readme.txt

=== Yoast SEO ===
Contributors: yoast, joostdevalk, tdevalk
Donate link: https://yoa.st/1up
License: GPLv3
License URI: http:https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
Tags: SEO, XML sitemap, Content analysis, Readability, Schema
Tested up to: 6.5
Stable tag: 22.6
Requires PHP: 7.2.5

Improve your WordPress SEO: Write better content and have a fully optimized WordPress site using the Yoast SEO plugin.

== Description ==

## YOAST SEO: THE #1 WORDPRESS SEO PLUGIN

Supercharge your website's visibility and attract organic traffic with Yoast SEO, the WordPress SEO plugin trusted by millions worldwide.

With those millions of users, we've definitely helped someone like you! Users of our plugin range from owners of small-town bakeries and local physical stores to some of the world's largest and most influential organizations. And we've done this since 2008!

Yoast SEO Free provides the essentials to kickstart your SEO, and the [Yoast SEO Premium](https://yoa.st/1v8) plugin and its extensions unlock extra tools and functionality to take your SEO to the next level.

### SEO FOR EVERYONE, MADE BY SEO EXPERTS

SEO is the most consistent and cost-effective website traffic source, but it can be a challenging and complex maze. Luckily, you don't have to do this alone. We're here to help!

Yoast's mission is **SEO for everyone**. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned expert, Yoast SEO equips you with all the essentials to navigate the complexities of SEO, turning those challenges into opportunities for growth and success.

### STAY ON TOP OF SEO WITH NEW FEATURES

Creating engaging and optimized SEO titles and meta descriptions has never been easier, faster, and more precise! With the AI title & meta description generator, you'll save much time. The feature is available for [Yoast SEO Premium](https://yoa.st/1v8) users.

### WHY YOAST SEO?

Are you agonizing over the intricate details of search engine optimization? Are you losing sleep trying to crack the code of SEO algorithms? Is the ever-evolving landscape of SEO leaving you overwhelmed and behind the curve?

These are the everyday struggles website owners face when trying to master the art of SEO and gain that coveted top spot in search results.

With Yoast SEO, you can overcome these challenges and unlock extraordinary gains:

* **Beat the competition:** Leave your rivals in the dust with our powerful SEO tools. Outperform industry competitors and enjoy the traffic and recognition you deserve.

* **Streamline your SEO strategy:** Bid farewell to the complexities of SEO. Yoast SEO handles the technical aspects, such as canonical URLs and meta tags, automating essential optimizations behind the scenes. Unleash your focus on creating captivating content that connects with your audience.

* **Climb those rankings:** Use advanced features like XML sitemaps, title and meta description templating, and Schema.org structured data integration. Empower search engines to fully understand your website, helping you reach the top of search results.

* **Optimize content mastery:** Yoast SEO offers comprehensive analysis tools that help elevate your content's SEO and readability. Get powerful insights and actionable recommendations to craft helpful content that resonates with readers and search engines.

### LET'S GO OVER KEY FEATURES IN YOAST SEO

Yoast SEO helps you do WordPress SEO in many ways. Let's take a look!

#### QUICK AND EASY SETUP TO GET YOU STARTED

Setting up Yoast SEO is smooth, hassle-free, and doesn't require any advanced knowledge! Our step-by-step configuration walks you through the essentials, helping you get up and running quickly.

You'll be prompted to fill in details about your site during the setup. This enables Yoast SEO to translate all this information into structured data, which helps search engines better understand your content and website!

Are you already using another SEO plugin? Transitioning from other plugins to Yoast SEO is a breeze. We've designed it to be seamless, ensuring you don't lose critical data.

#### TAKING CARE OF YOUR TECHNICAL SEO NEEDS

Although technical optimization is a big part of SEO, it's not easy. We understand that only some people who work on SEO are experts or have the time to dive into the technical aspects of a website. That's why Yoast SEO handles much of the technical optimization, freeing up your time to work on other parts of your website, like writing helpful content.

* **Get automated technical SEO improvements**, like optimized meta tags, right out of the box.

* **Add canonical URLs** to tell search engines which content they should show when you have pages with similar content.

* Get **advanced XML sitemaps**, making it effortless for search engines to understand your site structure and index your web pages effectively.

* **Get best-in-class Schema.org structured data integration**, significantly increasing your chances of getting visually rich search results that attract more users.

* **Take complete control over your site's breadcrumbs**, allowing visitors and search engines to navigate your website seamlessly.

* **Significantly improves your website's loading times**, courtesy of our innovative data management techniques tailored for WordPress.

* [Advanced] Yoast SEO comes with crawl settings that **optimize how search engines crawl your site** and reduce its carbon footprint. This lowers your site's environmental impact and contributes to a sustainable web.

#### WRITE AWESOME CONTENT THAT USERS AND SEARCH ENGINES LOVE

Unlock the full potential of your content with Yoast SEO's **state-of-the-art content analysis**. Crafting compelling content becomes easier with features designed to help you increase your website's performance.

* **Leverage detailed SEO analysis** that guides you toward creating SEO-friendly content, allowing you to target the right keywords and boost your visibility in search results.

* **Drive engagement and enhance readability** with the integrated readability analysis. Ensure your content is clear, concise, and effortlessly readable by humans and search engines alike.

* Preview your content as it appears in SERPs, even on mobile devices. This helps you to **fine-tune your meta titles and descriptions to maximize click-through rates**.

* Enable your HowTo content to be displayed in search results by using the **innovative Schema structured data blocks** for the WordPress block editor

* **A dedicated breadcrumbs block** ensures your users always know their location within your website.

* **Embrace inclusivity in your content creation process with the inclusive language analysis**. This optional feature analyzes your text and provides suggestions to make your content more considerate of different audiences. By using inclusive language, you’ll ensure your content resonates with diverse groups of people.

* **Seamlessly do keyword research** right within the plugin with the Semrush integration. Find out what related keywords people are searching for, so you can optimize your content to reach more audiences.

* **Track your rankings in Yoast SEO** with the Wincher integration. Yoast SEO and Wincher show how your content and keywords rank in Google.

* Are you using Elementor to build your website? No worries because **Yoast SEO integrates with Elementor**. Take advantage of all Yoast SEO's benefits within your favorite website builder!

* **Yoast SEO Premium even has advanced AI features**, helping you write titles and meta descriptions at the touch of a button thanks to generative AI. The artificial intelligence tool is free to use once you have Yoast SEO Premium.

#### KEEP YOUR SITE IN SHAPE FOR SEO

Yoast SEO empowers you to keep your website in perfect shape, regardless of your role or expertise:

* Fine-tune your website's engine, allowing you to focus on creating engaging and valuable content. With Yoast SEO, **technical optimization becomes effortless**, allowing you to prioritize what truly matters.

* **Structure your website easily** using Yoast SEO's cornerstone content features, enabling search engines to understand and index your most important pages effectively.

* **Translate valuable content into structured data**, allowing search engines to fully comprehend your website's meaning and context.

* Yoast SEO includes a **powerful front-end SEO inspector** that lets you preview and fine-tune the SEO settings directly on your front end. With this intuitive tool, you can easily optimize elements such as meta titles, meta descriptions, URL slugs, robots meta tags, and structured data by seeing their appearance in real-time.

* **Yoast SEO has a regular 2-week update cycle**, ensuring you always stay up-to-date with the latest development and updates from search engines.

#### POWERFUL INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TOOLS

Yoast SEO seamlessly integrates with various themes, plugins, and tools to enhance the user experience and improve your WordPress SEO workflow.

* Utilize the full potential of the [Advanced Custom Fields](https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/) plugin when combined with the [ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO](https://wordpress.org/plugins/acf-content-analysis-for-yoast-seo/) plugin, and reap the benefits of Yoast SEO's powerful analysis.

* Seamlessly integrate Yoast SEO with the [Elementor](https://wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/) website builder, empowering you to optimize your stunning designs effectively.

* Elevate your site search quality with [Algolia](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-search-with-algolia/) integration, ensuring users can effortlessly find the content they want.

* Combine Yoast SEO with Semrush, a leading online marketing tool. Access comprehensive keyword data directly within Yoast SEO, empowering you to supercharge your SEO strategy with data-driven insights.

* Connect your Yoast SEO plugin with Wincher, a powerful SEO tracking tool. Monitor your keyword rankings, and track your website's visibility in search results.

#### TRUST THE EXPERTS

Yoast is powered by expert developers, testers, software architects, and SEO consultants. They work constantly to stay at the cutting edge of WordPress SEO and to improve the plugin with every release.

#### WE'LL ONBOARD YOU AND HELP YOU DO SEO

We're here to help you succeed with your SEO goals because empowering our users is at the core of our philosophy!

**Onboarding experience:** After you install the plugin and run the first-time setup wizard, we offer an intuitive onboarding experience that guides you through the essential settings and features. This ensures you're making the most out of your new plugin, step by step.

**Courses in Yoast SEO academy:** If you're looking for a structured learning path, our [Yoast SEO academy](https://yoa.st/3ri) offers free and paid online courses. These lessons cover everything from the basics of WordPress to advanced SEO techniques. Signing up for Yoast SEO Premium also gives you access to all the courses at no extra charge.

**SEO blog:** Our regularly updated SEO blog is a treasure trove of information, filled with practical tips, insights, and guides on improving your SEO.

**Newsletter:** Stay in the loop with our newsletter. It's more than just news; it's a timely update on important changes and trends in the SEO world. We'll also provide you with tips and guides on how to improve your SEO.

**Webinars:** Our regular webinars provide live and interactive learning experiences. They cover various topics and are designed to help you get started with SEO, no matter your skill level.

#### EXPAND YOUR SEO KNOWLEDGE WITH ONLINE COURSES

Investing in [Yoast SEO Premium](https://yoa.st/1v8) gives you FULL access to all courses, from SEO copywriting to ecommerce SEO. These courses equip you with more advanced knowledge, skills, and tips to help your website grow and succeed. Get two great products for a single price with Yoast SEO Premium and the Yoast SEO academy!

### SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING HIGHER RANKINGS AND MORE TRAFFIC?

Not only do you get many additional benefits by upgrading to [Yoast SEO Premium](https://yoa.st/1v8), but you'll also get 24/7 personalized support that takes away your worry.

* Optimize your content and diversify your keywords using synonyms and related keyphrases. Expand your reach and deliver more natural, engaging content to your audience. You can optimize up to 5 keyphrases with Yoast SEO Premium.

* Optimizes your articles for different word forms, singular and plural variations, different verb forms, synonyms, and related keyphrases, thanks to the semantic understanding technology in Yoast SEO Premium.

* Seamlessly handle URL changes or page deletions with our redirect manager. Automatically create redirects to prevent "404: page not found" errors and retain valuable traffic and backlinks.

* Get internal linking suggestions in real-time. The WordPress SEO plugin enhances your article's depth and authority by recommending related posts to link to.

* Gain precise control over your page's appearance on social networks like Facebook and X with social media previews. Customize your social presence and entice users to engage with your content effectively.

* Simplify your SEO workflows and get guidance to work on time-consuming SEO tasks, like finding unlinked content, with the Yoast SEO workouts.

* Get actionable feedback on using inclusive vocabulary to enhance your writing and make it accessible to a broader audience. (Note: This feature is currently available in English and beta.)

* Take advantage of the IndexNow integration, which instantly pings search engines like Microsoft Bing every time you publish or update content to ensure timely indexing.

* Easily create optimized SEO titles and meta descriptions at the touch of a button, thanks to generative AI. Crafting optimized and engaging SEO titles and meta descriptions has never been faster and easier.

* Get 24/7 personalized e-mail support, so no matter when a question or issue arises, you're never left in the dark. Whether it's a technical hurdle or simply a need for guidance, our dedicated support team is always available to assist.

* Avoid your content being used to train AI bots: Effortlessly safeguard your intellectual property, uphold data privacy, and maintain control over content by blocking AI bots from scraping it. These AI web crawlers include OpenAI's GPTBot, Common Crawl's CCBot and Google-Extended, used to train Google Gemini.

### EXTEND YOUR WORDPRESS SEO

Take your WordPress SEO to new heights with these powerful Yoast SEO add-ons:

* [Yoast Local SEO](https://yoa.st/1uu): Optimize your website for a local audience, drive foot traffic to your stores, and establish a strong presence in local SERPs.

* [Yoast Video SEO](https://yoa.st/1uw): Improves the performance of videos and ensures that Google fully understands its content. This helps you rank your videos higher in video search results.

* [Yoast News SEO](https://yoa.st/1uv): Amplify your visibility and performance in Google News, allowing your news website to reach a broader audience.

* [Yoast WooCommerce SEO](https://yoa.st/3rh): Enhance your online shop's discoverability with extra tools designed specifically for online stores, helping you drive more targeted traffic and dominate the search results for your products. It has generative AI tools to help you write great titles and meta descriptions for your products! Also, use WooCommerce SEO to easily import and export global identifiers like GTIN8, UPC, and ISBN for your products.

### BUG REPORTS

Find a bug in Yoast SEO? We welcome your bug reports! Please report bugs in the WordPress SEO [repository on GitHub](https://github.com/Yoast/wordpress-seo). Note that GitHub is not a support forum but an efficient platform for addressing and resolving issues efficiently.

### THERE'S MORE TO LEARN ABOUT SEO

For a comprehensive resource on search engine optimization and Yoast SEO, please explore our [website](https://yoast.com), which is rich with insights and inspiration. Seek guidance in our extensively curated help center, designed to help you provide the knowledge to optimize your website effectively.

Take your SEO skills to new heights with "[WordPress SEO - The Definitive Guide](https://yoa.st/1v6)" by Yoast - a must-read for WordPress SEO enthusiasts. Discover more exceptional plugins and solutions by Team Yoast, tailored to enhance your digital presence and achieve unparalleled success.

== Installation ==
Starting with Yoast SEO consists of just two steps: installing and setting up the plugin. Yoast SEO is designed to work with your site’s specific needs, so don’t forget to go through the Yoast SEO first-time configuration as explained in the ‘after activation’ step!

### INSTALL YOAST SEO FROM WITHIN WORDPRESS

1. Visit the plugins page within your dashboard and select ‘Add New’;
1. Search for ‘Yoast SEO’;
1. Activate Yoast SEO from your Plugins page;
1. Go to ‘after activation’ below.

### INSTALL YOAST SEO MANUALLY

1. Upload the ‘wordpress-seo’ folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory;
1. Activate the Yoast SEO plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress;
1. Go to ‘after activation’ below.

### AFTER ACTIVATION

1. You should see (a notice to start) the Yoast SEO first-time configuration;
1. Go through this configuration and set up the plugin for your site;
1. You’re done!

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= How do the XML Sitemaps in the Yoast SEO plugin work? =

Having an XML sitemap can be beneficial for SEO, as Google can retrieve essential pages of a website very fast, even if the internal linking of a site isn’t flawless.
The sitemap index and individual sitemaps are updated automatically as you add or remove content and will include the post types you want search engines to index. Post Types marked as noindex will not appear in the sitemap. [Learn more about XML Sitemaps](https://yoa.st/3qt).

= How can I add my website to Google Search Console? =

It is straightforward to add your website to Google Search Console.
1. Create a Google Search Console account and login into your account.
2. Click ‘Add a property’ under the search drop-down.
3. Enter your website URL in the box and click ‘Continue’.
4. Click the arrow next to ‘HTML tag’ to expand the option.
5. Copy the meta tag.
6. Log in to your WordPress website.
7. Click on ‘SEO’ in the dashboard.
8. Click on ‘General’.
9. Click on the ‘Webmaster Tools’ tab.
10. Paste the code in the Google field and click ‘Save Changes’.
11. Go back to Google Search Console and click ‘Verify’.

If you want more details steps, please visit [our article on our help center](https://yoa.st/3qu).

= How do I implement Yoast SEO breadcrumbs? =

The steps below are a temporary solution as manual edits made to theme files may be overwritten with future theme updates. Please contact the theme developer for a permanent solution. We’ve written an article about the [importance of breadcrumbs for SEO](https://yoa.st/3qv).

To implement the [breadcrumbs](https://yoa.st/3qw) function in Yoast SEO, you will have to edit your theme. We recommend that prior to any editing of the theme files, a backup is taken. Your host provider can help you take a backup.
Copy the following code into your theme where you want the breadcrumbs to be. If you are not sure, you will need to experiment with placement:

<code>
<?php
if ( function_exists( 'yoast_breadcrumb' ) ) {
    yoast_breadcrumb( '<p id="breadcrumbs">','</p>' );
}
?>
</code>

Common places where you could place your breadcrumbs are inside your `single.php` and/or `page.php` file just above the page’s title. Another option that makes it really easy in some themes is by just pasting the code in `header.php` at the very end.

In most non-WooTheme themes, this code snippet should not be added to your `functions.php` file.
Alternatively, you can manually add the breadcrumb shortcode to individual posts or pages: `[wpseo_breadcrumb]`

If you need more details or a step by step guide, read our [Implementation guide for Yoast SEO breadcrumbs](https://yoa.st/3qx).

= How do I noindex URLS? =

Yoast SEO provides multiple options for setting a URL or group of URLs to noindex. [Read more about how to do this in this guide](https://yoa.st/3qy/).

= Google shows the wrong description, how do I fix this? =

If you’ve crafted nice meta descriptions for your blog posts, nothing is more annoying than Google showing another description for your site completely in the search result snippet.

Possible causes could be:
1. wrong description in code
2. Google cache is outdated
3. Search term manipulation
4. Google ignored the meta description

You can [read more here on how to solve the issue with the wrong description](https://yoa.st/3qz).

= How often is Yoast SEO updated? =

Yoast SEO is updated every two weeks. If you want to know why, please read [this post on why we release every two weeks](https://yoa.st/3q-)!

= How do I get support? =

As our free plugin is used by millions of people worldwide, we cannot offer you all one on one support. If you have trouble with the Yoast SEO for WordPress plugin, you can get help on the support forums here at [wordpress.org](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/) or by checking out our help center at [yoast.com/help/](https://yoa.st/3r1).

The plugins you buy at Yoast are called ‘premium plugins’ (even if Premium isn’t in its name) and include a complete year of free updates and premium support. This means you can contact our support team if you have any questions about that plugin.

[Read more on how to get support](https://yoa.st/3r2)

= What happens to my data if I enable usage tracking? =

[This page on yoast.com explains what data we collect to improve Yoast SEO](https://yoa.st/4w7). We only collect data when you explicitly opt in. Read more about how we handle your data in [our Privacy Policy](https://yoa.st/4w8).

= I have a different question than listed here =

Your question has most likely been answered on our help center: [yoast.com/help/](https://yoa.st/1va).

== Screenshots ==

1. The modern interface makes Yoast SEO easy to work with.
2. Easily manage how your posts and pages appear in SERPs.
3. Yoast SEO Premium has extra crawl optimization options.
4. Yoast SEO integrates with tools like Semrush and Wincher.
5. The famous SEO and readability analyses in Yoast SEO.
6. See what your post looks like in Google.
7. The First-time configuration helps you get started quickly.
8. The inclusive language analysis in Yoast SEO.

== Changelog ==

= 22.7 =

Release date: 2024-05-14

#### Enhancements

* Converts the Yoast _How-to_ and _FAQ_ blocks to use the Blocks V3 API.
* Introduces a `date` and a `separator` snippet variable to the meta description text field, to make clear that both the date and a separator are automatically added to the character count of the meta description. Hovering over the variables reveals a tooltip with more explanation.

#### Bugfixes

* Fixes a bug where a PHP deprecation error would be thrown when trying to convert a relative URL to an absolute one, with the provided value being `null`.
* Fixes a bug where the character count of the meta description field would not include the automatically added date and separator when no additional content was provided.
* Fixes a bug where the elements in the Yoast sidebar and metabox are displayed in an incorrect order if Yoast SEO Premium is activated.

#### Other

* Deprecates `\Yoast\WP\SEO\Integrations\Blocks\Structured_Data_Blocks::enqueue_block_editor_assets()`.
* Properly escapes tags in the Enhanced Slack Sharing presenter to prevent incorrect rendering and unwanted, potentially malicious behavior. Props to @rob006.
* Removes the `yoast-components-package` script.
* Sets the minimum supported WordPress version to 6.4.

= 22.6 =

Release date: 2024-04-30

Yoast SEO 22.6 is out today! This release brings many performance and quality-of-life fixes to improve your favorite SEO plugin. Plus, we’re asking you to update your PHP versions. Find out what’s new in [this post](https://yoa.st/release-30-4-24)!

#### Enhancements

* Adds a helpful error message in the Yoast sidebar/metabox in case of plugin or theme conflicts. Now when an unknown error occurs, the error is caught and an error message is shown. Before, the error would lead to a blank sidebar/metabox, or to an entire blank page.
* Improves performance when it comes to storing user metadata, most visible at the point of author sitemap creation.
* Improves the keyphrase detection in SEO title for Arabic and Hebrew. For example, when the keyphrase is \"باندا حمراء\" and the SEO title starts with \"الباندا الحمراء\", we now recognize this as an exact match and give a good result for the _keyphrase in SEO title_ assessment.

#### Bugfixes

* Fixes a bug where a PHP notice in the settings would influence the styling of some of our inputs.
* Fixes a bug where the inserted variables in the search appearance would not show correctly when using Elementor.
* Fixes a bug where there would be a fatal error when deleting post meta in PHP 8.1 and higher. Props to @izzygld.
* Fixes a security issue where URLs were not correctly escaped in the Yoast admin bar menu.

#### Other

* Introduces a notice on the WordPress dashboard and the Yoast SEO dashboard to let users know we are dropping support for PHP < 7.4 starting November 1st, 2024.

= Earlier versions =
For the changelog of earlier versions, please refer to [the changelog on yoast.com](https://yoa.st/yoast-seo-changelog).