Warning: Steer Clear of Yoast SEO

I've hit my breaking point with Yoast SEO, and I feel it's my duty to warn others about the headaches this plugin has caused me. I was already considering jumping ship due to its bloated nature and hefty price tag, but the latest fiasco has sealed the deal for me.

I purchased both Yoast SEO Premium and the WooCommerce add-on, thinking I was making a smart investment for my site. For a while, it was working... okayish. But then, their latest update rolled out, and suddenly, my single product pages without variations were hit with critical errors. These errors rendered the pages unusable, making it impossible for customers to purchase anything. After hours of frustration, I finally pinpointed Yoast as the culprit and deactivated it. Lo and behold, everything went back to normal.

Iv never really like Yoast anyway. Yoast is jam-packed with unnecessary features that slow down my site. It's infuriating! And for what I'm paying, I expected a more streamlined and efficient tool. But no, it seems they've decided to pile on features that I never asked for and certainly don't need.

Plus, I found that Yoast's schema setup unwittingly aids Microsoft in harvesting product prices from my site. Instead of boosting my sales, this feature backfires by helping them suggest cheaper alternatives elsewhere. This can severely hurt sales, as they often don't even link to the same quality products! There's no option to prevent this within Yoast, which is a huge oversight.

In short, I'm done with Yoast. As we speak, I'm transitioning to a different SEO plugin. I'm currently exploring other SEO plugins, such as SEOPress and All in One SEO, which seem more affordable and potentially less problematic. If anyone has experience with these or other alternatives, I'd appreciate your insights and recommendations. What alternatives have you found effective?

Oh man, I totally feel your pain! 😩 I stopped using Yoast when they added a ton of features to detect if your writing is diverse and 'woke' enough.

If you're jumping ship, have you checked out Rank Math? I've heard it's a solid choice with a lot of customizability without the bloat. Plus, the free version packs a punch and might just save you some headaches and cash.

Another one to consider is The SEO Framework. It's super lightweight and focuses on keeping things simple and effective. Not to mention, it's got a clean interface that makes it easy to navigate without getting lost in a sea of options you don't need.

Good luck with the transition! Let us know how it goes!