Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing website content and structure to increase traffic from search engines to a site. Magento 2 is a popular e-commerce platform that allows users to create online stores. Rank Math is a popular SEO plugin that can be used to improve the SEO performance of an online store built on Magento 2. In this article, we will discuss how to use Rank Math and Magento 2 SEO together to improve the visibility of a Magento 2-based online store.

Installing Rank Math Plugin

The first step towards using Rank Math and Magento 2 SEO together is to install the Rank Math plugin. This can be done by following the below steps:

1. Go to Rank Math website and download the plugin.
2. Login to your Magento 2 admin panel.
3. Click on System > Web Setup Wizard in the left-hand menu.
4. Select the option "Composer" and click on the "Start Readiness Check" button.
5. Ensure that the readiness check passes and click on "Next".
6. Enter the credentials for your Rank Math account and click on the "Next" button.
7. Follow the instructions to complete the installation of the plugin.

Configuring Rank Math Plugin

Once the Rank Math plugin has been installed, it is important to configure it to ensure that it is properly integrated with Magento 2 SEO. The following sections explain how to do this:

Setting Up the General Settings

The general settings of Rank Math should be configured to ensure that the plugin is configured to work with Magento 2 SEO. This can be done as follows:

1. Go to Rank Math > General Settings in the Magento 2 admin panel.
2. Click on the "General" tab.
3. Choose the "Active" option for the plugin activation.
4. Choose the "Manual" option for the SEO analysis and click the "Save Changes" button.

Configuring Sitemaps

Sitemaps are important for SEO as they help search engines crawl and index website content. To configure sitemaps in Rank Math, follow these steps:

1. Go to Rank Math > Sitemap Settings in the Magento 2 admin panel.
2. Check the boxes next to "Enable Sitemap" and "Enable Sitemap Index".
3. Choose the "Automatic" option for generating sitemaps, and enable the robots.txt file.
4. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Configuring Permalinks

Permalinks are the URLs that are used to access website content. It is important to have permalinks that are SEO-friendly to improve the visibility of a Magento 2-based online store. To configure permalinks in Rank Math, follow these steps:

1. Go to Rank Math > Permalink Settings in the Magento 2 admin panel.
2. Choose the "Custom" option.
3. Update the permalink structure to include the product and category names, along with the store name.
4. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Configuring Redirections

Redirections are used to redirect users and search engines to different versions of website content. This is useful in situations where website content has been moved or deleted. To configure redirections in Rank Math, follow these steps:

1. Go to Rank Math > Redirections in the Magento 2 admin panel.
2. Choose the "Import" option to import the Magento 2 SEO configuration data.
3. Choose the "Easy" option for the redirections creation.
4. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Rank Math and Magento 2 SEO can be used together to improve the visibility of a Magento 2-based online store. By following the above steps, users can configure Rank Math to work with Magento 2 SEO, thereby improving the SEO performance of their online store. It is important to regularly monitor and optimize the SEO performance of a Magento 2 online store to ensure maximum visibility and success.