Is Yoast SEO Premium Worth It?

Saying that Yoast SEO is a popular tool for search engine optimization would be an understatement. It has over 10 million installs, and 25,000+ five-star ratings (95% of the total).

This app comes in two flavors: free and premium. If you use WordPress (or Shopify) for your e-commerce website, you may have even installed the free version before. Find out if Yoast SEO Premium is worth it for your business.

Is Yoast SEO Premium Worth the Price Tag?

In our opinion, Yoast SEO Premium isn’t a good value for the majority of business owners. It simply doesn’t have the features to justify the cost. Also, the way it approaches SEO isn’t as helpful as you may think. To understand why, first you need to understand how search engines have changed over the years.

Why Is Yoast SEO Popular?

The vanilla version of Yoast SEO is a free plug-in for improving search optimization on WordPress websites. There are several good features in Yoast’s regular roast.

The Benefits

One of the reasons Yoast SEO is popular is that it’s easy to use. This is a big plus for small business owners, manufacturers, and sales teams that lack technical SEO experience. You can find all features on your WordPress dashboard, without needing to dig into any code.

One of our favorite features is that Yoast can help you with registration in Google Search Console, an essential platform for measuring search statistics. Even the free version allows you to generate an XML sitemap, which is like a roadmap to your website for search engine crawlers.

Another feature we like is the readability score, a section that helps you follow best practices for strong writing, such as avoiding passive voice.

A Few Drawbacks

Yoast SEO isn’t a magic lamp. You can’t snap your fingers and receive perfect content with incredible keywords and well-researched info.

In fact, Yoast doesn’t actually produce content at all. It only checks what you create. This was one of the main factors that affected our view of whether Yoast SEO Premium is worth it.

The same goes for keywords. The tool looks at keyword density and phrasing, but it doesn’t perform any keyword research for you.

How Much Does Yoast SEO Premium Cost?

Upgrading from free to premium sets you back $99 a year, or roughly $8 a month. That’s not a lot compared to some tools, but the cost-to-value ratio isn’t the best. Several free alternatives do nearly the same thing.

What Is the Difference Between Yoast SEO and Yoast SEO Premium?

An honest features comparison can help you decide whether Yoast SEO premium is worth it for your needs, budget, and time constraints.

Yoast SEO (Plain Yogurt Edition)

The original version of Yoast is easy to install and a breeze to use. It gives you access to:

• One focus keyword for on-page optimization
• Google preview of HTML tag and meta description
• Website revision tools, such as alerts for duplicate pages
• Readability check
• XML sitemap creator

The tool also offers automatic HTML tag and meta description settings for saving time.

Yoast SEO Premium

The biggest difference with Yoast SEO Premium is that it lets you optimize each blog post or web page for five focus keywords. You enter the five search terms you want to target and get suggestions on where to place them (or alternative forms to use).

The premium version also adds AI writing for SEO page titles and meta descriptions. The AI also suggests content improvements, such as streamlined sentences or different ways to format confusing paragraphs.

There are a few cool site maintenance tools, including a redirect manager for pointing out broken links and isolated pages. With a premium subscription, you get access to one year of 24/7 support, which according to Reddit (take that as you will), helps quickly with product technical issues and setup.

Why Isn’t Yoast SEO Premium Worth It (in Our Opinion)?

Yoast SEO approaches search optimization from a flawed premise that the number of times you include keywords or their distribution dramatically changes search results. This was true ages ago, but not anymore. These days, Google cares more about content quality and search intent.

In other words, to rank at the top for a term like “types of steel,” the answer isn’t to repeat the phrase “types of steel” 10 times in the blog. The key to success is to create an authoritative, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand article on different types of steel, their pros and cons, and how to choose the right kind.

SEO Is Worth It, Though

High-quality SEO provides immense benefits for your website, significantly increasing traffic, valuable leads, and sales potential. Organic search results deliver over 50% of all traffic, compared to just 5% from social media.

The higher your pages rank, the more clicks you get. The top result for Google searches captures a whopping 25%+ of traffic, and #10 only gets 1% or 2%.

What Are Good Alternatives to Yoast SEO?

The free version of Yoast remains a useful addition to your SEO toolbox. When it comes to writing attractive, natural SEO content, we also love Grammarly and Hemmingway App, both free tools. They provide excellent grammar, spelling, style, and format suggestions.

For SEO features, some website owners recommend Rank Math for the free tier. It simplifies the metrics from Google Search Console and Google Analytics, so you can track your performance and make changes.

For paid SEO tools, platforms such as Ahrefs and Semrush are outstanding. They help you perform in-depth keyword research so your content targets the right audience.

Amazing SEO Content Is Worth Every Penny

Some busy entrepreneurs say that Yoast SEO Premium is worth it for them because it’s fast and easy. We respect that, but don’t forget that there are great alternatives to in-house SEO. At BKA Content, our team can handle the whole shebang, including keyword research, content creation, SEO optimization, and website maintenance.

Professional SEO services are more affordable than you think. See our small business-friendly pricing right away.