ranklite

RankLite focuses on the essentials of on-page SEO. It’s intentionally small, fast, and easy to configure. You get all the core tools—without the kitchen sink:
<ul>
<li>Titles & Meta Descriptions per post/page with live counters</li>
<li>Global defaults with smart fallbacks</li>
<li>Open Graph & Twitter Cards (title, description, image)</li>
<li>Canonical and robots meta (index/noindex, follow/nofollow)</li>
<li>XML Sitemaps (<code>/sitemap.xml</code>) with pretty permalink support and pings to Google & Bing</li>
<li>JSON-LD Schema for Website, Article, Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to blocks (basic)</li>
<li>Breadcrumbs output helper</li>
<li>Manual 301 Redirects</li>
<li>Analytics helpers (Google Analytics/GTAG & Google Tag Manager passthrough)</li>
<li>Optional data wipe on uninstall</li>
<li>Multisite-aware and performance-minded</li>
</ul>
No telemetry. No ad pixels. No phone-home calls—everything stays on your site.
<h3>Why RankLite?</h3>
<ul>
<li>Performance first. Lightweight code, minimal queries, no admin nag spam.</li>
<li>No lock-in. Uses standard WordPress fields/meta so you can switch any time.</li>
<li>Clean UI. Sensible defaults and clear controls that won’t overwhelm you.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What’s included in the Free version?</h3>
<ul>
<li>Titles/meta with counters and fallbacks</li>
<li>Canonical, robots</li>
<li>Open Graph & Twitter Cards</li>
<li>Website/Article/Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to schema (basic, JSON-LD)</li>
<li>XML sitemaps with Google/Bing pings</li>
<li>Breadcrumbs helper</li>
<li>Manual redirects (301)</li>
<li>Analytics & GTM helpers</li>
<li>Tools page with wipe on uninstall option</li>
</ul>
<h3>Pro add-on</h3>
A separate Pro add-on (not required) can extend RankLite with AI-assisted titles/descriptions/alt-text/articles, advanced schema & sitemaps, a 404 monitor, and auto-redirects. The free plugin is fully functional on its own and does not require Pro.
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Meta box on posts/pages for custom SEO Title & Description</li>
<li>Smart fallback to site title/tagline or post excerpt</li>
<li>Open Graph/Twitter image fallback</li>
<li>Robots (index/noindex, follow/nofollow) per post and global</li>
<li>Sitemaps: index + post types; pretty <code>/sitemap.xml</code> with:
<ul>
<li>Fallback query route for non-pretty permalinks</li>
<li>Automatic pings to Google and Bing when content changes (with safe throttling)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Schema: Website, Article, Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to via blocks (basic) with safe defaults</li>
<li>Breadcrumbs: simple template function/filter to output a trail</li>
<li>Redirects: add simple 301 manual redirects from an admin screen</li>
<li>Analytics: GA4/gtag and GTM helpers (paste ID and go)</li>
<li>Developer-friendly (filters/actions documented below)</li>
<li>Privacy-friendly: no data leaves your site</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
This plugin does not:
<ul>
<li>Collect personal data</li>
<li>Send usage data to third parties</li>
<li>Set cookies on the front end by itself</li>
</ul>
If you enable Analytics or GTM helpers, you are integrating external services—ensure you have the proper disclosures/consent (e.g., via your cookie banner).
<h3>Performance</h3>
<ul>
<li>Minimal queries and safe caching behavior</li>
<li>No assets loaded on the front end unless necessary</li>
<li>Short timeouts and safe throttling for sitemap pings to Google/Bing</li>
</ul>
<h3>External services</h3>
This plugin can optionally connect to the following external services:
<ol>
<li>Google Search and Bing (sitemap ping)</li>
</ol>
– What it does: When sitemap pinging is enabled, RankLite can notify search engines that your sitemap has been updated. 
– What is sent: The public URL of your sitemap is sent as a query parameter to: 
 – https://www.google.com/ping?sitemap= 
 – https://www.bing.com/ping?sitemap= 
– When: Only when sitemap pinging is enabled in the plugin settings and a sitemap is generated/updated. 
– Terms / Privacy: 
 – Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy / https://policies.google.com/terms 
 – Microsoft (Bing): https://privacy.microsoft.com / https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement
<ol>
<li>Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager (optional)</li>
</ol>
– What it does: If you choose to enable Analytics or Tag Manager in RankLite, the plugin outputs the official tracking/snippet code provided by Google. 
– What is sent: Standard analytics/usage data as defined by Google, associated with your own property IDs (e.g. GA4, GTM). No additional data is sent by RankLite beyond what Google’s scripts normally collect. 
– When: Only when you explicitly enable these features and enter your own tracking IDs. 
– Terms / Privacy: 
 – Google Analytics / Tag Manager: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ 
 – Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
<h3>Developers</h3>
<h3>Filter the final title string</h3>
<pre><code>`php
</code></pre>
/** 
 * Filter the final value RankLite outputs. 
 * 
 * @param string $title Final title string. 
 * @param array $parts Parsed parts (h1, site_name, brand, etc). 
 * @param WP_Post|null $post Current post object (or null). 
 * @param string $type Detected type: ‘news’ | ‘product’ | ‘default’. 
 */ 
add_filter( ‘ranklite_meta_title_final’, function( $title, $parts, $post, $type ) { 
 return $title; 
}, 10, 4 ); 
 `
<h3>Add extra sitemap index entries (e.g. news/video)</h3>
<pre><code>`php
</code></pre>
add_filter( ‘ranklite/sitemaps/index_items’, function( $extra, $opts ) { 
 $extra[] = array( 
 ‘loc’ => home_url( ‘/news-sitemap.xml’ ), 
 ‘lastmod’ => gmdate( ‘c’ ), 
 ); 
 return $extra; 
}, 10, 2 ); 
 `
<h3>Tweak the breadcrumb trail before output</h3>
<pre><code>`php
</code></pre>
add_filter( ‘ranklite_breadcrumb_trail’, function( $trail ) { 
 // $trail is an array of arrays like [ ‘name’ => ‘Blog’, ‘url’ => ‘https://example.com/blog/’ ]. 
 return $trail; 
} ); 
 `
<h3>Programmatic redirect registration</h3>
<pre><code>`php
</code></pre>
do_action( ‘ranklite/register_redirect’, ‘/old-path’, ‘/new-path’, 301 ); 
 `
See inline docs for more hooks and parameters.

RankLite – Fast, Clean SEO

Fast, clean SEO: titles & meta, Open Graph/Twitter Cards, JSON-LD schema, and XML sitemaps with Google/Bing pings. No bloat, no tracking.

zoniclab

Parrot SEO is a comprehensive SEO plugin designed to help you optimize your WordPress website for search engines. With its modern interface, real-time analysis, and deep integration with both Gutenberg and Elementor, Parrot SEO makes SEO accessible for everyone.
<h4>Key Features</h4>
SEO Analysis 
* Real-time content analysis with actionable recommendations 
* Focus keyword optimization 
* SEO score and readability score for every post 
* Word count, keyword density, and heading structure analysis 
* Internal and external link checking
Meta Tags 
* Customizable SEO titles and meta descriptions 
* Template variables for dynamic content 
* Google search preview 
* Robots meta tag control (index/noindex, follow/nofollow) 
* Canonical URL support
Social Media 
* Open Graph tags for Facebook 
* Twitter Cards support 
* Custom social images 
* Social profile integration
Schema Markup 
* JSON-LD structured data 
* Automatic Article, Organization, and Breadcrumb schema 
* Support for multiple schema types: FAQ, HowTo, Recipe, Event, Product, LocalBusiness 
* Per-post schema type selection
XML Sitemap 
* Automatic sitemap generation 
* Customizable content inclusion 
* Image sitemap support 
* Beautiful sitemap stylesheet 
* Automatic search engine ping on publish
Gutenberg Integration 
* Dedicated SEO sidebar panel 
* Real-time preview 
* Character counters 
* All SEO settings accessible from the block editor
Elementor Integration 
* SEO settings in Elementor page settings 
* Breadcrumbs widget 
* Table of Contents widget 
* Full compatibility with Elementor Pro
Advanced Features 
* Bulk analysis and optimization 
* Import/Export settings 
* Clean head section (remove unnecessary tags) 
* Attachment page redirects 
* Author/Date archive controls
<h4>Why Choose Parrot SEO?</h4>
<ol>
<li>Modern UI – Clean, intuitive interface that’s easy to use</li>
<li>Performance – Lightweight and optimized for speed</li>
<li>Compatibility – Works seamlessly with Gutenberg and Elementor</li>
<li>Comprehensive – All the SEO features you need in one plugin</li>
<li>Developer Friendly – Extensive hooks and filters for customization</li>
</ol>
<h3>External services</h3>
This plugin may contact the following third-party services. Use of these services is optional in practice (e.g. the sitemap remains valid and usable without the ping), but enables better discovery of your content.
Google – Sitemap Ping
<ul>
<li>What it is and what it is used for: When the XML sitemap is updated (for example after you publish a post or page), the plugin can notify Google by calling Google’s “Ping” endpoint. This helps Google discover your sitemap URL so it can crawl and index your site.</li>
<li>What data is sent and when: Your site’s sitemap URL (e.g. <code>https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml</code>) is sent to Google as a query parameter when the ping runs. The ping runs automatically when a post or page is published; it is rate-limited to at most once per hour. The request is non-blocking (fire-and-forget) and no cookies or personal data are sent.</li>
<li>Service provider: Google LLC. </li>
<li>Terms of Service: https://policies.google.com/terms </li>
<li>Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy</li>
</ul>

Parrot SEO

A powerful, user-friendly SEO plugin for WordPress with modern UI, Gutenberg and Elementor compatibility, and advanced features.

RankLite – Fast, Clean SEO vs Parrot SEO