Migrating from Rank Math or Yoast SEO
Minorank SEO automatically detects whether Rank Math or Yoast SEO is installed and offers a one-click migration that imports all your existing SEO data — meta titles, descriptions, focus keywords, robots settings, canonical URLs, Open Graph data, and redirections.
The migration is non-destructive — it reads from the old plugin's data and writes to Minorank's data store without modifying or deleting the source.
What gets imported
From Rank Math
| Data | Imported |
|---|---|
| Meta titles (all posts, pages, custom post types) | ✓ |
| Meta descriptions | ✓ |
| Focus keywords | ✓ |
| Robots settings (noindex, nofollow, noarchive) | ✓ |
| Canonical URLs | ✓ |
| Open Graph title, description, image | ✓ |
| Twitter card data | ✓ |
| Schema type (per post) | ✓ mapped to Minorank schema types |
| Redirections (requires Redirections module to be active) | ✓ |
| 404 log | ✓ |
From Yoast SEO
| Data | Imported |
|---|---|
| Meta titles | ✓ |
| Meta descriptions | ✓ |
| Focus keyphrases | ✓ mapped to focus keyword |
| Robots settings | ✓ |
| Canonical URLs | ✓ |
| Open Graph data | ✓ |
| Twitter card data | ✓ |
| Schema settings | ✓ mapped where applicable |
| Redirections (Yoast Premium only) | ✓ |
:::note Yoast free vs premium Yoast SEO free does not include a redirections manager. If you're on the free version, no redirections are imported because none exist in the source. This is expected. :::
What is skipped
Posts that already have Minorank meta data are skipped by default. This prevents overwriting any data you've already entered manually in Minorank. You can override this behaviour from the migration tool if needed.
Before you start
:::warning Take a backup first
Take a full WordPress database backup before running the migration. Most managed hosts offer one-click backups. You can also use UpdraftPlus or WP-CLI (wp db export).
While the migration is non-destructive, a backup ensures you can restore the exact previous state if anything goes wrong. :::
- Keep both plugins active during the migration. Do not deactivate Rank Math or Yoast SEO before importing — Minorank needs to read their data.
- Ensure Minorank SEO is installed and activated.
- Do not have both Rank Math and Yoast SEO active at the same time — pick one source plugin.
Running the migration
Step 1: Open the migration tool
Go to Minorank SEO → Settings and scroll to the Migration section. Or navigate to Tools → Migration if shown in the admin menu.
Step 2: Select the source
Minorank detects which plugins are installed. Select:
- Rank Math — if Rank Math is installed and active
- Yoast SEO — if Yoast SEO (free or premium) is installed and active
Step 3: Preview
Click Preview migration. A summary shows:
- Number of posts with meta data found in the source plugin
- Number of redirections found (if applicable)
- Any data that cannot be directly mapped
Step 4: Run the import
Click Start migration. The import runs in the background. For large sites (1,000+ posts), allow 2–5 minutes.
Step 5: Verify
After completion, spot-check several posts:
- Open a post in the Gutenberg editor.
- Check the Minorank SEO panel — meta title, description, and focus keyword should match what was in the old plugin.
- Check Minorank SEO → Redirections — redirections from the old plugin should appear here.
After migration
Once you've verified the import:
- Deactivate and delete the old plugin (Rank Math or Yoast SEO).
- Clear all caching (plugin cache, server cache, CDN cache) so new meta tags are served.
- Test a few pages in the Open Graph Debugger to confirm social meta is correct.
- Verify your sitemap at
yoursite.com/sitemap.xmlis being generated by Minorank.
:::tip Don't rush the deactivation Leave the old plugin installed but inactive for 24–48 hours while you verify everything is correct. Once confident, delete it. :::
Troubleshooting
Some posts have empty meta titles after migration
Some posts may not have had meta titles set in the old plugin (relying on auto-generated titles). These appear as blank in Minorank — which is correct. Use the Meta Manager in the Minorank Platform to find and fill gaps in bulk.
Redirections from Rank Math are missing
Rank Math redirections require the Redirections module to be enabled in Rank Math. Check Rank Math → Dashboard → Modules and confirm Redirections is active, then run the migration again.
Schema types don't match exactly
Some schema types in Rank Math or Yoast don't have a direct equivalent in Minorank. These are imported as Article (the closest generic type) and can be manually corrected on individual posts via the Schema tab in the meta box.