Rank Math has rapidly established itself as the go-to SEO plugin for WordPress. It’s dependable, lightweight, and incredibly user-friendly, making it a top choice for site owners looking to improve their SEO without hassle.
So, how do you get started with Rank Math on wordpress? This guide will take you step by step through everything you need—from installing the plugin to making simple, effective SEO updates on your content.
How To Install Rank Math on WordPress?
To install Rank Math, head over to your WordPress dashboard. In the left-hand menu, hover over “Plugins” and select “Add New.”
This will bring up the plugin repository. Use the search bar in the top right corner to type in “rankmath.” Once the plugin appears, click “Install,” and after installation is complete, hit “Activate.”
As soon as it’s activated, the Rank Math Setup Wizard will launch, guiding you through the initial configuration.
Rank Math SEO Set-Up Wizard
Before diving into the setup wizard, keep in mind that Rank Math will ask you to connect your site with Google Search Console and Google Analytics. If you haven’t set those up yet, this is a good time to do it. The process is fairly straightforward and should take about 20–30 minutes.
Once that’s out of the way, you’re ready to move on to the setup wizard.
For a quick setup, you can choose the “Easy” mode. However, since the “Advanced” option isn’t much more complicated, we’ll use that for this guide.
After clicking “Save and Continue,” Rank Math will ask for a few basic details about your website. If you don’t yet have a logo or icon to upload, that’s okay — you can skip it. But it’s a good idea to fill in as much information as possible, as this helps Rank Math better understand and index your site.
Once the site information is entered, the next step will bring you to the Sitemaps configuration section.
Sitemaps
Sitemaps play a vital role in SEO by helping search engines like Google understand your site’s structure and index your pages more efficiently.
If Rank Math is the first SEO plugin you’re using, you can likely leave the sitemap settings as they are—everything is configured well by default.
However, if you previously used another plugin like Yoast, Rank Math may carry over some of your past preferences during setup. It’s a good idea to double-check the following:
- Sitemap generation is enabled
- Image inclusion in the sitemap is turned on
- Any non-public post types or taxonomies are not selected
If everything looks good, you’re ready to move on.
SEO Tweaks
Once you finish with the sitemap section, you’ll be presented with a few additional SEO settings under the SEO Tweaks section.
These defaults usually work well, but here’s what you should confirm or adjust:
- Make sure the option to noindex empty categories is enabled. This prevents Google from crawling and indexing low-value pages.
- Disable the automatic application of the “nofollow” tag. It’s better to manually add “nofollow” only when it’s truly needed.
- Ensure all external links are set to open in a new tab. This keeps visitors on your site longer and helps reduce bounce rates.
Nice work getting this far—you’re almost done with the setup!
Additional Setup Details
During installation, if Rank Math offers the option to import settings from a previous SEO plugin, it’s a good idea to go ahead and do it. This helps preserve your existing preferences, updates metadata across your content, and ensures a smoother transition.
If you selected the Advanced setup mode, you’ll also see extra options toward the end of the wizard. These include configuring role manager permissions, enabling Schema Markup, and setting up the 404 error monitor.
All of these settings are valuable, but pay special attention to Schema Markup. It plays a key role in helping search engines better understand your content and increases your chances of landing in featured snippets on Google.
Configuring Rank Math Settings
Once you’ve completed the setup wizard, you’ll land on the Rank Math dashboard. You can revisit it anytime via the left-hand sidebar in your WordPress dashboard.
If you’re new to SEO, the default settings will likely work just fine for your site. However, if you want to optimize further or double-check what was imported from a previous plugin, consider enabling these features:
- 404 Monitor (if it wasn’t activated during setup): Tracks visitors who land on missing or broken pages. It’s not critical at the start but becomes helpful as your site grows.
- Image SEO: Automatically adds appropriate tags to images, improving image visibility in search engines.
- WooCommerce Integration: If you run an online store, this feature helps optimize product pages automatically. Be sure to enable it if you’re using WooCommerce.
As you’ll notice in the dashboard, Rank Math offers plenty of settings to explore. While most are already set to sensible defaults, it’s worth reviewing them all so you understand the full range of tools available and can tailor the plugin to suit your website’s needs.
Run the SEO Analyzer
One of the key tools you’ll want to take advantage of in Rank Math is the SEO Analyzer. You can access it by hovering over “Rank Math” in the WordPress sidebar.
This feature performs a full scan of your site’s SEO and technical setup. Simply click on “Run Test,” and the plugin will evaluate your website in just a few seconds. Once it’s done, you’ll see a score along with a summary of your site’s current SEO status.
Keep in mind, the score is based on Rank Math’s internal system—so don’t stress over getting a perfect 100. However, if your score is less than ideal, it’s worth reviewing the plugin’s recommendations. Most of the issues are easy to address, and you can follow the step-by-step instructions by clicking “How To Fix” next to each item.
Conclusion: Getting the Most from Rank Math
Rank Math is incredibly user-friendly, but that doesn’t mean it lacks depth. To truly get the most out of the plugin, it’s worth exploring it further even after completing the initial setup.
Make use of Rank Math’s knowledge base for in-depth tutorials and tips. And if you’re looking to take your content to the next level, check out Rank Math resources like their content marketing guides to sharpen your overall SEO strategy.