If you are a WordPress user, you might have used Yoast SEO plugin. It’s the most popular, complete and most effective SEO plugin on the market today. If you have never used this plugin then check our guide on “Write Blog Post With WordPress Yoast SEO Plugin“. If you have been using this Yoast SEO plugin for some time then you should have known a fact that it allows only one focus keyword for the free version. In this article, we will show you how to add multiple focus keywords in Yoast SEO for free.

How to Add Multiple Focus Keywords in Yoast SEO for Free

Google allows up to 5 keywords to be added to a single page or single article. Using more than 5 keywords can be regarded as bad SEO practice. These keywords should be added to your title tag, URL, first paragraphs, headings and many other places as you like on the page. When using the free Yoast SEO plugin we are limited to using only one focus keyword which is a major disadvantage for your competitive niche. Let’s see how to add multiple focus keywords using Yoast SEO for free.

Step 1: Get Yoast SEO Plugin Ready

I am assuming that you already have the Yoast SEO plugin installed. If you don’t have the plugin then you can easily install Yoast SEO Plugin by going to Plugins > Add New from your admin dashboard.

Once installed and activated, you should see Yoast SEO meta box at the bottom of the visual editor. But if you can’t see the Yoast SEO box at the bottom of your visual editor page then search for something called screen option at the top of the page. Click screen options button and a drop down opens with a number of checkboxes. Check the Yoast SEO checkbox and now Yoast SEO box should appear at the bottom of the page.

Step 2: Activate and Add Meta Keyword

Meta keywords used to be the star of SEO back in the 90s. Although Google gives less importance to meta keyword nowadays but still meta keyword has some symbolic importance in SEO. Meta keyword is something that is added to the meta tag on a page, indicating that page’s main keywords. It looks something like this in the page

<meta name="keywords" content="seo, search engine optimisation, search engine optimization, 
search engine ranking">

We will be using meta keywords to store the all the extra focus keywords we will be using in our post. To add multiple focus keywords in Yoast SEO for free, we will add them in meta keywords. To activate meta keyword, visit SEO > Titles & Metas. Then go to ‘other’ tab and enable meta tab option. Do not forget to save the changes.

From now on whenever your edit/create any post and pages you will get the option to enter meta keywords. From your keyword list enter 3-5 keywords in the meta keyword field.

Step 3: Optimize Your Blog for Primary Focus Keyword

The content analysis by Yoast SEO will suggest the modifications that should be made in the articles. Modifications include adding focus keyword in the title, description, first paragraph, URL and so on. Make all the necessary changes in the post until all the red signs turn into green.

Also Read: How to Setup Google Analytics on WordPress

Step 4: The Secret Revealed

This is the main secret on how to add multiple focus keyword in Yoast SEO plugin for free. Replace the primary focus keyword with a keyword in the meta keyword box. Now all your green signal will turn into red again. So optimize your post for second focus keyword too by adding the keyword in the description, paragraphs, headings wherever possible.

You may add the second focus keyword in the places like meta description, first paragraph, subheading, alt tag in the image and anywhere in the post to maintain the healthy keyword density. However, it will be extremely difficult to include all the focus keywords in the title and URL since it will be really long. Optimize your article as long as many red signals turn green for the second keyword as well. Similarly, repeat the same process for all the remaining keywords.

In this way, your single post or page will have a number of focus keywords included instead of limiting to a single one.

Conclusion

Focus keyword is just an abstract word. No real code will be added to your blog. Google will analyze your entire post to extract the focus keywords. That means this trick will actually work and you can actually add more than one focus keywords in Yoast SEO for free. If you use this trick you are using the service of the premium version by Yoast without spending a penny. What do you think about this idea? Send us feedback on your comments. I hope you like this article on how to add multiple focus keywords in Yoast SEO for free. You can also read our other article on “Best Tools to Create Keywords List to Help in Your Keyword Research“.

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Kantiman Bajracharya

Kantiman Bajracharya is a freelance web developer. He is a computer geek who has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering. He has earned lots of satisfied customers while working for numerous successful projects. He is also a WordPress theme creator and web article writer. On free time he likes reading philosophy books, traveling and playing chess.