Looking for an Alternative to Yoast?

User Interface (UI) and Navigation

Due to its nature as a WordPress & Shopify plugin, Yoast's user interface differs from a standalone platform like Hike and cannot be directly compared. Yoast is integrated into the WordPress or Shopify dashboard and can be accessed within individual pages and posts. Within these settings, users have the ability to adjust various SEO-related configurations to enhance the website's SEO performance. While beginners may initially find it a bit confusing to grasp how the plugin functions and where to locate it, it becomes less complex with experience after optimizing a page or post a few times.

Conversely, Hike operates as a standalone platform with a user interface purposefully designed to be user-friendly for beginners and small business owners, regardless of their prior SEO knowledge. This streamlined approach makes it an ideal starting point, especially when combined with a tool like Yoast, ensuring that on-site recommendations and actions are correctly executed for WordPress or Shopify websites.

"I love being able to go to one place to uncover insights so easily. The tools within Hike are so easy to use and I’ve found it really helpful to know what to work on next to improve my site and the way I show up."

Tricia Isham

Source: Google Reviews

Onboarding and Tutorials

Onboarding on Yoast is quite simple. Once it’s installed, it’s pretty much ready to go and start using. If the free version is being used, then some of the features reserved for the Premium version will be disabled, but most of the options will be still highly beneficial to your SEO.

With Hike, onboarding is straightforward and designed for the beginner user. Simply adding the website URL, selecting the business industry, and entering a few other pieces of information, Hike will then proceed to scan the website and come up with a list of initial actions for you to review and start actioning.

What sets Hike apart from many tools is its comprehensive set of tutorials and training videos that can be found in the Hike Academy as well as its YouTube channel. The video tutorials walk you through all the aspects of the platform and show you how to make the best use of them. Hike also has its own knowledge base as well for specific questions.

On-Page Optimization

When focusing on on-page optimization, Yoast is specifically tailored for this purpose, but exclusively for WordPress and Shopify websites. In contrast, Hike offers platform-independent on-site SEO recommendations and actions. Yoast also provides a valuable search snippet preview, illustrating how the optimized page will appear in search results, including any modifications made to the title and meta description.

Yoast equips you with the necessary tools for modifying on-page elements and handling redirects, whereas Hike provides active guidance on what specific changes are needed and where to implement them. This synergy between both tools renders tasks such as altering page titles, meta descriptions, and other metadata straightforward and efficient.

Content Recommendations

When it comes to content, Yoast has an AI generator tool that helps create suitable titles and meta descriptions for your content. That means you’ll save the time and hassle of manually crafting unique titles and descriptions for each and every page.

Hike goes a step beyond by utilizing Chat-GPT4 to generate page content through its "Content Wizard," incorporating your specified keywords seamlessly. This feature offers an excellent starting point, particularly beneficial for beginners, as it eliminates the need to begin with a blank page and saves valuable time.

In the end, if you're using WordPress or Shopify, you can effectively combine both tools. Hike can generate an initial draft, which you can then fine-tune and refine within the content management system (CMS) using Yoast's valuable content suggestions.

"I’m new to the platform but so far so good! It’s organized nicely and a great tool to guide you into implementing fixes and improvements."

Sylvia Bolivar

Source: Google Reviews

Reporting & Analysis

One thing that Yoast lacks is reporting & analysis features. This is not surprising given that it’s designed to be an optimizer of the content, and not a full-fledged SEO platform.

Hike, being a comprehensive platform, seamlessly incorporates Google Search Console and enhances the user experience by including Google Analytics integration. This integration consolidates all traffic statistics into one accessible location, simplifying the process for beginners. Additionally, Hike provides a keyword tracking tool, enabling users to monitor the performance of critical business keywords within search results.

Within Hike, the Report Builder stands out as a highly valuable tool for small businesses. This feature empowers beginners to craft personalized, branded reports effortlessly through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. It also enables users to schedule regular report dispatches, offering the ability to monitor the progression of their search visibility over time.

"I have been using Hike for a few weeks now and it has helped me start my SEO journey. The platform is so user friendly and guides me through actions that I need to do- it is like having your own SEO sat next to you!"

Mark Raffan

Source: Google Reviews

Pricing

Yoast operates on a Freemium model, where you can freely install and utilize its basic features. However, for access to advanced functionalities, there are additional costs involved. These premium packages are available starting at £99 per year and can go up to £229 per year.

It's essential to note that Yoast doesn't offer the comprehensive range of SEO tools found in platforms like Hike. Therefore, its functionality and capabilities are limited compared to full SEO suites. This explains why its pricing falls on the more affordable side of the spectrum.

Hike stands as an all-inclusive SEO platform, and its pricing aligns well with the value it delivers. For just £49.99 per month, small businesses gain access to a comprehensive set of user-friendly features. This not only encompasses on-page optimization but also extends to off-page, local SEO, and all other crucial facets contributing to overall SEO success.

For even greater savings, opting for the annual package reduces the effective monthly cost by 45%, bringing it down to only £26.99 per month.

In Summary

Due to its specific tool type, Yoast can be seamlessly integrated with a comprehensive SEO suite like Hike, simplifying the implementation of Hike's recommendations for beginners (provided they have a WordPress or Shopify website with Yoast installed).

For small business owners using WordPress or Shopify, Yoast serves as an invaluable resource, enabling straightforward content optimization through its user-friendly interface. This efficiency is further enhanced by leveraging Hike's recommendations and the content generated by the Content Wizard.

If you haven’t already, sign up to Hike today and start improving your SEO one step at a time.