RankMath is one of the top WordPress SEO plugins and a strong competitor to the popular Yoast SEO. However, if you’re new to RankMath or have used Yoast for a long time, adding focus keywords and SEO titles in RankMath may be confusing at first.
But once you get used to it, adding focus Keywords and SEO titles in RankMath is simple, just like any other SEO plugin.
In today’s post, I will walk you through the steps to edit snippets in RankMath.
After reading through, you will learn how to manually add your content focus keyword, edit the SEO title, add a meta description, set a permalink, and customize other snippets.
Without wasting more time, let’s dive into the RankMath SEO tutorial.
What is a Focus Keyword?
Before you can set up a focus keyword in any SEO plugin, you must understand what a focus keyword is in SEO.
A focus keyword is the primary search term or phrase you want your content to rank for in the SERP.
It is the foundation you build your content around, and it helps you include supporting keyword variations or similar search terms.
Your focus keyword can be two or more words, depending on your business goals, search volume, SEO strength, and other factors.
For example, the focus keyword of this content is how to add a focus keyword and SEO title in RankMath. This is a long-tail search phrase, which is extremely specific and targeted.
Technically, long-tail keywords may have low search volume but drive more targeted traffic.
Keywords with fewer than three words tend to have a higher search volume and also higher competition.
If your blog is new and has low SEO strength, target niche keywords with low search volume and high intent.
This is how you can start seeing better results faster and increase traffic to your web pages.
What is an SEO Title?
First, don’t confuse the page title with the SEO title – there is a difference between them, and they serve different purposes. The page/post title is the first thing users see when they visit your content. It is usually wrapped in the H1 tag.
It is similar to the title of a document, a magazine, a newspaper, a billboard, or letterheads, etc. The page title is written with users in mind, helping them understand the content topic.
The SEO title, on the other hand, helps search engine crawlers understand a page’s topic and intent.
It is part of what users see when using search engines to find information. The SEO title is the section of a search engine listing that looks like the page title.
You can have different headline or title versions for your page/post, as well as your SEO title.
For example, your post/page title can read “How to Add the Focus Keyword and SEO title to RankMath to Improve On-Page Optimization and Drive More Organic Traffic.”
While the SEO title may simply read “How to Add SEO Title and Primary Keyword in RankMath.”
Based on the above example, the page title is more descriptive and longer than the SEO title. This is one advantage of writing a different headline than the SEO title.
You can be more descriptive and creative and write better headlines for your audience.
SEO title helps you focus more on optimizing for keywords and search intent. The page/post title helps you focus more on readers.
Adding The Focus Keyword, SEO Titles, and Meta Description in RankMath
You must create or edit a post or page to set your focus keyword. On the WordPress editor page, click the RankMath SEO score button at the top right.
See the image below.
After clicking the SEO score button, scroll down to where you see the focus keyword. Enter your focus keyword in the box.
If you’re using the pro version of RankMath, you can add unlimited focus keywords in the field. Free users can add up to 5 focus keywords.
Whatever plan you subscribe to, don’t over-optimize your focus keyword.
Stuffing keywords into your content won’t improve your ranking; instead, it makes your content difficult to read and sends a negative SEO signal to search engines.
Adding The SEO Title in RankMath
If you want to write an SEO title different from the post title in RankMath, follow these steps.
On the Rank Math panel, click the edit button.
A pop-up panel will open.
You can write your custom SEO title, edit the meta description, enter your URL slug, and even write a custom title and meta description, and add images for Facebook and Twitter shares.
Suppose you don’t edit the content of this panel. RankMath automatically uses the post title as the SEO title, the post’s first paragraph as the meta description, and the title as the URL slug.
This might not be an ideal on-page optimization best practice in many instances, depending on your content strategy. You might need a different post title from the SEO title and slug, plus a custom meta description.
This is where you can edit and determine how your post snippets appear in search engine listings.
Optimizing Content With The Focus Keyword
Like many of its kind, Rank Math gives SEO recommendations for content optimization.
The plugin checks your content for basic on-page SEO, such as keywords in the title, URL, meta description, content length, focus keywords in the content, etc.
It also checks the keywords in the H tags, image alt text, number of URL characters, internal and external links, keyword density, and whether you’ve used the search term before.
While these SEO recommendations are helpful, it’s important to take some with a grain of salt, such as keyword density.
While you should avoid spamming your content with keywords, keyword density is not a direct ranking factor. There is no specific number or rule for how often your focus keyword must appear in your content.
The best practice is to use your primary keyword and its variations where it makes sense and helps readers understand your points or content topics.
Write naturally as you would talk in real life. It doesn’t sound like a robot wanting to choke its prospect with sales pitches.
Here is an example of keyword spamming or stuffing in SEO.
Do you see how the sentence reads when you spam it with Nike running shoes?
The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to use variations and synonyms of your focus keyword. This helps you avoid repeating your main keyword throughout the content where it isn’t necessary.
However, you must be careful about using obscure synonyms, which might confuse the reader and cause your sentence to lose meaning.
Many tools can generate similar words or a list of synonyms; Grammarly and Thesaurus.com are reliable options.
For the best on-page SEO practices, here are some guidelines for content optimization:
Conclusion – Focus Keywords And SEO Titles In RankMath
Adding a focus keyword and SEO title is crucial for on-page SEO and optimizing your website’s search engine ranking. With the RankMath SEO plugin, this task becomes easier than ever.
You must research a focus keyword you want to target and write your content around. Use this keyword naturally and organically throughout your content, without keyword stuffing.
Also, write a descriptive, attention-grabbing SEO title, since it’s the first thing users see when your content appears in the SERP.
The RankMath SEO plugin allows you to easily add and manage focus keywords, SEO titles, meta descriptions, and the slug for your pages and posts.
This can help improve your website’s visibility, attract more traffic, and lead to better search engine rankings and increased conversions.
Optimizing your content with these key elements helps your website perform at its best and reach its full potential.
