Most website owners start their journey with free SEO tools. They work well for a while, but eventually, you might wonder if you are leaving traffic on the table.
At this point, many website owners start considering premium upgrades. However, with price tags ranging from $50 to over $200, you need to be sure that the investment will actually pay off.
We have tested all the top WordPress SEO plugins on our own websites. We know exactly which features help you rank higher and which ones are just extra noise.
In this article, we will help you decide whether premium SEO plugins are worth it and how to choose the right one for your needs.
Choosing the Right SEO Tool for Your WordPress Website
WordPress users have a lot of options when it comes to plugins that help optimize websites for search engines. But with so many tools that promise to boost your rankings, it’s hard to know where to start.
Here at WPBeginner, we get tons of questions from readers asking which SEO plugin is the best for making it to the top spots in search results.
In response, we created a detailed showcase of the best SEO plugins and tools. These tools can help you increase your website traffic by 20-30% within just a few months.
This list covers a wide range of use cases and includes leading plugins like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and Yoast SEO, as well as standalone tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.
However, there is an important decision to make. Many of these plugins offer both free and premium versions.
While free versions provide a solid foundation for basic SEO, the premium upgrades promise to unlock advanced features designed to give your site an edge in search engine rankings.
So, are those premium features worth the investment? Do they really make a difference in your search rankings?
Let’s dive in and explore the unique capabilities of premium WordPress SEO tools and see how they can help your website make it into the top search results pages.
What Are the Benefits of Premium WordPress SEO Plugins?
At WPBeginner, we’ve been using premium SEO plugins for many years. Here are some of our favorite features and benefits:
1. Comprehensive SEO Audits
While free plugins provide basic on-page analysis, premium versions often offer more in-depth insights and recommendations.
They run comprehensive SEO audits on your website to give you a clear idea of your site’s overall health. They scan all of your web pages, highlight potential issues, and recommend actionable fixes.
We regularly use AIOSEO to analyze our content for readability, keyword usage, and overall optimization. It gives us access to an actionable SEO report inside our WordPress admin area that gives us a clear roadmap for improvement.
This is really helpful because search engine optimization is a complex procedure that takes time. Having a clear checklist of everything that needs to be improved simplifies the process so you can easily fix one issue at a time.
2. Advanced Sitemaps
While WordPress comes with basic sitemap functionality, premium SEO plugins take this to the next level.
They allow you to create specialized Video Sitemaps and Google News Sitemaps. These are essential for getting your videos ranked in the ‘Video’ search tab and getting your content featured in Google News carousels.
With a premium tool, setting these up is as easy as flipping a switch, giving you a significant advantage over competitors relying on basic sitemaps.
3. Powerful Redirects and 404 Monitoring
Broken links point to web pages that do not exist, leading to frustration and 404 error messages for your users. They are also bad for SEO and result in a 12% higher bounce rate.
While you can install separate free plugins to manage redirects, premium SEO plugins handle this automatically. This saves you from having to manage multiple plugins and ensures your site speed isn’t impacted by bloat.
They will automatically create a redirect whenever you delete a post or change a URL. Plus, they track and log 404 errors in real time so you can fix dead ends before you lose traffic.
This will make sure your visitors find the information they are looking for and avoid frustrating surprises when clicking links on your site.
4. Advanced Schema Markup
Schema markup is structured data that is added to your web pages behind the scenes. It helps search engines better understand your content and display it more prominently in search results.
For example, using recipe schema can make food blogs more visible in search results. It can increase your click-through rates by 30%, bringing valuable traffic to your website.
But manually adding this structured data to your posts is very technical and time-consuming.
It’s much easier using a premium SEO plugin because it can add schema markup automatically. These tools also let you add more specific markup to individual posts with the click of a mouse, including FAQs, recipes, events, products, and more.
5. Internal Linking Suggestions
We always recommend that you add links to your own content throughout your website. This way, you help users find posts that are related to the topic they are reading about. These are called internal links and they are good for SEO, increasing page views by up to 40%.
The problem is that as you create more content, it becomes hard to find all the related blog posts you can link to. Searching for them manually becomes frustrating and takes a lot of time.
Premium SEO plugins help by automatically listing internal linking opportunities. With a click of your mouse, you can easily add these links to relevant posts along with an automatically generated phrase and anchor text, improving your SEO and saving you time.
6. Social Media Optimization
We also use a premium WordPress SEO plugin for social media optimization. It gives us full control over how our content looks when shared on Facebook and Twitter (X).
While free tools offer basic settings, premium versions often include real-time previews. This lets you see exactly how your post will look in a social feed before you publish, ensuring your images and titles are perfectly formatted to get more clicks.
Instead of these platforms pulling random information and images from our posts, we can specify the title, description, and image that is used. This means that our posts are more likely to resonate with our social media followers, bringing more traffic to our site.
7. Local SEO Optimization
If your business has physical locations, then premium SEO plugins can help optimize your site for local search results, including automatically generating location-specific schema markup that makes it easier for customers in your area to find you.
Potential customers will see your business on Google Maps and search results when looking for your type of business in their local area.
They will be able to see your address, phone number, and opening hours right from the search results page. Plus, they can even get turn-by-turn directions as they drive to your store.
8. WooCommerce SEO
If you have an online store, you can also benefit from the specialized WooCommerce SEO features offered by premium plugins. These help you optimize your product pages so they are more visible in product searches.
Users will also be able to see customer reviews and star ratings, showing that other customers have had a positive experience with your products. This can help drive more traffic to your store.
9. Priority Support
When you’re running an online business website, having access to expert support can be invaluable. Premium versions usually offer priority support to help you resolve issues quickly.
This ensures that if you come across any problems or issues when using the plugin, then you can receive prompt help from experts and get back to the job of running your business.
For more details, you can see our guide on how to ask for WordPress support and get it.
What Is the Best Value Premium SEO Plugin?
If you’re serious about driving more organic traffic to your website, then subscribing to a premium SEO plugin like we have is a smart move.
Your next task is to decide which plugin or service to use. Your first question will probably be which plugin offers the best value for money.
All in One SEO vs. Yoast SEO Premium
AIOSEO and Yoast SEO are the leading WordPress SEO plugins and offer extensive features.
However, there are important differences in their pricing and features.
When we compare the two plugins’ most affordable plans, AIOSEO is more affordable while offering comparable features:
- AIOSEO’s Basic plan starts at $49.60 per year
- Yoast SEO Premium starts at $99 per year
At first glance, the prices of their most powerful SEO plans look similar:
- AIOSEO’s Elite plan costs $299.60 per year
- Bundle pricing for Yoast SEO Premium, Yoast WooCommerce SEO, Yoast Local SEO, Yoast News SEO, and Yoast Video SEO costs $229 per year.
However, the difference is that AIOSEO’s plan covers 100 websites, while Yoast’s price is for a single site. Plus, AIOSEO offers a more comprehensive feature set.
When it comes to value for money, AIOSEO stands out. It offers a compelling package that covers multiple websites at a competitive price point.
You can learn more in our detailed comparison of Yoast SEO vs. All in One SEO.
You might also like to read about our journey switching from Yoast to All in One SEO to improve our SEO workflow and access the SEO features we need.
All in One SEO vs. Premium Standalone SEO Tools
If you don’t have the budget for standalone SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, AIOSEO Premium offers a lot of impressive features for a great price.
To give you an idea, Semrush’s most basic plan starts at $119.95 per month, and Ahrefs’ lite plan starts at $99 per month.
While these tools are incredibly powerful, their starting prices add up to over $1,200 per year. This cost may not be justifiable for smaller websites or bloggers.
By contrast, you can subscribe to AIOSEO’s highest-tier Elite plan for far less money. It includes advanced features like local SEO, advanced WooCommerce support, and video SEO and costs less than $300 per year.
Besides that, AIOSEO focuses specifically on WordPress, making it easier to use and more tailored to your website’s needs. This makes it a cost-effective solution for agencies or businesses managing multiple WordPress sites.
Plus, if you run a small business or are just getting started, AIOSEO Premium’s features might be more than enough for your needs.
That said, if you’re looking for more SEO features at a lower cost, you can pair the plugin with an affordable tool like SEOBoost to get powerful content optimization options. This will give you AI-powered analyses, content audits, content briefs, and much more.
Or, if you need just a little extra help with keyword research, LowFruits is a great choice. It helps you generate keywords and analyze the SERPs to improve your rankings.
Premium WordPress SEO Plugins FAQ
Here are some questions we are asked most often about premium SEO plugins for WordPress:
What are premium SEO plugins?
Premium SEO plugins are paid versions of WordPress SEO tools that offer advanced features, enhanced optimization capabilities, and often superior support compared to their free alternatives.
How do premium SEO plugins differ from free SEO plugins?
Premium SEO plugins typically offer more advanced features like schema markup generators, content optimization tools, local SEO features, and dedicated support. Free plugins usually provide basic SEO functionality but may lack advanced features or regular updates.
Are premium SEO plugins necessary for good search engine rankings?
While not absolutely necessary, premium SEO plugins can significantly enhance your WordPress site’s optimization efforts, potentially leading to better search engine rankings. They often provide tools and features that can give you an edge in competitive markets.
Will a premium SEO plugin automatically improve my search rankings?
No SEO plugin can guarantee improved rankings. However, premium plugins provide advanced tools and guidance to help you optimize your site more effectively, which can contribute to better search performance.
How much do premium SEO plugins typically cost?
Prices vary, but most premium SEO plugins cost between $50 and $300 per year, depending on the features offered and the number of sites you can use them on.
Do I need to renew my premium SEO plugin license annually?
In most cases, yes. Annual renewals ensure you continue to receive updates, support, and access to new features. However, some plugins offer lifetime licenses.
Can I get a refund if I’m not satisfied with a premium SEO plugin?
Many premium plugin developers offer money-back guarantees for a certain period. Always check the refund policy before purchasing.
Currently, AIOSEO offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, and Yoast SEO has a 30-day guarantee. This means you can try the premium features risk-free to see if they work for you.
Additional Resources
We hope this article helped you decide if premium WordPress SEO plugins are worth the investment. You may also want to see these other helpful guides to improve your website rankings:
- Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide for Beginners (Step by Step)
- How to Do Keyword Research for Your WordPress Blog
- Internal Linking for SEO: The Ultimate Guide of Best Practices
- Best Keyword Research Tools for SEO (Compared)
- How to Do an SEO Audit and Fix Your Website Rankings
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Olaf
I’ve gotten used to selecting plugins based on the budget of the website owner when building sites. I know that if I want quality, I usually have to pay for plugins as well. Currently, I have about 8 paid plugins on my list, but it’s true that I often choose plugins that I can apply to multiple sites. For example, the original Elementor Pro license, where I could use it on 100 sites. Paid plugins usually have much better support and updates, and they are also (though not always) much better coded. My opinion is that such plugins are definitely worth it, but it depends on the budget you have available.
Jiří Vaněk
Premium plugins are definitely worth it, and I’ve tested this on my own blog. I initially used AIO SEO for free and switched to the paid version after a year. I couldn’t believe how much it helped improve my SEO, for example, through schema markup or the audit that the plugin provided, allowing me to see the issues on my site. From experience, I was able to increase traffic by 40% after a few months using AIO SEO Pro, which is quite significant. I also saw positive results in Google Search Console.
Moinuddin Waheed
For any serious business to make big online, it is worth investing the money for premium seo plugins.
I started my seo journey with yoast seo and other free tools.
I am currently using the AIOSEO which has tremendously ease the process of seo.
I think having AIOSEO would be the right choice for anyone starting out the seo as it is affordable and comes with lots of useful seo features.
Semrush and Ahrefs are better choices but are very costly to consider at the very first place.
it would also involve learning curve of different features that it has to offer.
once good progress through AIOSEO one can consider semrush to scale.
Jiří Vaněk
As I follow various online discussions, I’ve found that many people started with Yoast SEO. Even I did, and I used it for about four years. Then I switched to the lite version of AIO SEO, and today I have the PRO plan. Just as you mentioned, although Yoast is definitely not a bad plugin, AIO SEO has greatly simplified my SEO optimization process and has significantly boosted my current rankings. For small websites, the price might be a bit higher; however, for large businesses, it’s a negligible amount that often pays off in what the plugin can achieve. Today, I wouldn’t use anything else for SEO optimization on my website.
Moinuddin Waheed
The main reason for yoast seo popularity is its market share in seo for a long time and everyone comes to know when starting their seo journey about yoast seo.
It is indeed a great plugin but new players in seo has done recently very good and have infact outpaced the yoast seo.
I have been using AIOSEO for quite a while and found it very user friendly and all the powerful features of seo.
Jiří Vaněk
I don’t think it’s just about the market and the share Yoast has. It really is a very good plugin. If we’re talking about Yoast vs. AIO SEO, yes, AIO wins, but it’s usually in the details and user-friendliness. However, even AIO SEO isn’t perfect, as I can see especially on a multilingual website. Where it really struggles is SEO optimization of texts and articles in languages other than English. For example, all my headings have an SEO score of 30-40, which is terrible, but it’s only because they’re in Czech, and AIO SEO can’t evaluate them properly. But we’ll see. I think if someone chooses Yoast SEO, they won’t make a mistake. However, if I had to give a recommendation, I’d go with AIO SEO like you. I’ve had it on the PRO plan for a year now, and it’s helped me a lot.