Activate Rank Math and a setup wizard appears straight away, asking what kind of site you run, whether to connect Google, which sitemaps you want and whether external links should be nofollow. Each screen seems to assume you already know the answer. Clicking “next” through all of it is tempting, and it is how many small business sites end up with settings nobody chose on purpose.
This Rank Math setup guide goes through the wizard and the settings after it with a small business site in mind: what to pick, what to leave off, and what you can safely ignore. Labels shift a little between versions, so if a screen looks slightly different from what is described here, look for the nearest equivalent rather than guessing. SEO is one part of a wider routine, which our guide to managing a WordPress website covers from updates to users.
Before you run the wizard
A few minutes of preparation saves undoing choices later. Before you configure Rank Math:
- Check for another SEO plugin. If Yoast SEO, All in One SEO or a separate sitemap plugin is active, decide which one stays. Rank Math can import their data during setup, but running two at once doubles up titles, sitemaps and schema.
- Take a backup. The import step writes to your database. A backup lets you go back if the result is not what you expected.
- Have your details ready: the business name as customers know it, a square logo, and an image you are happy to show when a page is shared on social media without its own image.
If you are still unsure whether Rank Math is the right plugin for you, the comparison of Yoast and Rank Math may help you decide before you commit.
Running the setup wizard, screen by screen
The wizard opens after activation, and you can return to it later from the Rank Math dashboard. Depending on the version, it may first ask you to connect a free Rank Math account, which is used for its Google connection and some optional features. It also asks you to choose a setup mode.
Easy or Advanced mode
Easy mode hides many options and is fine if you want a short path. Advanced mode shows everything. You may also see a custom option tied to the paid version; you do not need it. For a business site you will maintain yourself, Advanced is worth choosing even if you leave most settings alone, because it lets you see the archive and schema options covered below. You can switch modes later from the Rank Math dashboard.
Import from other plugins
If Rank Math finds another SEO plugin’s data, it offers to import it: settings, per-page titles and descriptions, and in some cases redirects. Tick what you want to keep. Once the import is done and you have spot-checked a few pages, deactivate the old plugin.
Your site
Here you tell Rank Math what the site is. For most owners reading this, the right answer is a small business site or a local business, with your business type picked from the list if one fits. Enter your business name exactly as it appears on your signage and your Google Business Profile, add the logo and the default social image. These details feed the structured data that describes your business to search engines.
Analytics and Search Console
Rank Math can connect to your Google account to show Search Console data inside WordPress. This is optional. If you already use Search Console directly, or plan to, you lose nothing by skipping it now. Our guide to verifying your site in Search Console covers the different ways to connect.
Sitemaps
Leave sitemaps switched on. Include posts and pages, and any content type that holds pages you want found, such as products or services if your theme stores them separately. Leave out anything that is purely internal. Rank Math’s sitemap usually lives at /sitemap_index.xml and replaces the one WordPress builds on its own.
SEO tweaks
This screen offers a few site-wide choices:
- Noindex empty category and tag archives: sensible to turn on. An archive with no posts in it is an empty page.
- Nofollow external links: leave this off. Marking every outbound link nofollow is not needed, and it applies to links you would happily vouch for.
- Open external links in a new tab: a matter of taste, not SEO. Many people prefer links that behave normally.
Advanced options at the end
After the main steps the wizard may offer role management, 404 monitoring and redirections, and schema settings. Turn on Redirections if you do not already use a separate redirect plugin, because you will need it whenever a page is renamed. Set the default schema for posts to an article type, and leave pages without a default unless you know what type each should be.
Modules to leave off on a small site
Rank Math is built from modules you switch on and off from its dashboard. Fewer active modules means fewer screens, fewer things to check after updates, and less to go wrong.
| Module | Suggestion for a small business site |
|---|---|
| Sitemap, Schema, Redirections | On. These are the core reasons to have the plugin. |
| Local SEO | On if you serve customers from an address or a defined area. |
| 404 Monitor | Off most of the time. It logs every missing-page visit to your database. Turn it on when you are actively looking for broken addresses, then off again. |
| Instant Indexing | Usually off. It sends notices through IndexNow, which some search engines accept. Google has not been one of them, so it does little for most owners. |
| Image SEO | Off. Filling missing alt text automatically from file names tends to produce poor descriptions. Write alt text yourself. |
| News Sitemap, Video Sitemap, Podcast, AMP, bbPress, BuddyPress | Off unless your site really publishes that kind of content. |
| Content AI | Optional. It is a writing assistant, not a setting your site needs. |
Titles and meta: the site-wide rules
In Rank Math’s Titles & Meta settings (under the Rank Math SEO menu in recent versions) you set the patterns Rank Math uses when a page has no custom title or description of its own. A few are worth a look:
- Homepage. If your front page is a static page, its title and description are usually edited on that page itself. If not, set them here, describing what the business does and where.
- Posts and Pages. The default pattern of page title, separator and site name is fine. Pick one separator and leave it.
- Authors. On a site with one or two authors, author archives often duplicate the blog. Disabling them or setting them to noindex is common.
- Tags and categories. How to treat these depends on how you use them; the post on category and tag pages in search covers that decision.
- Local SEO. Where the plugin asks whether the site represents a person or a company, choose the company option, then add name, logo, address, phone and opening hours. Keep them identical to what is on your Google profile and your contact page.
Per-page titles and descriptions are edited in the Rank Math panel inside the editor, covered in the broader overview of WordPress SEO for owners and its related how-tos.
Checks after your Rank Math setup
- Open /sitemap_index.xml in a private window. It should list sub-sitemaps for your posts and pages.
- View the source of your home page and search for “application/ld+json”. That is the structured data Rank Math adds; your business name should appear in it.
- Open a couple of pages in the editor and check the Rank Math snippet preview shows a sensible title.
- Go to Settings → Reading and confirm search engines are not discouraged.
If a setting misbehaves, look in Rank Math’s Status & Tools area. It includes version control, for returning to an earlier release of the plugin, and an import and export section that can save a backup of the plugin’s settings. Save one before experimenting.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run the Rank Math wizard again later?
Yes. The setup wizard can be reopened from the Rank Math dashboard. Running it again changes the settings it covers, so note your current choices first or save a settings backup from Status and Tools before you start, in case you want to return to how things were.
Do I have to create a Rank Math account?
Some versions ask you to connect a free account during setup, mainly for the Google connection and optional features such as Content AI. The core tools, including titles, sitemaps, schema and redirects, are what most small business sites rely on. Check the current wizard for whether the step can be skipped.
Will Rank Math slow my site down?
Each active module adds a little work, which is one reason to switch off modules you do not use. The 404 Monitor in particular writes to the database on every missing-page visit. If the site feels slow, measure it before blaming any single plugin, because the cause is often elsewhere.
What happens to my titles if I deactivate Rank Math?
The titles and descriptions you entered stay in the database but stop being used, so pages fall back to WordPress’s default titles and have no meta description. The Rank Math sitemap and schema also stop. If you are switching plugins, import the data into the new one before deactivating.
Inherited a Rank Math install and cannot tell what anyone chose? Our WordPress support service can read through the configuration with you, explain what each setting is doing, and change only what you agree to.
Next in this series: Yoast vs Rank Math: Which Suits a Business Site?
