Do you want to install and set up All in One SEO for WordPress?
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) for WordPress is the best WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to easily optimize your WordPress website for search engines and social media platforms.
In this article, we will show you how to properly install and set up All in One SEO for WordPress to improve your SEO rankings.
Why Use All in One SEO for WordPress?
All in One SEO for WordPress is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market used by over 2 million websites.
It is easy to use, and you don’t need to be an SEO expert or acquire any special skills.
At the same time, it is incredibly powerful and allows you to make your website rank higher in search engines and get more free traffic from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
By default, WordPress provides an SEO-friendly environment, but there are still many things that you can do to improve your website SEO rankings.
This includes adding meta tags, generating XML sitemaps, adding schema markup, optimizing social sharing, and more.
All in One SEO for WordPress helps you do all these things with an easy to use interface that blends into your WordPress dashboard.
It also shows a TruSEO score for your posts and pages which helps you create more search engine friendly content. Plus, you can do a complete sitewide SEO audit with the click of a button.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily install and setup All in One SEO for WordPress. We’ll walk you through the complete set up step by step.
Here is what we’ll cover in this guide:
- Installing and Setting up All in One SEO for WordPress
- Optimizing Your Website Pages and Blog Posts for SEO using AIOSEO
- Optimizing WooCommerce SEO using All in One SEO for WordPress
- Using XML Sitemaps in All in One SEO
- Using Schema Markup in All in One SEO for WordPress
- Connecting Google Search Console and Other Webmaster Tools
- Local Business SEO Setup
- Performing Website SEO Audit in WordPress
- Performing SEO Competitor Analysis in WordPress
- Miscelenous SEO Settings and Tools
- Taking Your Website SEO to the Next Level
Ready? Let’s get started.
Installing and Setting up All in One SEO for WordPress
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
To demonstrate all the features of this power SEO plugin, we’re using their Pro version. However you can also download the free version of AIOSEO from WordPress.org.
Upon activation, the plugin will automatically launch the setup wizard. You need to click on the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button to continue.
On the next screen, you’ll be asked to choose your website category or type. For instance, if your website is primarily a blog, a news website, an online store, a small business, etc.
For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll set it up as a blog.
Below that, you can fill in homepage SEO title and description. The SEO meta title and description are used by search engines, so it is important to use your main keywords here.
You will notice the smart tags option here. These tags allow you to dynamically generate text for your SEO meta title and description. You can also just manually enter the title and description that you want to use.
Note: You can always change these settings later, so don’t worry about missing something.
Click on the Save and Continue button to move on to the next step.
Next, you’ll be asked whether you want to set it up as a person or an organization. For instance, if you run a personal blog, then you may want to choose a person.
Otherwise, you would select an organization and enter your organization name and business phone number. If you don’t have a business phone number yet, then you can leave it blank and add it later.
Below that, you need to provide a business logo and a default social sharing image.
A default social sharing image will be used when someone shares a link from your website and if that page doesn’t have a specific featured image set for it.
If you scroll down a little, then you will see the social profile section. This is where you will add social profile URLs associated with your website.
The business logo and social profiles are important elements that Google and other search engines use for their Knowledge panels.
Once you’ve completed the fields, click on the Save and continue button to move on to the next step.
Next, you’ll be asked to turn on SEO features. The essential SEO features like XML Sitemaps and Optimized Search Appearance are already turned on. You can choose other features you want to turn on.
If you are unsure, then you can leave the default options and move on to the next step.
Next, you will see the Search Appearance screen. The plugin will show you a snippet preview of how your site will look in the search results, you can click on it to change the homepage title and meta description.
By default, the plugin will use the smart tags to display your site title, separator, and site tagline.
Your goal should be to use your main keywords in the site’s title and description. You can also change these later from plugin settings.
Below that, you will see advanced options. You need to configure them to your own requirements.
The first option is to choose whether your site is live or under construction. If you don’t want search engines to list your website right now, then you can choose the under construction option.
The next option is to include all post types (e.g. posts, pages, products, etc.) in search results. If you are unsure, then keep it turned on for all post types.
Next, you need to choose if you have a multi-author or a single author blog. If you have a single author blog, then you need to select this option to avoid duplicate content plenty.
The redirect attachment pages option is turned on by default. Attachment pages are low text pages, and it is highly recommended to redirect them because it will improve your overall SEO score.
Click on the Save and continue button to move on to the next step.
Finally, if you are using the PRO features of the plugin, then you’ll be asked to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the All in One SEO for WordPress website.
After entering your license key, you can click on the Finish Setup button to save your settings and exit the setup wizard.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed and set up the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin on your website. You are now ready to take full advantage of this incredibly powerful SEO tool to grow your business.
In the next few steps, we will walk you through important SEO features and how to use them to grow your website.
Optimizing Your Website Pages and Blog Posts for SEO using AIOSEO
Optimizing your blog posts for SEO is a regular task and a crucial part of creating content on your website.
All in One SEO for WordPress shows a TruSEO score for each of your blog posts and pages with practical tips on improving that score and optimize them for better performance in search.
Simply edit any post or page on your website and scroll down to the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ section below the content editor.
From here, you will see a snippet preview of how that particular post or page will appear in search results. Below that, you can enter SEO meta title and description.
AIOSEO can automatically generate SEO title and description for you. You can also manually enter it for each article which would allow you to get creative and write catchy descriptions for your articles.
Make sure that your title and description fields are using the main focus keyword for your post or page.
What is a Focus Keyword?
A focus keyword is the main keyword that you want to target. This is usually the phrase that your users are most likely to type in search engines to look for the information that you have in your article.
Adding the focus keyword does not automatically improve your SEO. However, it helps you optimize your content for the focus keyword using the content analysis feature (more on this later).
Next, you need to switch to the ‘Social’ tab under the AIOSEO settings. This is where you can control how this post/page would appear on social media platforms with a preview of Facebook and Twitter.
From here, you can choose a different variation of title and description. You can also choose which image you want to use when a link is shared.
This ensures that your social media images are not broken, and you can choose the perfect image to appear with your links.
We’ll talk about the ‘Schema’ tab later in this article.
Using Content Analyzer for TruSEO Score in WordPress
One of the coolest features of All in One SEO is the content analysis and the TruSEO score. You can see them at the bottom of the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ section and also by clicking on the AIOSEO button at the top right corner of the screen.
The content analysis feature looks for a comprehensive set of indicators to assign your content an SEO score. This allows you to have a handy SEO checklist that you can go through when creating content for your website.
You can expand different sections to view the checks and recommendations. AIOSEO will give you details about each recommendation that requires your attention and tell you how to fix it.
For more details, see our tips on optimizing your blog posts for SEO.
Optimizing WooCommerce SEO using All in One SEO for WordPress
All in One SEO for WordPress is ready for eCommerce and helps you optimize your WooCommerce SEO right out of the box.
Let’s start with the product pages first.
Simply edit any product in WooCommerce and scroll down to the AIOSEO Settings box below the product editor.
From here, you can change the product’s SEO title and description. You can use a product short description smart tag, or you can write a custom description. Make sure your main product keyword is used in the both title and description fields.
Next, switch to the social tab to from here you can control how your product will look on social media platforms. You can set a different product image here to get more clicks and engagement from social media.
After that, you can switch to the Schema tab. Schema markup allows search engines to better understand and display your content in search results. For instance, this is how search engines may show a product in search results:
AIOSEO will automatically select the correct schema type and use the data like product pricing, availability of stock, and more. You can fill in the brand, identifier type, and identifier fields if you need to.
The plugin also automatically generates WooCommerce XML sitemaps including product and product category sitemaps. This brings us to the next step.
Using XML Sitemaps in All in One SEO
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all your website content in an XML format, so search engines like Google can easily discover and index your content.
Sitemaps are extremely important for SEO, and AIOSEO automatically sets them up for you. You can find your XML sitemap by adding sitemap.xml at the end of your domain name.
https://example.com/sitemap.xml
You can go to the All in One SEO » Sitemaps page to review sitemap settings.
You can scroll down below to the Sitemap Settings section. From here, you can manage sitemap indexes, include or exclude post types, taxonomies (categories and tags). You can also enable XML sitemaps for date-based archives and author archives.
The plugin also allows you to manually add pages to your XML sitemaps. For instance, if you have a standalone contact form, a landing page, or Shopify store pages.
Create Video XML Sitemap
All in One SEO allows you to create additional sitemaps like a video sitemap or a news sitemap.
If you embed videos to your content, then adding a video sitemap displays the video thumbnail with a play button in search results.
You can enable video XML sitemap by switching to the Video Sitemap tab and switching the ‘Enable Sitemap’ toggle.
Note: You’ll need at least PRO plan of the plugin to access the video sitemaps feature.
Create News Sitemap in WordPress
If you run a news website, then you’ll need to generate a news XML sitemap to appear in Google search’s News results page.
All in One SEO makes it super easy to generate a news sitemap for your website. Simply switch to the News Sitemap tab and turn-on the ‘Enable Sitemap’ toggle.
Below that, you can set your publication name and select a post type that you want to use for the news sitemap.
Note: You’ll need at least PRO plan of the plugin to access the video sitemaps feature.
Generate an RSS Sitemap
An RSS Sitemap is different than an XML sitemap. Unlike XML Sitemaps, an RSS sitemap only contains your most recent content.
Search engines access an RSS sitemap more frequently than a full XML sitemap. It is smaller and takes fewer resources which allows search engines to access it more often.
All in One SEO allows you to easily add an RSS sitemap to your website. Simply switch to the RSS Sitemap tab and then turn-on the ‘Enable Sitemap’ toggle.
To learn more sitemaps, see our detailed guide on how to add XML sitemaps in WordPress.
Using Schema Markup in All in One SEO for WordPress
Schema markup is a special vocabulary that you can use in your content’s HTML code to tell search engines more about your content.
For instance, you can tell search engines that the content they are viewing is a recipe or a product page. This allows search engines to use the microdata to display rich snippets in search results.
Schema markup also helps search engines display results in knowledge graph information panels. This enhanced placement in search results helps you get more clicks and visitors to your website.
All in One SEO for WordPress comes with built-in support for Schema markup for all your content.
Setting Sitewide Schema Markup in WordPress
First, you need to visit the All in One SEO » Search Appearance page and switch to the Content Types tab. From here, you can switch to ‘Schema Markup’ tab for each content type.
For instance, you can choose ‘Article’ for your posts and then choose what type of articles they are e.g. article, blog post, news article.
Similarly, for your WooCommerce Products, you can switch to the Schema Markup and set the default markup type to Product.
Changing Schema Markup for Individual Posts and Pages
Now, what if you have mixed content that you publish as blog posts. For instance, you may occasionally publish a recipe instead of an article as a blog post.
All in One SEO allows you to control Schema markup for all individual posts, pages, and products. Simply edit the item that you want to change and scroll down to the AIOSEO Settings below the post editor.
From here you need to switch to the ‘Schema’ tab and choose the Schema type that you want to use.
Depending on which schema type you choose, you will see different options to provide additional microdata to be used in the schema markup.
For instance, if you change it to ‘Recipe’ then you will be asked to enter information such as recipe name, description, image, dish type, cuisine, time required, and more.
Schema markup is an extremely powerful tool that helps you enhance your search appearance and get more free traffic to your website.
Connecting Google Search Console and Other Webmaster Tools
Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google to help website owners monitor their website’s presence in Google search results.
All in One SEO for WordPress allows you to easily connect your WordPress site to Google Search Console.
First, you need to add your website to Google Search Console. During the process, you’ll reach the point where you will be asked to verify your ownership of the website by adding an HTML tag.
Copy the HTML tag and switch back to your WordPress admin area.
Now, simply go to All in One SEO » General Settings page and switch to the Webmaster Tools tab. From here you can click on the Google Search Console and then enter the verification code you copied earlier.
Similarly, the plugin also allows you to add verification codes for other services like Bing Webmaster Tools, Yandex, Baidu, and Pinterest site verification.
In fact, if any third party service asks you to add some code to your site’s header, then you can this page to add those codes under the ‘Miscellaneous Verification’ box.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.
Local Business SEO Setup
A lot of WordPress users run small business websites that serve a particular town or region. This includes businesses like restaurants, real estate agents, plumbing, maintenance service providers, small stores, salons, and more.
Local business SEO allows you to optimize your website to appear more prominently in local search results. For instance, if someone is looking for an ‘Italian restaurant’, then your location would popup in results.
This drives targeted customers and direct sales to your business.
First, you may want to create a Google My Business account. This allows you to add your business listing, prove that you own the business, and manage your business information using Google’s My Business dashboard.
All in One SEO for WordPress allows you to easily add local business SEO schema markup to your website. This helps you get even more enhanced placement and keep the information up to date for your business.
Simply go to the All in One SEO » Local SEO page and fill in your business’s information like name, logo, location, area served, and more.
After filling in the form, you can switch to the opening hours page and enter your business hours.
Don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.
Performing Website SEO Audit in WordPress
Now as you work on your website, you would want to know how is your website’s SEO doing. All in One SEO for WordPress provides a built-in tool to perform a detailed website SEO audit.
Simply go to All in One SEO » SEO Analysis page to perform a complete site wide SEO analysis.
On top of the page, it will give you an overall score of your site’s SEO health. Any score above 70 is acceptable, but there is always room for improvement.
Below the score, you will see the breakdown of your site’s SEO audit report with different labels.
If there are any critical issues, then they need your immediate attention. Simply click on the Critical Issues tab and you’ll see a list of issues that you need to fix. You can click on the arrow next to each item to expand and it will show you how to fix it.
As you fix an issue, you can click on the Referesh Results button to regenerate SEO Analysis score.
Performing SEO Competitor Analysis in WordPress
Want to compare your SEO analysis with your competitors? AIOSEO comes with a built-in competitor analysis tool that you can use inside WordPress.
Simply go to All in One SEO » SEO Analysis page and switch to the ‘Analyze Competitor Site’ tab. From here, enter the URL of your competitor’s website to generate an analysis report.
AIOSEO will generate an SEO analysis report with your competitor. Below the score, you will get detailed report on different SEO checks, top keywords, critical issues, performance, and security analysis.
You can compare this report with your own report and see if there is something that they are doing, that you can implement and improve upon.
Miscelenous SEO Settings and Tools
All in One SEO for WordPress is an incredibly powerful SEO tool. Apart from the features we have covered above, it comes equipped with many features for advanced users.
Moving from Yoast SEO to All in One SEO
All in One SEO allows you to easily import SEO data from third-party plugins so that you can switch and use a more powerful and much better SEO tool.
Simply go to All in One SEO » Tools page and switch to the Import / Export tab.
Edit Robots.txt and .htaccess Files
Sometimes when following a WordPress tutorial or guide you may need to edit your robots.txt or .htaccess file. All in One SEO allows you to easily do that.
You can do that by visiting All in One SEO » Tools page. From here, you will find the option to edit the robots.txt and .htaccess files.
Manipulate Your WordPress RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds are used by content aggregators to display your site’s articles or summaries.
All in One SEO allows you to easily manipulate your WordPress RSS feeds to your own advantage by adding your own custom content before or after blog posts.
You can do that, by visiting All in One SEO » General Settings page and switch to the RSS content tab.
Control Who Can Access SEO Options in WordPress
Many businesses have staff members responsible for creating content, marketing, or managing SEO. All in One SEO makes it easy for you to choose who has access to SEO settings.
It works seamlessly with WordPress user roles and permissions.
Taking Your Website SEO to the Next Level
Now that you have installed and set up All in One SEO for WordPress. The next step is to track how your website is doing and what you can do to grow it.
Track Website Visitors
The easiest way to track your website traffic is by using MonsterInsights. It allows you to see how many visitors are coming to your site, which pages they are viewing, and what they do on your site.
If you haven’t set it up yet, then see our guide on how to easily install Google Analytics in WordPress.
Bonus Tip: See what other important marketing data you must track on each of your WordPress website.
Convert Website Visitors
For most website owners the main goal is not only to get more traffic but to convert those users into subscribers and customers.
This is where you’ll need OptinMonster.
It is the best conversion optimization software in the world and helps you convert website visitors. It comes with beautiful lightbox popups, slide in menus, countdown timers, notification bars, and more.
