Item: Yoast
Rating: 9
Author: Christopher Boyd

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I implement Yoast as the de facto SEO plugin on various WordPress sites that I manage. Whereas it isn't necessarily the best SEO tool in any one area, it has proven to be the simplest to set up and for my non-technical clients to make use of. Overall, it serves as the best all-around SEO WordPress plugin. In most cases, I set it and forget it and only when new features come out or when a client wants to deploy an overall change to their SEO strategy do I even need to make changes to the plugin.

Pros and Cons

Evaluate the SEO score of any given page's content.
Makes it simple to manage the title and description for a page (what shows up on Google search results).
Boils down complicated topics such as canonical URLs for non-technical users.
Easy explanations for any and all options, including why to use or not use an option.

Some default options are the opposite of what is considered a "best practice".
The differences between the free tier and the pro tier are explained, but for non-technical users, it still isn't always clear.

Return on Investment

It has made initial SEO configuration on existing sites very simple.
Helped analyze customers who paid for gray and black hat SEO and had no idea their actual site was never configured.

Support Rating

I've never used Yoast WordPress SEO support, so I can't speak to it. However, it is regularly updated and maintained and I feel that NOT having to reach out to support says something about the quality of the product and the ease of use, both for technical and non-technical users.

Key Insights

Do you think Yoast delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Yoast's feature set?

Yes

Did Yoast live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Yoast go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Yoast again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

For quick WordPress installations and configurations, Yoast is fast to set up and helps guide you through the common configuration options. It tries to be helpful whether you are coming at things from a technical or non-technical background. The emphasis on white hat SEO topics like improved content, keywords, descriptions, and titles is really appreciated by someone like me who doesn't utilize gray and black hat SEO tactics.

If you are an SEO expert, and you want finite control of each individual aspect of your site, Yoast, like most plugins, engines, tools, etc, hides a lot from you or gives you limited options. It really is meant for someone who wants to apply a general strategy to a whole site. That being said, you can manage Yoast per page on a WordPress site, but even then, I know some SEO experts prefer other tools that are meant for very specific purposes.

Overall, Yoast is the best plugin for SEO in WordPress when applied as a whole.

Best overall WordPress SEO plugin

Overall Satisfaction with Yoast Wordpress SEO Plugins