6 best WordPress SEO plugins in 2025

One of the first plugins I heard about when I started using WordPress was Yoast SEO. The name stuck—it rhymes with toast. I had no idea what SEO stood for, let alone why I needed an SEO plugin for WordPress. Since then, I’ve learned the value of SEO, and I’ve used both Yoast SEO or Rank Math on my WordPress sites. But they’re not the only WordPress SEO plugins out there.

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If you’re looking for a WordPress SEO plugin to improve your chances of ranking higher in the search results, you’ve come to the right place. I considered and researched dozens of plugins and did in-depth testing on the top contenders to narrow it down to these six SEO plugins for WordPress.

The best WordPress SEO plugins

• Yoast SEOfor content analysis and guidance
• Rank Mathfor an extensive free feature set and affordable scalability
• Squirrly SEOfor AI-powered suggestions covering the entire SEO lifecycle
• SmartCrawlfor balancing features with simplicity
• The SEO Frameworkfor speed and automation
• Slim SEOfor beginners

What makes the best WordPress SEO plugin?

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There are plenty of lists of the best WordPress SEO plugins, so what makes this one different? I didn’t just read these apps’ marketing materials and customer reviews. I spent dozens of hours researching and testing the best WordPress SEO plugins. I installed and activated each one in turn, followed the setup wizard instructions, and tested the SEO functionality.

Here, I’ve focused on the best free and premium SEO plugins for WordPress. Unlike other WordPress plugins I’ve tested, the free versions of these plugins have enough functionality to cover the SEO essentials and more. You only need to invest in the premium versions for specialized features, such as advanced schemas or link management.

The bottom line is that these WordPress SEO plugins all do much the same to varying degrees. But as I was testing the plugins, here’s what I was looking for:

• Unless you’re a seasoned professional, the world of SEO can appear daunting with its raft of technical jargon and acronyms. Each of these plugins comes with a setup wizard, minimal config, and in most cases, the option to migrate settings from other SEO plugins.
• Ease of use. Having installed and set up a plugin, you want something logical and not too overwhelming. Any plugins that weren’t intuitive, had a ton of settings to plow through, or used too much technical jargon were eliminated.
• Technical SEO. Before creating any content, you’ll want a robust site structure. These plugins enable you to implement sitewide technical SEO settings, like generating and adding an XML sitemapand running basic site audits to identify any problems.
• On-page SEO. You’ll also want a plugin that helps optimize your content. These plugins check for on-page SEO factors like meta tags, schema markup, keyword density, and readability to ensure your content is in good shape.
• Extra features.The best SEO plugin for WordPress will help you go beyond the basics. For example, you might want to tackle other areas like eCommerce or local SEO. So, I checked for integrations and automations with other plugins and apps to see how you could extend the functionality.

Overall, I whittled the list down to the six best SEO plugins for WordPress.

The best plugins for WordPress SEO at a glance