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.

JS Morisset

<h3>Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags for WordPress</h3>
Present your content at its best for social sites and search results, no matter how URLs are shared, reshared, messaged, posted, embedded, or crawled.

The most comprehensive and accurate Schema markup plugin for WooCommerce products.
Supports over 500 different Schema types and sub-types (including WooCommerce offers for Schema Books, Events, Products, Product Groups, and Services).
Provides complete Schema markup and meta tags for:
<ul>
<li>Facebook / Open Graph</li>
<li>Google Knowledge Graph</li>
<li>Google Merchant Feed XML</li>
<li>Google Rich Results / Rich Snippets</li>
<li>Image and Video SEO</li>
<li>Instagram Catalog Feed XMLs</li>
<li>Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Catalog Feed XMLs</li>
<li>Mobile Web Browsers</li>
<li>oEmbed for LinkedIn, Discord, and Drupal</li>
<li>Pinterest Rich Pins</li>
<li>Schema JSON-LD Markup</li>
<li>Slack</li>
<li>WhatsApp and Messaging Apps</li>
<li>WordPress REST API</li>
<li>WordPress Sitemaps XML</li>
<li>X (Twitter) Cards</li>
</ul>

Fixes all Google Rich Results and Google Merchant errors, including:
<ul>
<li>A value for the headline field is required</li>
<li>A value for the image field is required</li>
<li>A value for the logo field is required</li>
<li>A value for the publisher field is required</li>
<li>Either “price” or “priceSpecification” should be specified (in “offers”)</li>
<li>Invalid value in field “priceSpecification”</li>
<li>The aggregateRating field is recommended</li>
<li>The brand field is recommended</li>
<li>The headline field is recommended</li>
<li>The image field is recommended</li>
<li>The review field is recommended</li>
<li>Missing field “address”</li>
<li>Missing field “aggregateRating”</li>
<li>Missing field “brand”</li>
<li>Missing field “businessDays”</li>
<li>Missing field “cutoffTime”</li>
<li>Missing field “deliveryTime”</li>
<li>Missing field “hasMerchantReturnPolicy” (in “offers”)</li>
<li>Missing field “image”</li>
<li>Missing field “priceRange”</li>
<li>Missing field “review”</li>
<li>Missing field “shippingDetails” (in “offers”)</li>
<li>Missing field “telephone”</li>
<li>No global identifier provided (e.g. gtin mpn isbn)</li>
<li>Not a known valid target type for the itemReviewed property</li>
<li>Price Mismatched value (page crawl): (price [price])</li>
</ul>
Optimized image sizes for social sites and search engines:
<ul>
<li>Commerce Manager Catalog Feed XML (Facebook and Instagram)</li>
<li>Google Merchant Feed XML</li>
<li>Open Graph (Facebook and oEmbed)</li>
<li>Pinterest Pin It</li>
<li>Schema 1:1 (Google Rich Results)</li>
<li>Schema 4:3 (Google Rich Results)</li>
<li>Schema 16:9 (Google Rich Results)</li>
<li>Schema Thumbnail</li>
<li>Video Preview Image</li>
<li>X (Twitter) Summary Card</li>
<li>X (Twitter) Summary Card Large Image</li>
</ul>
Reads additional information from active plugins, including:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/co-authors-plus/" rel="ugc">Co-Authors Plus</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/" rel="ugc">Elementor Website Builder</a></li>
<li>Gravity Forms</li>
<li>Gravity View</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/" rel="ugc">Jetpack</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack-boost/" rel="ugc">Jetpack Boost</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/judgeme-product-reviews-woocommerce/" rel="ugc">Judge.me Product Reviews for WooCommerce</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-retina-2x/" rel="ugc">Perfect Images</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfect-woocommerce-brands/" rel="ugc">Perfect Brands for WooCommerce</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/" rel="ugc">Polylang</a></li>
<li>Product GTIN (EAN, UPC, ISBN) for WooCommerce</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/publishpress-authors" rel="ugc">PublishPress Authors</a></li>
<li>qTranslate-XT</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/rate-my-post/" rel="ugc">Rate my Post</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-job-board/" rel="ugc">Simple Job Board</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-events-calendar/" rel="ugc">The Events Calendar</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member/" rel="ugc">Ultimate Member</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/" rel="ugc">WooCommerce</a></li>
<li>WooCommerce Brands</li>
<li>WooCommerce Currency Switcher</li>
<li>WooCommerce UPC, EAN, and ISBN</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-job-manager/" rel="ugc">WP Job Manager</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-postratings/" rel="ugc">WP-PostRatings</a></li>
<li>WP Product Review</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-recipe-maker/" rel="ugc">WP Recipe Maker</a></li>
<li>WPML</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/yith-woocommerce-brands-add-on/" rel="ugc">YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-on</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/yotpo-social-reviews-for-woocommerce/" rel="ugc">Yotpo Social Reviews for WooCommerce</a></li>
</ul>
Supports additional WooCommerce product attributes:
<ul>
<li>Book Author Name</li>
<li>Book ISBN</li>
<li>Product Adult Type</li>
<li>Product Age Group</li>
<li>Product Availability</li>
<li>Product Brand</li>
<li>Product Google Category ID</li>
<li>Product Color</li>
<li>Product Condition</li>
<li>Product Currency</li>
<li>Product Energy Rating</li>
<li>Product Fluid Volume</li>
<li>Product GTIN-14</li>
<li>Product GTIN-13 (EAN)</li>
<li>Product GTIN-12 (UPC)</li>
<li>Product GTIN-8</li>
<li>Product GTIN</li>
<li>Product Net Height</li>
<li>Product ISBN</li>
<li>Product Net Len. / Depth</li>
<li>Product Material</li>
<li>Product MPN</li>
<li>Product Min Advert Price</li>
<li>Product Pattern</li>
<li>Product Price</li>
<li>Product Price Type</li>
<li>Product SKU</li>
<li>Product Shipping Height</li>
<li>Product Shipping Length</li>
<li>Product Shipping Weight</li>
<li>Product Shipping Width</li>
<li>Product Size</li>
<li>Product Size Group</li>
<li>Product Size System</li>
<li>Product Target Gender</li>
<li>Product Net Weight</li>
<li>Product Net Width</li>
</ul>
Optionally improves the structured data markup of other SEO plugins:
WPSSO Core and its add-ons can also run in combination with other SEO plugins to improve their performance and structured data markup.
<ul>
<li>All in One SEO Pack</li>
<li>Rank Math SEO</li>
<li>SEOPress</li>
<li>The SEO Framework</li>
<li>WP Meta SEO</li>
<li>Yoast SEO</li>
</ul>
Premium edition can retrieve data from service APIs automatically, including:
<ul>
<li>Bitly Short URL</li>
<li>DLMY.App Short URL</li>
<li>Facebook Video Data</li>
<li>Gravatar Image Data</li>
<li>Judge.me Review Data</li>
<li>Ow.ly Short URL</li>
<li>Shopper Approved Review Data</li>
<li>Slideshare Presentation Data</li>
<li>Soundcloud Track Data</li>
<li>Stamped.io Review Data</li>
<li>TinyURL Short URL</li>
<li>Vimeo Video Data</li>
<li>Wistia Video Data</li>
<li>WP Media Library Video Block Data</li>
<li>WP Media Library Video Shortcode Data</li>
<li>Your Own URL Shortener (YOURLS) Short URL</li>
<li>YouTube Video and Playlist Data</li>
</ul>

WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags

Present your content at its best for social sites and search results, no matter how URLs are shared, reshared, messaged, posted, embedded, or crawled.

RankLite – Fast, Clean SEO vs WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags