What they do and what they do not.
WHAT THEY PROVIDE
Title and meta description fields per page Sitemap generation Canonical tag management Structured data output Social sharing metadata Basic content analysis
WHAT THEY DO NOT PROVIDE
Rankings. A plugin manages the mechanics; it does not write your content or earn your links.
The content is the work, and no plugin does it.
CHOOSING ONE
Any of the established options is adequate. The differences matter less than using one properly.
Install one only. Two SEO plugins produce duplicate meta tags and conflicting sitemaps.
WHAT TO CONFIGURE
Titles and descriptions for your important pages Sitemap generation, then submit it in Search Console Which content types are indexed, excluding thin archives
WHAT TO IGNORE
The content analysis scores, which encourage writing for a checklist rather than a reader. Keyword density suggestions in particular are not useful.
MIGRATING BETWEEN PLUGINS
Most provide an import from the common alternatives. Do this rather than losing your configured titles.
THE HONEST POSITION
Install one, configure the basics, and spend the remaining time on content.
