How to Install & Setup Rank Math

WordPress will now upload the Rank Math Pro plugin and install it on your website. Once the installation is complete, you’ll see a success message along with an option to activate the plugin. Click the Activate Plugin button to enable Rank Math Pro on your website.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed the Rank Math Pro plugin and are now ready to set up your site’s SEO settings.

How to Use the Setup Wizard

After installing Rank Math, it’s time to configure its settings to optimize your website’s SEO. The setup wizard will guide you through the process. If you didn’t get redirected to the setup wizard after installing Rank Math, you can access it by going to the plugins page, searching for Rank Math, and clicking Setup Wizard.

Connect your Rank Math account

By connecting your Rank Math account in the setup wizard, you’ll be able to access premium features, track the performance of your website, and receive regular updates. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free during the setup process. To connect your account, simply log in using your email address and password, or use the one-click social media login options.

Set up your site settings

After connecting your Rank Math account, you must choose a setup mode. For this guide, I will select the Advanced mode. I recommend you choose this mode as well, as it can simply set up the best SEO settings for your website.

Now you need to configure basic site settings such as your website’s name, logo, and default social media sharing image. Additionally, you can set the type of your website, like whether it’s a personal blog, business site, or an online store. Tailoring these settings ensures that Rank Math understands your website’s context, improving its SEO performance.

Connect your site to Google

Connecting your site to Google Search Console and Analytics in the setup wizard is crucial in monitoring your website’s performance. Doing so lets you easily track important metrics like organic search traffic, keyword rankings, and click-through rates. Furthermore, it helps you identify and fix any crawl errors or indexing issues affecting your site’s visibility on Google.

Configure sitemap settings

Taking the time to configure your sitemap settings in the setup wizard is essential for helping search engines like Google understand the structure of your website. An XML sitemap acts as a roadmap, guiding search engines to your site’s most important pages and ensuring they’re indexed properly. In this step, you can customize your sitemap by including or excluding specific post types and taxonomies and setting priorities and frequencies for each.

Automate SEO Tasks

In the setup wizard, you can configure settings for automated SEO tasks, such as opening external links automatically in a new tab. This will help improve user experience and potentially reduce bounce rates, contributing to better SEO performance.

Advanced Options

If you performed all the steps it your screen will look like the image below. If you still want to setup advanced options, click on the blue Advanced Options button.

Role settings

Configuring role settings in the setup wizard allows you to control which user roles can access and manage Rank Math’s features. This is especially useful for websites with multiple contributors, as it helps maintain the quality and consistency of your SEO efforts.

404 monitor and redirection modules

Enabling or disabling 404 monitor and redirection modules in the setup wizard can help you keep your website error-free and user-friendly. These modules will detect broken links, monitor 404 errors, and automatically create redirections, ensuring visitors have a smooth browsing experience.

Schema markup

Don’t forget to configure schema markup settings in the setup wizard. Schema markup is essential because it helps search engines better understand your content and present it more effectively in search results. By adding structured data to your website, you can boost its visibility and improve the chances of attracting more organic traffic.

Best Settings for Rank Math

If you’ve installed Rank Math on your WordPress site, congratulations! You’ve taken a big step toward improving your website’s SEO. However, it’s important to configure the plugin’s settings properly to maximize its benefits. Lucky for you, I’ve gathered some tips and tricks for optimizing Rank Math’s settings that can turbocharge your website’s SEO performance.

First things first: To access Rank Math settings, head over to your WordPress dashboard, and click on Rank Math in the left sidebar. From there, you’ll find various sections like Titles & Meta, Sitemap, 404 & Redirections, and more that allow you to fine-tune your site’s SEO.

One of the essential aspects of configuring Rank Math is setting up your titles and meta descriptions. It’s important to include your primary target keyword in both the title and meta description while keeping them within the recommended character limits. Remember to be engaging and concise, as these snippets will appear in search engine results and can either entice or repel potential visitors.

Next, ensure your sitemap is correctly set up. This XML file is vital for helping search engines crawl and index your website. Check the ‘Sitemap’ section in Rank Math settings to configure which content types and taxonomies should be included in your sitemap. It’s essential to keep your sitemap updated and accurate, as this will facilitate better crawling by search engines and faster indexing of new content.

Lastly, don’t overlook the importance of setting up redirects and monitoring 404 errors. Rank Math’s ‘404 & Redirections’ section allows you to easily create and manage redirects, which is crucial for keeping your website’s URLs clean and user-friendly. Additionally, monitoring 404 errors will help you identify broken links and fix them quickly, ensuring a seamless user experience and minimizing any potential negative SEO impact.