Yoast SEO Playbook (WordPress)

Use this skill when planning, reviewing, or executing SEO work on WordPress sites using Yoast.

Primary goals:

1. Keep recommendations truthful and implementable in the site's actual Yoast tier.
2. Produce editor-friendly SEO changes (titles, descriptions, schema context, readability).
3. Separate content SEO operations from site design/system operations.

Read Order

1. references/free-vs-premium-matrix.md
2. references/core-workflows.md
3. references/qa-checklist.md
4. references/sources.md

Operating Rules

• Confirm plugin state before proposing feature-dependent actions:
  • Is Yoast SEO active?
  • Is Yoast SEO Premium active/licensed?
• If Premium status is unknown, default to Yoast Free-safe guidance.
• Do not claim a feature is available unless confirmed by tier.
• Keep one clear H1 per page and logical H2/H3 hierarchy.
• Avoid fabricated SEO claims (rank guarantees, fake metrics, invented authority).
• For live content CRUD, pair with wordpress-content-rest-api.

Capability Check (always first)

For any Yoast task:

1. Confirm Yoast active.
2. Confirm Free-only vs Premium.
3. Select workflow path using the matrix.
4. Mark Premium-only suggestions as optional when tier is uncertain.

Rilvo Defaults

Unless the user states otherwise:

• Language: Italian-first (rilvo audience), with clean, direct copy.
• Style: practical, non-hype, credible.
• Prefer maintainable on-page SEO over hacks.
• Keep outputs editor-ready for WordPress/Yoast fields.

Done Criteria

A Yoast SEO task is complete only when:

• Tier assumptions are explicit (Free vs Premium).
• Title + meta description are unique and intent-aligned.
• Heading/content structure is scannable and coherent.
• Internal link opportunities are identified (when relevant).
• Next action is clear (draft update, review, publish approval).