16 Best WordPress SEO Plugins (Free & Paid)

Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of WordPress SEO plugins available? You’re not alone.

This article won’t try to list every WordPress SEO plugin.

Instead, we’ll share the most powerful plugins only.

Some plugins are free. Some aren’t. But they’re all useful.

Let’s start.

1. Semrush SEO Writing Assistant

Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant plugin helps you write content optimized for both users and search engines.

It scores your content based on readability, tone of voice, originality, and SEO. And offers advice to improve these aspects.

For example, if the plugin spots that your article’s title doesn’t include your target keyword—the search query you want to rank for in Google—it’ll highlight that as an issue. And recommend adding it to your title.

Or, if the plugin detects duplicate or plagiarized content, it will highlight the problematic text.

Having duplicate or plagiarized content on your website can lead to ranking problems (not to mention potential legal consequences if it’s plagiarized). The SEO Writing Assistant plugin is a valuable asset for your SEO strategy because it highlights issues like this.

Key Features

The Semrush SEO Writing Assistant plugin comes with the following features:

• Recommendations on relevant keywords to use in your content for better Google rankings
• Rephraser feature to paraphrase content with AI
• Readability analysis to tell you how easy or difficult your content is to read
• Tone of voice analyzer to improve the writing style and tone of your content

And much more.

Pricing

The SEO Writing Assistant is a freemium WordPress plugin. To use it, you need to have a Semrush account. 

Signing up for free lets you check one article. To check more, subscribe to the Guru plan for $208.33 per month (paid annually).

2. Semrush ContentShake

Semrush’s ContentShake AI is an AI-powered tool you can use to quickly generate SEO-optimized articles that you can publish using the WordPress plugin.

So, if you’re looking for a way to speed up your content production, ContentShake AI is an ideal solution.

Just open the app, enter your article’s topic, and click “Start writing.”

Once you choose your topic, the tool will analyze it and automatically produce a detailed outline with a title, an introduction, subheadings, images, and a conclusion.

You can then work with the AI to finish writing the piece and optimize it through an interactive chat interface.

Once you’re satisfied with the draft, you can use the plugin to publish it directly to your WordPress site.

Key Features

ContentShake AI has lots of features:

• Suggests additional keywords to include in your article for better Google rankings
• Provides suggestions to improve readability
• Lets you rephrase or rewrite any section of text instantly using AI
• Includes a tone checker that analyzes your draft and provides feedback for improvement

And more.

Pricing

ContentShake AI has both a free and paid version. 

With the free version, you can generate three articles per month. To generate as many articles as you want and to make use of the plugin, you’ll need the paid version (which costs $60 per month)..

3. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is one of the most powerful SEO plugins for WordPress.

At its most basic level, Yoast allows you to set the title tag (the title that shows in search results), URL slug (the end portion of the URL), and meta description (the brief summary of the page that may show in search results) on your pages. Which are all important from an SEO standpoint.

Plus, Yoast can help you manage technical tasks like:

• Setting up canonical URLs (the main versions of pages that have duplicates) on your pages
• Setting up meta robots tags (code that tells search engines how to crawl, index, and display the page)
• Providing titles for your pages’ breadcrumb navigation
• Preventing search engines from indexing your pages
• Preventing search engines from following links on your pages

When it comes to content-level optimization, Yoast identifies SEO-related issues in your content. And highlights opportunities for improvements.

Note that these are just recommendations. And you don’t always have to follow every Yoast recommendation. 

For example, Yoast suggests evenly distributing your focus keyword throughout the content. 

But this is an outdated SEO tactic that won’t help you rank. In fact, it can even have the opposite effect in some cases.

Besides scanning your content for SEO-related issues, Yoast also analyzes your content’s readability. And provides suggestions for improvements. Such as:

• Using active voice
• Leveraging short sentences and paragraphs
• Making simple word choices

Key Features

Here are a few stand-out features of Yoast:

• Structured data (also called schema) capabilities that make it easy to add different types of structured data to your website. This is code that helps search engines better understand your content, which can increase your chances of getting rich snippets.
• Redirect management that enables you to easily set up 301 redirects for deleted pages so your users don’t encounter 404 errors
• Internal linking suggestions based on words and phrases you could use to link to other content on your site
• Semrush integration to get keyword suggestions directly in WordPress. This allows users to easily optimize content for the right keywords.

Pricing

Yoast’s SEO plugin offers both a free and paid version. 

With the free version, you’ll have limited features and functionality. The premium version costs $99 per year and gives you access to all of Yoast’s features.

4. SEOPress

The SEOPress plugin allows you to improve your pages’ SEO from an intuitive user interface. Which makes it a popular choice for beginners and experts alike.

SEOPress allows you to set up title tags and meta descriptions on your pages. 

It will also show you if the title or meta description is too long. To help you make adjustments that prevent them from being cut off in search results.

Plus, SEOPress lets you define Open Graph tags. These tags control how your preview links appear on social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, etc.

People are more likely to share content with optimized Open Graph tags. Because they make content more eye-catching in social media feeds.

Here’s how a preview link without Open Graph tags appears for our blog post about title tags.

It uses the first image from the blog post as the preview image. And the title and descriptions aren’t optimized.

A preview link with Open Graph tags, on the other hand, appears how you want it to:

SEOPress also has a feature that shows how well-optimized your page is for your target keyword(s).

It looks at a variety of factors, including keyword density (how often your keyword appears in the text) and word count.

But those aren’t ranking factors and don’t tell you much about whether the page is optimized. So, focus on other elements like canonical URL and structured data.

Key Features

SEOPress has many solid features:

• Custom XML sitemap creation to help search engine bots find and index your pages
• Redirect manager that lets you set up 301, 302, and 307 redirects
• Structured data support to implement different types of schema on your website
• OpenAI integration to automaticallygenerate title tags and meta descriptions with AI

Pricing

SEOPress is a freemium WordPress plugin. The free version provides limited functionality.

The paid version (which starts at $49 per year) provides additional features and more advanced functionality, such as the OpenAI integration, a redirect manager, etc.

5. Rank Math

Rank Math is a feature-rich SEO plugin with a user-friendly interface.

Rank Math helps with basic on-page SEO (improvements to your webpages designed to boost rankings) . Like setting up title tags and meta descriptions.

And you can preview these elements to see how they might appear in search results.

The plugin can also create a robots.txt file and sitemap. Both of which are important to control search engines’ crawling behavior on your website.

Rank Math comes with tons of features and tools that give you better control of your WordPress site’s SEO. 

Key Features

Here are some of RankMath’s main features:

• Easy-to-follow setup wizard guides users through the essential SEO settings and configures them automatically
• Google Analytics and Search Console integrations that save time by displaying important information about your website within the WordPress interface
• 404 monitoring identifies errors, so you can resolve them and create a better user experience
• Structured data implementation to help you win rich snippets

Pricing

Rank Math is a freemium SEO plugin. You can use the basic features for free. 

For more advanced features (Google Analytics integration, 404 monitoring, etc.), you can upgrade to a paid version—pricing starts at$5.75 per month (billed annually).

6. AIOSEO

All In One SEO (AIOSEO) is another plugin that helps you optimize your WordPress website for SEO.

When you install the plugin, the setup wizard takes you through a step-by-step process and configures the necessary SEO settings for you.

You can do a lot of things with the All In One SEO plugin:

• Add title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, and robots meta tags
• Create an XML sitemap
• Edit your robots.txt file
• Manage redirects
• Add breadcrumb navigation
• Implement structured data

It’s one of the most comprehensive SEO plugins on the market.

Key Features

AIOSEO comes with numerous features:

• Google Search Console integration to see data like clicks, impressions, average position, etc. inside your WordPress dashboard
• Link Assistant for suggestions for internal linking opportunities
• Image SEO features to set alt text and title attributes for your images
• Local SEO tools that enable you to implement structured data that can help you get a local knowledge graph and higher rankings in Google Maps

Pricing

The All In One SEO plugin comes with both a free and paid version. 

The pricing for the paid version depends on the plan you choose. The most basic paid plan costs $49.60 per year.

7. WP Rocket

WP Rocket is a web performance plugin built to boost your site speed.

Site speed is a Google-confirmed ranking factor.

This plugin can help you make some useful optimizations to improve your site speed. Including browser and server caching.

Here’s what caching does:

• Browser caching saves common files directly on users’ devices so they don’t have to reload them the next time they visit your site
• Server caching saves static versions of your pages on your server so they’re always ready whenever users request them

Besides caching, WP Rocket comes with other features to speed up your website.

Key Features

Take a look at WP Rocket’s core features:

• Lazy loading defers the loading of images until users need them to improve speed
• Minification (meaning minimizing code) of CSS and JavaScript files to reduce the load time
• Cache preloading ensure your visitors get faster access to your pages
• Content delivery networks (CDNs) deliver content from the server closest to your users to reduce latency

Pricing

WP Rocket is only available with a paid plan. Pricing starts at $59 per year.

8. NitroPack

NitroPack is a simple plugin for improving site speed.

It has features like:

• Browser and server caching
• Lazy loading
• Minification of CSS and JavaScript files
• Built-in content delivery network

If you’re looking for a user-friendly way to improve your site speed that you can test for free, NitroPack is your best option.

Key Features

Some of NitroPack’s features include:

• User-friendly interface that makes it easy to configure optimization settings
• Image optimization convert all your images to WebP format, a modern image format that provides high-quality images with smaller file sizes
• Cloudflare CDN enables you to serve content from multiple locations around the world

Pricing

NitroPack offers both free and paid versions of the plugin. The pricing for paid versions starts at $17.50 per month (billed annually). 

9. ShortPixel

ShortPixel is an image optimization plugin that compresses the visuals on your WordPress site.

It reduces the image file size without compromising quality. 

The result?

Your images load faster for your visitors, improving your site speed overall. And remember, speed is a ranking factor.

To optimize your images, go to your Media Library. Select the images that you want to optimize. 

Then select “Optimize with ShortPixel” and click “Apply.”

You can also click on the “Optimize Now” button found in each row to optimize images individually. 

Key Features

Here’s an overview of what ShortPixel has to offer:

• Different compression options (lossy, glossy, and lossless) allow you to choose the right quality level
• No file size limit means you can compress images of any size
• Optimization report with image details and stats
• Works with all major image formats, such as JPG, PNG, and WebP

Pricing

ShortPixel is a freemium plugin. You can compress up to 100 images per month for free.

If you want to compress more, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan or buy additional credits.

Prices start at $3.99 per month (billed annually). 

10. Smush

Smush is an image compression plugin that optimizes images on your WordPress site.

Like ShortPixel, it can optimize images in bulk. Just click “Smush” > “Bulk Smush” > “Bulk Smush Now.”

You can also resize large images by defining custom widths and heights. 

This is helpful when you want to scale down large images. So you’re not storing any oversized images on your server. Which improves your load times.

Key Features

Check out Smush’s primary features:

• Lazy loading defers image loading on webpages until the images need to be shown
• Lossless compression minimizes size without sacrificing quality
• Bulk optimizationenables you to optimize all images in one click
• CDN delivers images from the server that’s closer to users

Pricing

Smush is a freemium WordPress plugin. The free version offers limited functionality and features. 

With a paid version, you get full access to all the features, including CDN and bulk optimization. Pricing starts at $1.80 per month (billed annually).

11. Easy Table of Contents

Easy Table of Contents is a WordPres plugin that automatically creates a table of contents for your blog posts and other webpages.

Like this:

Why is this valuable?

Because a table of contents makes it easier for readers to navigate to different sections of your content.

So, it improves the user experience on your site. Which can boost your SEO as a result.

And you can do it without editing a single line of code.

Key Features

Here’s some of what you can expect from Easy Table of Contents:

• Responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and devices
• Customization options for appearance, including font size, color, and placement on the page
• Ability to choose the types of headings (H2, H3, etc.) to use within a table of contents
• Ability to exclude specific headings

Pricing

Easy Table of Contents is a freemium plugin. Paid plans start at $49 per year.

12. Redirection

Redirection is a simple plugin for implementing redirects on your WordPress website.

Redirects are necessary when:

• Changing the URL structure: If you change the URL structure of your website, you’ll need to implement redirects so visitors who try to access the old URLs are automatically redirected to new URLs
• Consolidating multiple pages: If you have multiple pages on your website with similar content, you may want to consolidate them into a single page with redirects
• Deleting pages: If you’re removing content from your website, it’s a good idea to redirect the URL to a relevant page when possible

The Redirection plugin is easy to use. Enter the source URL and target URL. Then click “Add Redirect.”

The plugin supports all 3xx redirect types.

For experienced users, there’s an option to use regular expression matching (which uses a string of characters used to find a pattern within text) for redirects. This is especially useful when you need to redirect a large number of URLs in bulk.

Key Features

Redirection includes the following features:

• User-friendly interface that makes it easy to manage redirects
• Suitable for both large and small websites
• Monitors your site for 404 errors. So you can fix them as soon as they pop up.
• Enables you to automatically import and implement redirects from a CSV file

Pricing

The Redirection plugin is free. 

13. Broken Link Checker

The Broken Link Checker plugin helps you find and fix broken links—both internal and external—on your website.

Broken links are links that no longer work. When users click on them, they get an error.

Having broken links on your website can harm the user experience. Which can negatively affect your search engine rankings.

Luckily, the Broken Link Checker plugin can help fix this issue.

When the plugin detects broken links, it shows the broken link’s URL, HTTP status code (404, 410, etc.), anchor text (the text the link is placed on), and page it’s located on.

You can also fix links easily. 

Just hover over the link and click the “Unlink” button to remove the broken link. Or click the “Edit URL” option to replace a link with the working alternative.

Key Features

Broken Link Checker comes with numerous features, including:

• Scans your website for broken links in posts, pages, and comments
• Provides an option to edit or remove broken links directly from the plugin’s interface. So you don’t have to update each post manually.
• Notifies you via email when broken links are found

Pricing

Broken Link Checker is free. There’s no paid version. 

14. Really Simple SSL

Really Simple SSL is a WordPress plugin that makes it easy to switch your website from hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).

Websites using HTTPS are encrypted and safer for visitors. And that’s a confirmed Google ranking factor.

To use HTTPS, you need to install a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate. Which verifies a website’s authority.

Your hosting provider (GoDaddy, HostGator, etc.) should help you install that.

The Really Simple SSL plugin checks whether you have an SSL certificate on your site. If you don’t have one, the plugin can help you install one with Let’s Encrypt.

Once installed, the plugin can also help you redirect traffic from HTTP to HTTPS. So your content can always load over a secure version—i.e., HTTPS.

All you have to do is check a box in the settings.

Key Features

Some of the key features of Really Simple SSL include the following:

• Automatic redirect of all HTTP traffic to HTTPS
• Automated checks for mixed content issues—i.e., both secure (HTTP) and non-secure (HTTPS) content is loaded
• Extra hardening features (features that minimize vulnerability)secure your website from hackers

Pricing

Really Simple SSL is a freemium plugin. And pricing starts at $49 per year. 

For more information, check out the pricing page.

15. Schema Pro

Schema Pro is a powerful plugin for implementing structured data on your WordPress website.

Structured data helps search engines like Google understand your pages better. And present them in rich formats.

Like this:

Pages with structured data can take up more space on search engine results pages. And often draw more attention and clicks from users.

Schema Pro supports 20+ types of structured data, including product markup, article markup, recipe markup, and review markup.

Image source: Schema Pro

If you’re looking for a plugin that specifically helps with structured data, Schema Pro is a great option.

Key Features

Here’s an overview of Schema Pro’s features:

• Offers a user-friendly interface for implementing structured data
• Supports all major types of schema
• Real-time testing feature allows you to check whether your implementation was successful

Pricing

Schema Pro is a paid WordPress plugin. You can pay one time and get lifetime access for $229. Or subscribe for an annual subscription at $69 per year.

16. Internal Link Juicer

Internal Link Juicer is a WordPress plugin designed to improve your site’s internal linking structure. 

Proper internal linking helps search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently. It also aids in passing link juice (ranking strength) to other pages on your site.

This plugin makes internal linking easy by automatically inserting links within your content. 

It looks for related posts and pages that match the keywords you add to each page in WordPress. And then seamlessly links those pages.

Key Features

Take a look at some of Internal Link Juicer’s main features:

• Automates internal linking between related content so you don’t have to manually link pages
• Lets you diversify your anchor text so your links appear natural
• Helps you set limits for how often a page should be linked so you’re not overdoing it
• Provides options to prevent certain pages from being linked to

Pricing

Internal Link Juicer is a freemium plugin. And paid plans start at $69.99 per year. 

Check out the website for more information.

Take It a Step Further

When it comes to optimizing your WordPress site for SEO, plugins are your friends. 

They can help you set up a good base for SEO.

But you also need to do other things to fully optimize your WordPress site for SEO. Such as:

Semrush can help you do all of that. Sign up for a free account to see how.