Sure, here are the steps to set up Yoast SEO:
1. Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin: You can search for it in the WordPress plugin directory and install it like any other plugin. Once installed, activate it.
2. Configure the basic settings: After activation, you’ll see a notification to configure the basic settings. Click on the link and follow the instructions to set up your website’s name and organization information.
3. Connect to Google Search Console: Yoast SEO allows you to connect to Google Search Console, which gives you access to important data about your website’s performance in search results. To connect, go to SEO > General > Webmaster Tools and follow the instructions to connect your website to Google Search Console.
4. Configure your search appearance: Yoast SEO lets you control how your website appears in search results. Go to SEO > Search Appearance to configure your website’s title and meta descriptions, as well as social media previews and other appearance settings.
5. Set up XML sitemaps: Yoast SEO automatically generates XML sitemaps for your website, which help search engines understand the structure of your site. Go to SEO > General > Features and make sure XML sitemaps are enabled.
6. Optimize your content: One of the main features of Yoast SEO is the ability to analyze your content and provide recommendations for optimization. When creating or editing a post or page, you’ll see a Yoast SEO box that provides recommendations for optimizing your content.
7. Set up redirects: If you’ve changed the URLs of any of your pages, you’ll want to set up redirects to ensure that visitors can still access those pages and that search engines can update their indexes. Go to SEO > Tools > Redirects to set up redirects.
8. Monitor your SEO performance: Yoast SEO provides a variety of tools for monitoring your website’s SEO performance, including a dashboard with an overview of your site’s performance and detailed reports on individual posts and pages.
By following these steps, you can set up Yoast SEO and optimize your website for search engines.