How to Set Up Rank Math: Setup Wizard, Settings and Per-Post SEO

This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original

Rank Math is a plugin that manages WordPress SEO settings in one place: titles and meta descriptions, XML sitemaps, structured data and more. This article walks through the basic flow from installation and initial setup to per-post settings.

As of October 2026, the plugin on WordPress.org is named "Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings" (slug seo-by-rank-math), version 1.0.280. It requires WordPress 6.7 or later and PHP 7.4 or later, and has more than 4 million active installations.

Depending on translation status, some screens may be shown in English even on non-English sites. This article uses the same English labels as the official documentation.

Before you start

• Don't run it alongside another SEO plugin: If Yoast SEO, All in One SEO or a similar plugin is active at the same time, titles, meta tags and sitemaps can be output twice. When switching, import the settings with "Import" in the Setup Wizard first, then deactivate the old plugin.
• Take a backup: On an existing site, back up everything including the database before you start.

To compare it with Yoast SEO, see "Rank Math vs. Yoast SEO".

Step 1: Install and activate

1. In the admin, open "Plugins" → "Add New"
2. Type Rank Math in the search box
3. Click "Install Now" for "Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings", then click "Activate"

After activation, "Rank Math SEO" appears in the left admin menu and the setup guide starts.

Step 2: Go through the Setup Wizard

According to the official documentation, the wizard runs in the order below. If you stop partway, you can start again from the "Setup Wizard" tab under "Rank Math SEO" → "Dashboard".

Connect (account connection)

This screen connects a free Rank Math account. Connect with "Connect Your Account", or put it off with "Skip Now". Next, a compatibility check of your server environment appears; if there are no problems, click "Start Wizard".

Choosing a mode

You can switch modes later. If this is your first time, Easy is enough.

Import (from other SEO plugins)

If you used Yoast SEO, All In One SEO, SEOPress, Redirection or similar plugins, you can bring over their settings and data. Click "Start Import" to import and "Continue" to move on. You can also run it later from "Status & Tools" → "Import & Export".

Your Site (site information)

When you're done, click "Save and Continue".

Analytics (connecting Google services)

If you connect your Google account, you can see Search Console and Google Analytics data inside Rank Math. The basic SEO features work without it, so you can also set this up later.

Sitemap (XML sitemap)

Choose whether to enable the XML sitemap, whether to include images, and which post types and taxonomies (categories, tags and so on) to include. Leave out page types you don't want in search results (for example, tag archives).

Optimization (basic optimization)

You normally don't need to add nofollow to every external link. Choose according to your site's policy.

Ready (finished)

In Easy mode, setup ends here. In Advanced mode, click "Setup Advanced Options" to configure three more things:

• Role Manager: Decide which Rank Math settings each user role can access
• 404 + Redirections: Whether to use 404 error logging (404 Monitor) and the redirect feature
• Schema Markup: The default structured data type for posts, pages and so on

Step 3: Review the modules

Rank Math splits its features into "modules", so you can turn on only the ones you use. Switch each module on or off under "Modules" in "Rank Math SEO" → "Dashboard".

Turning off features you don't use keeps the settings screens tidy. For example, if you manage redirects on the server or with another plugin, turning off "Redirections" avoids managing them in two places.

Step 4: Set default titles and meta descriptions

Under "Rank Math SEO" → "Titles & Meta", you set the default format for titles and meta descriptions, and whether pages are shown to search engines (robots meta), for the whole site and for each post type and taxonomy.

Title formats use variables that are replaced with values such as the post title or site name. When you don't enter a title for an individual post, the format set here is used.

Site-wide behavior (breadcrumbs, link handling and so on) is set under "Rank Math SEO" → "General Settings".

Step 5: Check the XML sitemap and submit it to Search Console

Sitemap details are set under "Rank Math SEO" → "Sitemap Settings". Besides the "General" tab, there is a tab for each post type and taxonomy, such as "Posts", "Pages" and "Categories", where you choose whether to include it in the sitemap.

Rank Math's sitemap is available at the following URL (replace the domain with your own).

https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml

Open this URL in a browser and check that sitemaps for posts and pages are listed. If it doesn't show up (you get a 404), open "Settings" → "Permalinks", click "Save Changes" without changing anything, and check again. If you use a caching plugin or a CDN, clear the cache too.

Once it works, submit sitemap_index.xml under "Sitemaps" in Google Search Console. XML sitemaps in general are also covered in "How to create and submit an XML sitemap in WordPress".

Step 6: Settings for each post

When you open a post or page in the block editor, a Rank Math icon (a button showing an SEO score) appears at the top right. Clicking it opens the Rank Math sidebar.

• General tab: "Edit Snippet" lets you edit the title, permalink and meta description shown in search results. If you leave them empty, the format from "Titles & Meta" is used.
• Focus Keyword: Enter the search keyword you are targeting with the post, and Rank Math checks item by item whether the title, description, body and so on contain it, and shows the results.
• Advanced tab: Settings for that post only, such as making it noindex or specifying a canonical URL.

The score is only a rough measure of how many of Rank Math's own checks the post meets. Raising the score is not the goal in itself, so avoid edits that make the text read unnaturally.

Check your settings

View the source of a published page and confirm that the title and description are output as intended. Here is how to check from the command line (replace the URL with one of your posts).

curl -s https://example.com/sample-post/ | grep -iE "<title>|name=\"description\"|rel=\"canonical\""

If <title>, description and canonical each appear once, everything is fine. If a tag appears twice, your theme or another plugin may be outputting the same tag.

Things to keep in mind

• Back up before updating: SEO settings affect search results for the whole site, so a backup before updates lets you roll back if something goes wrong.
• Check noindex settings: If you choose noindex in "Titles & Meta" or in a post's "Advanced" tab, that page won't appear in search results. If a page doesn't show up in search after publishing, check this first.
• Paid features: The news sitemap, video sitemap, Custom Mode and others are paid (PRO) features. Check the official site for what the free version covers.

Summary

• Don't run it alongside another SEO plugin. When switching, import with the wizard's "Import" step, then deactivate the old plugin.
• The Setup Wizard goes Connect → mode selection → Import → Your Site → Analytics → Sitemap → Optimization → Ready. If unsure, start in Easy mode.
• Turn features on and off under "Modules" in "Dashboard", and set default titles in "Titles & Meta".
• Check the sitemap at sitemap_index.xml and submit it to Search Console.
• Set each post's title, description and focus keyword in the Rank Math sidebar in the editor.

Questions about WordPress? The publisher of this site is based in Japan and replies in Japanese. Contact (Japanese)