If you have a WordPress website, you’ll already know how crucial SEO is. You need to have a properly optimized website, but it can be incredibly confusing whether you’re just starting out or you consider yourself an expert. 

To avoid potential frustration, there is something that exists called an SEO plug-in. Using an SEO plug-in will make your job a bit easier. With so many options for plug-ins available, I wanted to talk to you about two of the most popular options: All In One SEO vs. Yoast. 

Yoast and All in One SEO are a lot alike, but there are a few things that set them apart. Both of these plug-ins have millions of users and I think that makes them two plug-ins worth talking about. 

Below you’ll read in depth comparisons about each plug-in, key features that they both have, honest pros and cons, and which plugin is the overall winner. Hopefully, this serves as a guide to help you choose with SEO plug-in you’d like to install on your website. 

Quick Product Links

All In One SEO

Yoast SEO

Overall Winner

Even though both of these plug-ins are amazing, one may stand out to you. My overall winner may be different than yours, and that’s okay! There’s something out there for everyone. 

You’ll notice in the categories below that Yoast won the majority of them. Considering what these plug-ins can do in their entirety, not just the features listed below, the overall winner is actually All In One SEO.

I chose this plug-in as the winner because it’s straightforward, easy to use, and customizable. If you don’t have a lot of experience with WordPress or plug-ins, you’ll find it much easier to navigate than Yoast. 

Yoast is better for more experienced individuals who are looking for a plug-in to help with the overall development of your content.

Rating Criteria

You’ve seen why one is the overall winner over the other, but how did that plug-in win? What makes it better? Do Yoast and All in One SEO have features in common? Are there certain features that sets one apart from the other?

With so many questions left unanswered, I decided to share with you a few features that both of these plug-ins have in common. We’ll go over each of these features for both plug-ins and give you a winner for every category. Hopefully after reading this, you’ll have a better idea of which one you’d like to use on your site! 

Below you’ll find a list of the features you’ll be reading about today in order:

• Creating XML Sitemaps
• Editing robots.txt Files
• Writing Meta Descriptions
• Updating SEO Titles
• Aiding With Social Integrations

Buyer’s Guide And Reviews

It can be an overwhelming task to find the perfect SEO plug-in for your website. There are so many options already available. Each of them offer different features and capabilities, it can be hard to find which one you should install. I decided to compare Yoast and All in One SEO to help you narrow down your choices a bit. 

When two SEO plug-ins have similar features, they can still work quite differently. There are things that set them apart, such as price, ease of use, and more. Let’s talk a bit more about each one of these plug-ins and the features they have in common to find which one works best for you! 

Creating XML Sitemaps

Creating a sitemap that can be submitted to search engines like Google or Bing will help them crawl your website more efficiently. This is thanks to a formatted XML file that helps search engines find your page. 

What exactly is a sitemap? A sitemap is a way to organize your website. It will help to identify URLs and information you have under each web page. Back in the day, sitemaps used to be specifically for those visiting the website, but now Google has an XML format that is specifically for search engines to use. 

Having a sitemap will help your website get seen by a search engine. This will help your website get ranked and shown to potential customers quicker.

All In One SEO Sitemaps: Setting up a sitemap using All in One SEO can be done in just six steps. You log into your WordPress Dashboard, choose All in One SEO, click on Feature Manager, activate the XML sitemap option, click XML sitemap, and choose the settings you need.

It has plenty of different setting options, so you can customize it to how you like it. This includes the option to have photos, adjust how a post is shown, and more. 

Yoast Sitemaps: Just like All in One, Yoast sitemaps can be created in just six simple steps. Log into your WordPress Dashboard, click SEO, choose “General”, click on “Features”, turn the XML sitemaps option on, and save. 

You can limit the number of sitemap entries you have and add external sitemaps if you’d like. 

Overall Winner: Overall, I have to give the crown to All in One SEO for this feature. What sets it apart is the ability to adjust so many features and settings. If you like to have an extremely customizable sitemap, All in One SEO is the package for you. 

Editing robots.txt Files

If you didn’t already know, a robots.txt file is a standard protocol in the form of a text file that will let a robot know which pages on your site you want to crawl. A robots.txt will tell the robot which web pages not to crawl as well. A robot, in this case, is another word for a search engine. 

Before a search engine even crawls your site to begin with, it will visit the robots.txt for instructions. This tells the search engines which pages to crawl and which ones to leave out. There are different types of robot.txt files, which may play a part in which plug-in you’ll be using. 

All In One SEO File Editing: You can not only create robot.txt files in All in One, but you can edit them as well. Editing these files becomes important as you create new posts on your website or if you want a specific page to be crawled by the search engine. 

You can add specific rules for the robot to follow and create dynamic files that have no static files since it’s all stored in WordPress. By using this, you have more control over what a search engine promotes and what it doesn’t. 

Yoast File Editing: Yoast essentially has the same features as All in One when it comes to the ability to edit robot.txt files. The main difference is when you’re using Yoast, you’ll be able to use wildcard and regular expressions that the search engines will understand. 

If you want a redirect to go to more than one destination, you’ll get a lot of use out of this. If someone is searching for “warm holiday vacations”, you can sub out the word “warm” for another word, such as “cold”. This would then end up being “cold holiday vacations”.

Overall Winner: When it comes to which SEO plug-in is the overall winner for the ability to edit robot.txt files, I have to go with Yoast. These two are very similar when it comes to this feature, but the extra ability to use different expressions that a robot will understand can be used and is helpful for more people. 

Writing Meta Descriptions

A meta description is absolutely crucial to have if you have any type of online presence. A meta description is what people see below your website link when they receive search results. Since these unique descriptions have to be 156 characters or less and still grab people’s attention, it can be hard to come up with one yourself. 

Having a plug-in that has the ability to write a meta description for you takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. The description should give a brief look into what the web page is about and it should have a call-to-action that pulls the visitor in. 

When you have a great meta description, you’re more likely to gain more authentic traffic – getting visitors on your website who actually want to spend time there. This will also reduce your bounce rate! 

All In One SEO Meta Descriptions: All in One SEO gives you a meta description box right in WordPress. You’ll be able to write in your own or get one suggested to you right from the post/page edit screen. It is good to note that when you change your settings in the meta description tab, it will override your global settings throughout the plug-in. 

Yoast Meta Descriptions: One of the main differences between these two plug-ins is that Yoast will provide feedback to you specifically about your meta description, like suggestions and tips on how to improve the description itself. The plug-in also makes you use one of your keyphrases in the meta description.  

What this does is actually makes search engines crawl your web page even more. Using keyphrases will help potential customers find your page much easier, especially when they use the specific keyphrase word-for-word. 

Overall Winner: Yoast takes the crown when it comes to meta descriptions. When a plug-in has a requirement that only benefits you, that’s hard to beat. Using keyphrases and keywords in your meta descriptions and subheadings is a great way to gain more traffic! Good job, Yoast! 

Updating SEO Titles

One of the last features we’ll be talking about today is updating your SEO titles. When you write an SEO title, you add a title tag. This helps people who are searching for the topic you have a post about, find your website. 

Having a title tag is absolutely crucial to being found on search engines. When a potential customer sees that your SEO title matches what they search, they’re more likely to click on your website, instead of that of your competitors. 

Titles are important because they’re used throughout the internet and social media for your website. Popular keywords and phrases change overtime. Ones that were once popular, may garner little to no search inquiries anymore. 

If the keyword is irrelevant, Google won’t suggest your web page, which is why it’s important to change and update your SEO titles. This shouldn’t be done too often, as it can have adverse effects, but one every few months is a good place to start. 

All In One SEO Titles: This popular plug-in option gives you an entire SEO title settings page. There are default settings, along with the option to edit a single post, your main page, tags, and more. 

When you rewrite an SEO title within All in One, you’ll be overriding the general rules and settings placed by the plug-in. You have the ability to modify any SEO title you’ve created, including those that are archived. 

Yoast SEO Titles: Yoast allows you to easily edit and update your SEO titles. When you do so, you’ll see a colored bar telling you how strong the SEO title is. The plug-in will also tell you the readability of it, which is great! Lastly, you’ll be able to see a preview of the search engine results once you’ve edited and updated your title. 

Overall Winner: This is another close call. Either one of these could be winners, depending on what you need. On one hand, All in One gives you a lot of setting options. On the other, Yoast helps you to create a strong, readable SEO title. For that reason, I think Yoast deserves the win for this feature!

Aiding With Social Integrations

Social media is easily one of the biggest players of online marketing. It’s integrated within nearly every marketing campaign online. Using social media can increase your traffic, amongst many other positive things. Thankfully, SEO plug-ins can help with this! 

It can take a lot of time and effort to integrate social media correctly, but if you do it properly on your website, it’s a sure-fire way to promote your brand within itself. It won’t cost you anything, you don’t have to follow anyone else’s rules, and you’re essentially promoting yourself naturally. 

All In One SEO Social Integration: Thankfully, when you’re using All in One to integrate social media, you don’t have to worry about learning code to properly advertise yourself online. The plug-in does it for you! Whether it’s Twitter, Google Plus, or Facebook, All in One SEO can help you easily integrate social media into your website and vice versa! 

Yoast Social Integration: Yoast integrates social media pretty well. It uses technical optimization, combined with content optimization, to help your social media and website function off eachother. You can integrate with Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest with Yoast’s very own social tab. 

Overall Winner: When it comes to social media optimization and integration, Yoast is the winner. The social media tab within the plug-in just makes it so easy to incorporate the most popular social media platforms into your website. 

Why Use An SEO Plug-In?

Since WordPress is the most SEO friendly content management system available, you may be wondering why you should use an SEO plug-in. When you use one, you actually take the workload off your shoulders, since the plug-in does it for you. 

When you’re choosing between SEO plug-in options, there are a few features and qualities you may want to keep your eyes peeled for. You want to make sure that the SEO plug-in has a clean and efficient code. You can check this with a simple Google search or by looking at reviews from people who use the plugin. If it doesn’t have an efficient code, you’ll just end up making more work for yourself and wasting your money. 

Another thing to look out for is that it has several SEO features. To get the most out of a plug-in, especially if you’re paying for it, you want it to do as much as possible. Some plug-ins have a few features, while others have several. 

You also want to make sure that the plug-in you choose has extensive documentation. There’s nothing more frustrating than losing sensitive information or paperwork. Having a plug-in that keeps everything in one place and that is organized is crucial! 

One of the most important things when it comes to SEO is staying updated. If you’re not up to date, your traffic will suffer. Having a plug-in that has regular updates will keep you on your toes and keep your content fresh. 

A feature that may get swept under the rug is customer service. Having an SEO plug-in that has an amazing team behind it can make a huge difference. Not everyone will know how to use every plug-in right away. Having a support system that you can reach out to if you need help or have any questions is a great feature! 

The last thing to do before choosing an SEO plug-in is to read reviews and ratings. You’re already doing that step for All in One and Yoast! It’s important to see what others are saying. This will give you a better idea whether one plug-in will work better for your needs over another. 

I do suggest reading multiple reviews and ratings from several sources. You’ll find one person saying that Yoast is a holy grail product, while another user may not be a big fan. See what you find and give it a try for yourself. 

When you find which SEO plug-in you’d like to use, know that it will help you be more successful online. When you use the features properly and get the most out of the software, you’ll see yourself and your company benefit rather quickly.

Yoast Final Review

I wanted to share with you a handful of pros and cons for Yoast. Hopefully these bullet points will make it a bit easier to choose between the two plug-ins.

Pros

• It’s easy to use
• There are a ton of features
• You can easily optimize content
• You can preview what posts will look like on a search engine
• Enhances readability

Cons 

• Slows down your website
• Poses a threat to security
• You have to buy an extended version for all the features
• You can’t control the structure of your site

All In One SEO Final Review

It wouldn’t be fair to not include a handful of pros and cons for All in One SEO as well. Take a look at the lists below:

Pros

• It’s user friendly
• Supports rich snippets
• Improves your SEO ranking
• Supports all types of content
• It’s free

Cons

• No support of local business markup
• Can be hard to navigate manually

Conclusion

There is so much that goes into search engine optimization, and plug-ins are just a part of that. If you take a look at both All in One SEO and Yoast, you’ll find that they’re great plug-in options that have some similar and some unique features. 

Depending on what you’re looking for, you may like one over the other. If you’re looking for a plug-in that will help you with things like content writing and development, Yoast is a better choice for you. 

Maybe you enjoy using a plug-in that is as straightforward as possible and is easy to use. If that’s the case, All in One SEO is perfect for you! If neither of these options sound good, there are plenty more on the market. 

These two plug-in options are some of the most popular plug-ins available. It’s hard to find one that will beat either of these, but it may be possible. These both have amazing reputations from those who have already used them. 

If you stay focused on making high quality content that is informative and stands apart from your competition, you’re on the right track. An SEO plug-in will simply help you get there!