Guide to navigating the new Yoast SEO settings interface

In Yoast SEO 20.0, we’ve released a major redesign of the plugin’s settings interface. The new interface aims to improve the user experience and make it easier to find and use the features you need. In this article, we’ll explain what has changed and provide a comparison of the old settings versus the new settings to help you find your way around. We’ve also included a walk-through video to guide you through the new interface.

Video: The new Yoast SEO settings interface

What’s changed?

One of the primary goals of the redesign was to improve the user experience and make it easier for you to find and use the features you need. To that end, we’ve updated the look and feel of the interface and rearranged some of the settings and features to better match your workflows.

The main thing to know is that we did not add any totally new features or settings. What we did was reorganize some of the existing ones to make them more intuitive and fit better with how you work. This should make things a lot smoother for you.

Screenshot of the new settings UI in Yoast SEO
The new settings user interface in Yoast SEO

One significant change you’ll notice is that the old tabbed interface has been replaced with a more intuitive left-hand menu with four main sections: General, Content types, Categories & tags, and Advanced. Within each section, you’ll find a range of settings and options that are organized and grouped according to their function.

Admin menu items

What’s more, the former admin menu items Search Appearance and Social have been merged into the new menu item Settings. The admin menu item General is still there, but some of its tabs have been moved to the new menu item Settings. Finally, the menu items Integrations, Tools, Premium, Workouts, and Redirects haven’t been touched and are still in the same place as before.

Screenshot of the new Yoast SEO admin menu
The new Yoast SEO admin menu
Screenshot of the old Yoast SEO admin menu
The old Yoast SEO admin menu

Old settings vs. new settings

If you’re already familiar with the old Yoast SEO interface, you might be wondering where your favorite settings and features have gone. In this section, we’ll provide a comparison of the old and new settings to help you find your way around the new interface.

Admin menu itemTab (old settings)SettingNew location
General DashboardGeneral > Dashboard (tab)
FeaturesSettings > General > Site features
IntegrationsIntegrations (admin menu item)
Webmaster toolsSettings > General > Site connections
Crawl settingsSettings > Advanced > Crawl optimization
First-time configurationGeneral > First-time configuration (tab)
Search AppearanceGeneralTitle separatorSettings > General > Site basics
HomepageSettings > Content types > Homepage
Knowledge graph & Schema.org > WebsiteSettings > General > Site basics
Knowledge graph & Schema.org > Organization or PersonSettings > General > Site representation
Content typesPostsSettings > Content types > Posts
PagesSettings > Content types > Pages
Custom content types (e.g. Products)Settings > Content types > Custom content types (e.g. Products)
MediaSettings > Advanced > Media pages
TaxonomiesCategoriesSettings > Categories & tags > Categories
TagsSettings > Categories & tags > Tags
FormatsSettings > Advanced > Format archives
Category URLsSettings > Categories & tags > Categories
ArchivesAuthor archivesSettings > Advanced > Author archives
Date archivesSettings > Advanced > Date archives
Special pagesSettings > Advanced > Special pages
BreadcrumbsSettings > Advanced > Breadcrumbs
RSSSettings > Advanced > RSS
SocialAccountsSettings > General > Site represenation
FacebookSettings > General > Site features
TwitterSettings > General > Site features
PinterestSettings > General > Site connections

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