Simply put, Yoast has become the front-running multifunctional SEO plugin for WordPress users. The premium version provides even more value. Learn why.
What is Yoast Premium?
Yoast Premium is the paid version of the popular Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress websites. It is a multi-functional SEO plugin that ensures you have the right infrastructure to be able to grow your website traffic. Just like the free version of the plugin, Yoast Premium requires configuration to meet the best practices for your website.
The free version of Yoast includes everything you’ll need to get started with SEO, while the paid version extends its functionality to include features like managing 301 redirects, internal linking suggestions, and ongoing support.
Is Yoast Premium Worth It?
Yoast Premium is extremely valuable. When deciding if Yoast Premium is worth it for your website, consider its features against the backdrop of your unique case. There are three main groups of users who need Yoast Premium — website redesign teams with numerous potential redirect problems, website managers aggressively competing for competitive keywords, and users new to SEO who will appreciate the included support.
Three Groups of Users Who Need Yoast Premium
Marketers who are managing many 301 redirects (those with new websites going live).
Yoast Premium includes an amazing tool called the redirect manager. This module comes in handy when you have a complex, interlinked site that is undergoing a rebrand or a complete overhaul.
When a site changes dramatically, many past leads and customers may try to visit URLs that no longer exist. Ideally, the entirety of your old site would redirect seamlessly to pages on your new site. Each link would map to valuable content in a way that allows visitors to appreciate the new design, rather than experiencing endless frustration due to missing content and dead ends.
You can manage redirects manually, but be forewarned that it can take a good amount of time. The other option is a Yoast SEO Premium subscription, which (for less than $90/year) gives you access to the easy-to-use redirects manager and makes wrangling redirects simple.
The Premium redirect tool pays for itself pretty much instantly in this case, since manually managing redirects is both frustrating and time-consuming, and can still result in missing links.
Website Managers Aggressively Competing for Hotly Contested Keywords
When you know your competitors are maintaining sophisticated SEO-driven sites that compete for top ranking with certain organic search terms, Yoast SEO Premium can give you the upper hand.
Context is becoming a more and more important factor in search engine algorithms. This means that many users will want to choose not just a focus keyword, but also supporting terms to demonstrate the value and depth of their content.
Yoast Premium’s ability to incorporate multiple focus keywords can increase an individual page or post’s chances of ranking .
The Word Forms feature of Yoast SEO Premium allows you to optimize even further by evaluating the context of your most important keywords.
For mostly-uncontested search engine queries, these features may seem like overkill. However, if you rely on organic search engine traffic and want to get even one place higher in the rankings, Yoast Premium may provide the perfect fuel to push your content to the top of the page.
Users New to SEO Who Appreciate the Expertise and Support Included with Premium
While Yoast’s basic features are quite helpful, every constantly-updating plugin occasionally encounters bugs, such as conflicts with a specific WordPress theme or other plugins.
If your team is still getting the hang of SEO and trying to maximize your use of Yoast, Premium may be worth the money in exchange for a year of free updates and customized support.
The team at Yoast knows SEO backward and forwards, so if the plugin seems to be malfunctioning, they can either fix it or show you how to implement it more effectively.
Having a support team in call makes it easier to move from being an SEO novice to being an advanced Yoast user without worrying about the heavy analytical lifting that Yoast so effortlessly performs.
More Features of Yoast Premium
Not sure if you fall into any of those three categories? Here are some additional features that might make a Yoast Premium upgrade worthwhile.
Find Lost Content With The Orphaned Content Filter
As your site changes over time, there will occasionally be pages or posts that are “orphaned,” meaning they aren’t linked to from anywhere else. This is an issue because if they aren’t linked to or haven’t already been indexed by search engines, no one will be able to find them.
To create a truly cohesive site that also takes advantage of the helpful and valuable content you and your team have created, you can use the Orphaned Content Filter to help you identify any pages that are unavailable to search engines and/or potential visitors. Then, all you have to do is link to each page from elsewhere on your site.
By taking advantage of the Orphaned Content Filter, you get more play with search engines because every piece of content can pull more weight.
Get Valuable Link Recommendations With The Internal Linking Tool
One of the best ways to increase time-on-site (and thus conversion rates) is to create meaningful and useful links between related posts throughout your site.
In the past, this had to be done manually by a person with comprehensive knowledge of the history of the site. But with Yoast SEO Premium, an automated suggestion will pop up to recommend potential content for linking. By creating links based on these recommendations, you will give users and search engines a better overall experience of your site.
Plan Your Social Posts Perfectly With Social Preview
When you want your brand’s image to be perfectly conveyed in every single social post, you can use Social Preview to ensure that everything is working smoothly before you post on your brand channels. Yoast SEO Premium includes this Social Preview tool, which can be a saving grace for busy digital marketers who need to stay on top of social presence and brand consistency.
How Much Does Yoast Premium Cost?
Cost inevitably matters when making a decision around the value of a new tool. Yoast Premium is available for $99/year for one website. We consider this to be a small price to pay for the value of convenience and the additional features it provides.
Final Thoughts
The true value of Yoast (whether SEO or Premium) is ultimately determined by its configuration. Both versions are simply tools; your strategy and action items are what will actually drive traffic growth. While there are various approaches you can take when it comes to SEO strategy, we always recommend a guided one.
