Joost de Valk

Yoast

Jip Moors

Anton Timmermans

Taco Verdonschot

Omar Reiss

<p>The purpose of this SEO plugin is to purge attachment URLs out of Google’s index as fast as possible. This helps sites<br />
that might have suffered from having too many thin content pages in the search index by removing them in the fastest<br />
way possible.</p>
<h3>What does this plugin do?</h3>
<p>This plugin makes all your attachment URLs return an HTTP 410 status. It then creates an XML sitemap with a recent last<br />
modified date, containing all those URLs. The XML sitemap with recent post modified date makes Google spider <em>all</em> those<br />
URLs again. The 410 status code makes sure Google takes them out of its search results in the fastest way possible.</p>
<p>With a nice trick, we also show end users the actual attachment image, so the user experience is not as poor as when<br />
they see an error page.</p>
<h3>Yoast SEO required</h3>
<p>This plugin is an extension to <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/" rel="ugc">Yoast SEO</a>. It requires it to work.</p>
<h3>How long should you run this plugin?</h3>
<p>After 6 months the attachment URLs should be gone from the search results. If you then remove the plugin, and keep<br />
Yoast SEO’s redirect setting on “Yes”, you have the best long term behavior for attachment URLs: to redirect to the<br />
actual attachment.</p>
<h3>Does Google condone this?</h3>
<p>This method has been discussed with and OK’d by Google.</p>
<h3>From within WordPress</h3>
<ol>
<li>Visit ‘Plugins > Add New’</li>
<li>Search for ‘Yoast SEO: Search Index Purge’</li>
<li>Activate Yoast SEO: Search Index Purge from your Plugins page.</li>
<li>Go to “after activation” below.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Manually</h3>
<ol>
<li>Upload the <code>yoast-seo-search-index-purge</code> folder to the <code>/wp-content/plugins/</code> directory</li>
<li>Activate the Yoast SEO: Search Index Purge plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress</li>
<li>Go to “after activation” below.</li>
</ol>
<h3>After activation</h3>


Yoast SEO: Search Index Purge

Remove attachment URLs from Google's index as fast as possible to prevent thin content penalties.

Rankology

<h4>Post/Page Meta Title</h4>
<p>Craft optimized titles for each post or page. Ensure keywords are present, titles are within character limits, and follow best SEO practices for higher CTR.</p>
<h4>Post/Page Meta Description</h4>
<p>Write compelling meta descriptions to summarize content. Use Rankology to monitor length, keyword presence, and click-worthiness for better search snippet visibility.</p>
<h4>Advanced Content Analysis & Overall SEO Score</h4>
<p>Content analysis against each part of content to find the overall score rating.</p>
<h4>Rankology Google Suggestions</h4>
<p>Leverage Google’s real-time autocomplete suggestions directly within WordPress. Find relevant, high-volume keyword variations to improve targeting and traffic.</p>
<h4>Rankology SEO Focus Keywords</h4>
<p>Assign and manage focus keywords for each post/page. Analyze keyword usage in content, headings, URLs, and meta fields to ensure strong optimization signals.</p>
<h4>Canonical URL</h4>
<p>Ensures proper canonical tags are set to avoid duplicate content issues.</p>
<h4>Keyword Density</h4>
<p>Analyzes how well your focus keyword is distributed throughout the content.</p>
<h4>Alt Text in Feature Image</h4>
<p>Checks if the featured image includes descriptive alt text for image SEO.</p>
<h4>Internal Linkings</h4>
<p>Detects internal links that improve navigation and crawlability.</p>
<h4>No Follow Link</h4>
<p>Identifies use of nofollow links to control the flow of link equity.</p>
<h4>Last Modified</h4>
<p>Verifies if a last modified date is present to signal freshness to search engines.</p>
<h4>Social Media Integration</h4>
<p>Optimize content for social media platforms with custom sharing configurations.</p>
<h4>Advanced Configurations</h4>
<p>noindex, nofollow, noimageindex, noarchive, nosnippet settings</p>
<h4>Redirections Settings</h4>
<p>Posts, Pages, and Taxonomies redirections (301, 302, 307)</p>
<h4>Schema Structure</h4>
<p>Manual or Automatic Article Schema Structure Settings in Post & Taxonomy</p>
<h4>.htaccess File</h4>
<p>Add custom rules to the <code>.htaccess</code> file (for Apache servers only, not Nginx) via a manual input field.</p>
<h4>Robots.txt File</h4>
<p>Allow admins to manually add custom entries.<br />
Automatically append or remove entries from the robots options table with add/remove actions.</p>
<h4>Sitemap</h4>
<p>Auto-generate XML sitemap<br />
Exclude specific pages & posts from sitemap<br />
Automatic sitemap updates on new content</p>
<h4>Image SEO</h4>
<p>Automatically use the image filename as alt text on upload.<br />
Use the uploaded file’s name as the default image title.<br />
Option to set the post title using the uploaded file’s alt text and title.<br />
Automatically clean uploaded media filenames for SEO and compatibility.</p>
<h4>Rankology LinkFlow</h4>
<p>Get smart internal linking insights directly inside post, page, and product edit screens.<br />
Automatically receive link suggestions from Title, Content, Meta Title, Meta Description, and Focus Keywords with easy copy-and-paste options.<br />
Generate additional link suggestions from content only, and quickly add recommended anchor links into your post or page.<br />
Monitor your internal link growth with the LinkFlow Velocity Table.<br />
Review existing internal links with the LinkFlow Improvement Table to identify opportunities for optimization.</p>
<h4>Google Analytics & Search Console Insights</h4>
<p>Display real-time performance metrics directly in your post, page, product, and taxonomy edit screens.<br />
Gain deep insights from Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console for every individual URL.<br />
Access detailed insights for each taxonomy term, helping refine your SEO strategy.<br />
Easily submit or request indexing of any post, page, product, or taxonomy URL to Google Search Console with a single button click.<br />
Make data-driven decisions without leaving your WordPress dashboard.</p>
<h4>Rankology Settings</h4>
<p>General Meta Settings:<br />
 • Configure global meta title & description with separate fields for posts, pages, products, categories, and terms.<br />
 • Each content type (post, page, product, category, term) can have its own default meta title & description.<br />
 • If a specific post, page, product, category, or term has an empty title/description, Rankology will automatically use the corresponding global settings for that content type.<br />
 • If no specific field is set for that type, the general global options will be used as a fallback.</p>
<p>Improved Settings UI:<br />
 • All plugin options are displayed in modern, responsive cards.<br />
 • Redesigned layout for better usability, readability, and quick access to settings.<br />
 • Consistent design across tabs for a seamless experience.</p>
<p>Social Sharing Settings:<br />
 • Enable or disable social sharing site-wide.<br />
 • Upload default sharing images for Facebook and Twitter (used when no featured image is available).<br />
 • Enable one-click sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Reddit, and Pinterest on posts and pages.</p>
<p>Analytics & Tracking:<br />
 • Add Google Analytics tracking code/script easily.</p>
<p>Redirection Settings:<br />
 • Enable redirection for posts, pages, and categories.</p>
<p>Schema Settings:<br />
 • Enable FAQ Schema for FAQ-style content pages.<br />
 • Enable Review Schema for review pages with ratings and feedback.<br />
 • Enable Organization Schema with dynamic fields (name, logo, contact, social links, etc.).<br />
 • Enable Local Business Schema with dynamic fields (business name, address, opening hours, phone, etc.).<br />
 • Manually add Organization & Local Business schema for better SEO.</p>
<p>Google Analytics & Search Console Insights:<br />
 • After adding your Rankology API Key in settings, view all performance data directly in your dashboard.<br />
 • Display Sessions, Engagement Rate, Clicks, and Impressions for posts, pages, products, and taxonomies.<br />
 • Access detailed Google Analytics (GA4) and Search Console metrics inside the WordPress editor.</p>
<p>Rankology API Key:<br />
 • Add your Rankology API Key in settings to connect Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console.<br />
 • View real-time Sessions, Engagement Rate, Clicks, and Impressions directly in your dashboard.</p>
<p>Rankology LinkFlow Settings:<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Analytics Stats (Cards) – Displays total Links, Broken Links, Orphan Pages, Top Performers, and Total Clicks in a card view.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Analytics Chart Representation – Visual chart representation of LinkFlow Analytics metrics for performance tracking.<br />
 • Rankology SEO Issue Suggestions – Displays SEO issue suggestions with errors and warnings for each post or page (e.g., short titles, missing meta description, missing focus keyword) linked directly to the edit page.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Engagement Tracking (with Filters) – Tracks and filters page/post engagement metrics like clicks.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Content Keyword Search – Allows searching within Title, Content, Meta Title, Meta Description, and Focus Keywords, with the ability to add links directly into content.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Recommendations Table – Displays Content-based internal linking recommendations for relevant pages.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow – Broken Links Table – Identifies and lists invalid or unreachable internal links.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow – Orphan Links Table – Highlights posts or pages without any internal links.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Multi-Page Recommendations – Enables adding and managing multiple page recommendations with single-click copy functionality.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Interlinking Graph – Visual graph showing interconnections between posts and pages.<br />
 • Rankology LinkFlow Pages Sitemap Graph – Visual sitemap showing the overall site structure and link hierarchy.<br />
 • Improved Designs – Enhanced visual layouts, modernized UI elements, and refined table and graph styling for a more intuitive and seamless user experience.</p>
<p>Rankology Header & Footer Code:<br />
 • Easily insert custom HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code into the , right after the  start, or just before the  end.<br />
 • Enable or Disable the feature anytime with a dropdown selection.<br />
 • Add code globally or restrict it to specific areas of your site.<br />
 • Choose where to display the code: Whole Website, Homepage Only, Specific Pages, Specific Posts, Post Types, Taxonomies, Search Results, Archive Pages, or 404 Page.<br />
 • Select device targeting to control visibility: Both Devices, Desktop Only, or Mobile Only.</p>
<p>Breadcrumb Settings:<br />
 • Enable or disable breadcrumbs separately for posts, pages, and taxonomies.<br />
 • Display breadcrumbs anywhere using the shortcode: <code>[rankology_breadcrumb]</code>.</p>
<p>Import/Export Settings:<br />
 • Export or import Rankology data for Posts and Pages.<br />
 • Export or import Rankology data for Taxonomies.<br />
 • Export Rankology global settings as a JSON file.<br />
 • Import Rankology settings from a JSON file.</p>
<p>Server Settings:<br />
 • Add custom rules to the <code>.htaccess</code> file (for Apache servers only, not Nginx) via a manual input field.</p>
<p>Robots.txt Settings:<br />
 • Admins can manually add custom entries.<br />
 • Automatically append entries from the robots options table.</p>
<p>Sitemap Settings:<br />
 • Auto-generate XML sitemap.<br />
 • Exclude specific pages & posts from sitemap.<br />
 • Automatic sitemap updates on new content.<br />
 • Direct submission to Google & Bing.</p>
<p>Image SEO Settings:<br />
 • Automatically use the image filename as alt text on upload.<br />
 • Use the uploaded file’s name as the image title by default.<br />
 • Option to set the post title using the uploaded file’s alt text and title.<br />
 • Automatically clean uploaded media filenames for SEO and compatibility.</p>
<p>Crawling Options:<br />
 • Control site visibility in search results.<br />
 • Disable link crawling site-wide.<br />
 • Disable image indexing for the site.<br />
 • Disable descriptions for all pages in Google.<br />
 • Exclude paginated archive pages from indexing.<br />
 • Exclude attachment pages from indexing.</p>
<p>Enable/Disable Alert & Warnings:<br />
 • Enable Notice on Discourage search engines from indexing this site.<br />
 • Enable Robots Notice.<br />
 • Enable Robots Sitemap.</p>
<h3>Help & Support</h3>
<p>For help, documentation, and support, please visit: <a href="https://rankology.io" rel="nofollow ugc">https://rankology.io</a></p>
<h3>External services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to the following external services:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Google Autocomplete API</strong>
<ul>
<li>Used to fetch real-time keyword suggestions for SEO fields within posts, pages, and taxonomies.</li>
<li>When the user clicks the “Get Suggestions” button, their input keyword is sent to Google’s servers along with locale and country data (if available).</li>
<li>External URL used: https://www.google.com/complete/search</li>
<li><a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google Privacy Policy</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>


Rankology SEO and Analytics Tool

Rankology SEO and Analytics Tool is a powerful, fast, and easy-to-use SEO plugin that helps WordPress sites rank higher in search engines.

Yoast SEO: Search Index Purge vs Rankology SEO and Analytics Tool