress site.
2. Solution: Follow the step-by-step guide in this tutorial.

3. Tips: Make sure you're logged into your WordPress dashboard as an administrator.

4. Exercise: Configure Yoast SEO using the configuration wizard.

5. Solution: Follow the step-by-step guide in this tutorial.

6. Tips: If you're unsure about any options, leave them at their default settings.

7. Exercise: Write a code snippet to remove a custom post type from Yoast's SEO sitemap.

8. Solution: Use the code example in this tutorial as a guide, replace your_post_type with your custom post type.
9. Tips: Always test your changes on a staging site before applying them to your live site.