All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is the most widely used WordPress SEO plugin, with over 3 million active installs. Optimizing your site with AIOSEO can lead to significant improvements in organic search traffic and rankings.
However, the key is configuring it properly. The wrong settings can potentially hurt your performance.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share exclusive insights and actionable tips to ensure you maximize the SEO capabilities of AIOSEO based on 9+ years of experience in the WordPress SEO space.
We‘ll cover:
- Key benefits of AIOSEO
- Installation and initial setup
- Recommended SEO settings
- Customizing titles and meta descriptions
- Using advanced markup for higher rankings
- Further SEO tools for domination
Let‘s get your site ready to rank #1!
Why AIOSEO Should Be Your All-In-One WordPress SEO Solution
There are a few reasons why AIOSEO stands above other plugins as the best choice for optimizing your WordPress site, including:
Actively Developed
AIOSEO receives regular updates ensuring compatibility with the latest WordPress and SEO best practices. Many competing plugins become outdated quickly.
WordPress-Specific
Unlike other plugins built for multiple platforms, AIOSEO‘s tools are designed specifically around optimizing WordPress sites.
SEO Setup Wizard
The step-by-step guided SEO setup allows nearly anyone to easily configure their site‘s SEO and avoid critical mistakes.
According to statistics from the plugin developers, AIOSEO users see an average of 2.5x more organic traffic within 6 months.
Clearly it works, when you use it right. So let‘s jump into the best practices for setting up and customizing AIOSEO…
How to Install and Configure AIOSEO
The great news about AIOSEO? The basic setup only takes about 5 minutes.
Here are the steps I recommend when first installing the plugin:
- Install the Plugin – Upload and activate the AIOSEO plugin files.
- Launch Setup Wizard – You‘ll be prompted to run the setup process.
- Choose Site Type – Select whether your site best represents an organization, local business, blog etc. This optimizes default settings.
- Set Home Page Title & Description – I advise including your primary keyword(s).
- Add Business Info and Social Profiles – Completing these will help search visibility.
- Select SEO Features To Enable – Check sitemaps, Schemas etc. but leave advanced options for now.
- Set Access Controls – Limit who can access SEO options to prevent over-optimization later.
- Done! – After finishing setup, customize any additional options needed.
That covers getting AIOSEO active with the initial settings in place.
Next let‘s explore some of my expert recommendations for advanced configuration to maximize your WordPress SEO…
Configuring AIOSEO for Higher WordPress Rankings
While AIOSEO works great out of the box, some targeted tweaks to the settings aligned with proven SEO principles can improve your results even further.
Below I share some key optimizations I advise for ranking higher in WordPress:
Enable Complete On-Page SEO Customization
Under Search Appearance > Content Types, make sure you have enabled:
- Advanced SEO
- Social Meta
- Schema Markup
for all public site content types (posts, pages, etc.).
This allows full title/meta control and schema optimization when writing content later.
Structure Your Site Hierarchy Properly
The structure of how your content ranks matters greatly in SEO.
I suggest organizing it like:
1. Homepage
2. Important Primary Category Pages
3. Main Content Pages / Posts
4. Less Important ContentAdjust under Search Appearance > Content Types > Edit.
Limit Access to Prevent Over-Optimization
Too many cooks in the kitchen applying SEO can ruin the recipe.
Under General Settings > Access Control, I restrict permissions to:
SEO Manager
- Posts/Pages: Edit Titles/Descriptions Only
- Media: No Access
- Tools: No Access
Content Creator
- No SEO AccessThis way only those who understand WordPress SEO can optimize content.
Enable Supporting SEO Site Tools
Don‘t miss out on the full SEO benefits offered by AIOSEO.
Under General Settings, make sure you have enabled:
- XML Sitemaps
- RSS Content Creator
- File Editor: robots.txt & .htaccess
These provide search engines visibility to additional site content.
Customize Title Formats and Meta Descriptions for Each Page
One advantage of AIOSEO is the ability to craft SEO titles and meta descriptions tailored to each post or page.
Blog Post Title Formats
For all Posts, I recommend configuring your Title Format as:
%post_title% | %site_title%This branding helps people recognize your content and looks professional.
Landing Page Descriptions
On high priority pages like Services, I write custom meta descriptions like:
[Company] offers [Key Service] to help [Target Customer] [Top Benefit]. Schedule your consultation today! Calls-to-action can increase conversions.
Local Business Title Templates
For brick-and-mortars advertising locally, Title Formats like below work extremely well:
[Business Type] in [City Served] | [Brand Name]This signals to search engines exactly what you offer and where.
Get creative with dynamic variables to develop SEO titles/descriptions tailored to each post for better click-through rates.
Enhance WordPress Content with Advanced Markup
Markup structured data is key for getting featured rich snippet listings in SERPs.
I implement the following with AIOSEO‘s integrated tool:
Blog Posts – Use Article schema
Services – Use Service schema
Locations – Use Local Business schema
Products – Use Product schema
You can edit custom details for each under the content‘s Schema tab:
Properly marked up content demonstrates relevance and authority to rank higher.
Further SEO Site Optimization Tools
Let‘s quickly cover a few other WordPress SEO wins available through AIOSEO:
Sitemap Scanner – Automatically check for issues with your XML sitemaps.
Headline Analyzer – Write catchy SEO headlines optimized for higher CTRs.
Link Assistant – Find new internal link opportunities to pages needing SEO help.
SEO Audit Checklist – Get recommendations to improve site SEO in real time.
Conclusion
Getting WordPress SEO right may feel overwhelming as a beginner. By properly configuring AIOSEO with the steps above, you can rest easier knowing your site is setup for search engine success.
Consistently optimizing new content while leveraging built-in tools like schemas and sitemaps will compound results over time – allowing you to outrank competitors in your niche.
Let me know if you have any other questions in applying this guide!
