Enable Meta Keywords Support in Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO comes with built-in support for description and meta keywords. However, the meta keywords feature is turned off by default.
First you will need to enable it in order to use meta keywords on your WordPress site.
You will start by visiting SEO » Dashboard page and then click on the ‘Features’ tab.
Now you need to click on ‘Enabled’ under ‘Advanced settings pages’ option and then click on save changes button to store your changes.
Yoast SEO settings page will now reload and you will be able to see a lot more options under the SEO menu.
Headover to SEO » Titles & Meta page and then click on the ‘Other’ tab.
Now you need to click on ‘Enabled’ under ‘Use meta keywords tag?’ option and then click on the save changes button.
You have successfully enabled meta keywords support in Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress. You can now add meta keywords to your posts and pages.
Keywords and Descriptions for WordPress Posts / Pages
First you need to edit a post or page where you want to add keywords and meta description.
Scroll down a little to ‘Yoast SEO’ meta box below the post editor.
You will see your site’s title and automatically generated description as a snippet. Below that you will see Meta Keywords field.
You need to enter your keywords separated by a comma. Don’t use more than 10 keywords or phrases.
Make sure that you only use keywords that are relevant to your content and that you have already used those keywords or phrases inside your article.
Now you need to click on the ‘Edit Snippet’ button and enter your site’s description. This will turn the snippet preview into an editable area.
Make sure that you use your main keyword at least once in your description.
After that click on the ‘Close snippet editor’ button when you are done. You will be able to see your custom description in the snippet preview now.
Congratulations, you have successfully added meta keywords and description to your WordPress post. You can now save or publish your post or page.
Adding Keywords and Meta Description for Homepage
You can also add keywords and description for your site’s homepage in WordPress. Here is how to do that using Yoast SEO plugin.
Headover to SEO » Titles & Metas page and then click on the ‘Homepage’ tab. Here you can add a custom title, description, and meta keywords for your site’s homepage.
Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.
Meta Keywords and Description for Category Archives
You can also add keywords and description to your category and tag archive pages.
First you need to visit Posts » Categories page. Take your mouse over to the category you want to edit and then click on the ‘Edit’ link.
This will open the category editor page where you need to scroll down to Yoast SEO meta box.
Now you need to click on the Edit Snippet button to enter your own description of the category.
After that you need to click on the ‘Settings’ button to enter meta keywords to be used for that particular category’s archive pages.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update’ button store your settings.
You can repeat the process to add keywords and descriptions to your tags and other custom taxonomy archives.