WordPress SEO & Google Analytics for WordPress, two plugins by Yoast, put every WordPress site on the right track. They make SEO & analytics much easier. It wasn’t always that way…

Diving into a website’s code can bring a sly smile to my face. I feel a sense of control. It’s enjoyable.

I’ve also had the experience of getting lost in hundreds of lines of code. I’ve stared at the screen until I’ve glazed over like a zombie. Then, hours later, I saw a missing a comma or closing tag. Something so small, yet so essential. Grrr!

Therefore, I think it’s fitting that my first post be a tribute to a man who’s made my life much easier. He has indeed dedicated a great deal of time and shared his masterful skills. He has helped empower WordPress users everywhere to tweak their websites to perfection.

Yoast has many WordPress plugins, but I want to highlight two of his MUST HAVES that bring the power of both SEO & Analytics to WordPress.

WordPress SEO Plugin

I began doing SEO in 2002. Ever since the All-in-One SEO plugin was introduced I’ve absolutely loved WordPress. But Yoast takes WordPress SEO a whole new level. Performing an SEO audit of a post is perhaps my favorite feature. He makes it easy to connect your blog to your Google Webmaster account. You can then see important data about your website.

Yoast has also incorporated his Breadcrumb plugin right into WordPress SEO. Sharing on social networks is of growing importance to SEO. So there’s an option to add open graph data to your site. This optimizes your site for sharing on Facebook. Here’s how to optimize each post for keyword phrases:

Google Analytics for WordPress

Adding analytics to a site traditionally required going into every page’s code. Thanks to Yoast, in the usual plugin-miracle fashion, adding Google Analytics code to your entire WordPress site is simple. You just log into your Google Analytics account while on the plugin’s settings screen.

Conclusion

Two essential components of internet marketing, SEO & Analytics, are made simple by Yoast. Don’t go too long without installing WordPress SEO & Google Analytics for WordPress. Here’s to Yoast & his dedication to excellence. Thanks for improving the WordPress experience for all of us Yoast!