RankLite – Fast, Clean SEO

RankLite focuses on the essentials of on-page SEO. It’s intentionally small, fast, and easy to configure. You get all the core tools—without the kitchen sink:

• Titles & Meta Descriptions per post/page with live counters
• Global defaults with smart fallbacks
• Open Graph & Twitter Cards (title, description, image)
• Canonical and robots meta (index/noindex, follow/nofollow)
• XML Sitemaps (/sitemap.xml) with pretty permalink support and pings to Google & Bing
• JSON-LD Schema for Website, Article, Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to blocks (basic)
• Breadcrumbs output helper
• Manual 301 Redirects
• Analytics helpers (Google Analytics/GTAG & Google Tag Manager passthrough)
• Optional data wipe on uninstall
• Multisite-aware and performance-minded

No telemetry. No ad pixels. No phone-home calls—everything stays on your site.

Why RankLite?

• Performance first. Lightweight code, minimal queries, no admin nag spam.
• No lock-in. Uses standard WordPress fields/meta so you can switch any time.
• Clean UI. Sensible defaults and clear controls that won’t overwhelm you.

What’s included in the Free version?

• Titles/meta with counters and fallbacks
• Canonical, robots
• Open Graph & Twitter Cards
• Website/Article/Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to schema (basic, JSON-LD)
• XML sitemaps with Google/Bing pings
• Breadcrumbs helper
• Manual redirects (301)
• Analytics & GTM helpers
• Tools page with wipe on uninstall option

Pro add-on

A separate Pro add-on (not required) can extend RankLite with AI-assisted titles/descriptions/alt-text/articles, advanced schema & sitemaps, a 404 monitor, and auto-redirects. The free plugin is fully functional on its own and does not require Pro.

Features

• Meta box on posts/pages for custom SEO Title & Description
• Smart fallback to site title/tagline or post excerpt
• Open Graph/Twitter image fallback
• Robots (index/noindex, follow/nofollow) per post and global
• Sitemaps: index + post types; pretty /sitemap.xml with:
  • Fallback query route for non-pretty permalinks
  • Automatic pings to Google and Bing when content changes (with safe throttling)
• Schema: Website, Article, Breadcrumbs + FAQ/How-to via blocks (basic) with safe defaults
• Breadcrumbs: simple template function/filter to output a trail
• Redirects: add simple 301 manual redirects from an admin screen
• Analytics: GA4/gtag and GTM helpers (paste ID and go)
• Developer-friendly (filters/actions documented below)
• Privacy-friendly: no data leaves your site

Privacy

This plugin does not:

• Collect personal data
• Send usage data to third parties
• Set cookies on the front end by itself

If you enable Analytics or GTM helpers, you are integrating external services—ensure you have the proper disclosures/consent (e.g., via your cookie banner).

Performance

• Minimal queries and safe caching behavior
• No assets loaded on the front end unless necessary
• Short timeouts and safe throttling for sitemap pings to Google/Bing

External services

This plugin can optionally connect to the following external services:

1. Google Search and Bing (sitemap ping)

– What it does: When sitemap pinging is enabled, RankLite can notify search engines that your sitemap has been updated. – What is sent: The public URL of your sitemap is sent as a query parameter to: – https://www.google.com/ping?sitemap= – https://www.bing.com/ping?sitemap= – When: Only when sitemap pinging is enabled in the plugin settings and a sitemap is generated/updated. – Terms / Privacy: – Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy / https://policies.google.com/terms – Microsoft (Bing): https://privacy.microsoft.com / https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement

1. Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager (optional)

– What it does: If you choose to enable Analytics or Tag Manager in RankLite, the plugin outputs the official tracking/snippet code provided by Google. – What is sent: Standard analytics/usage data as defined by Google, associated with your own property IDs (e.g. GA4, GTM). No additional data is sent by RankLite beyond what Google’s scripts normally collect. – When: Only when you explicitly enable these features and enter your own tracking IDs. – Terms / Privacy: – Google Analytics / Tag Manager: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ – Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Developers

Filter the final title string

/** * Filter the final value RankLite outputs. * * @param string $title Final title string. * @param array $parts Parsed parts (h1, site_name, brand, etc). * @param WP_Post|null $post Current post object (or null). * @param string $type Detected type: ‘news’ | ‘product’ | ‘default’. */ add_filter( ‘ranklite_meta_title_final’, function( $title, $parts, $post, $type ) { return $title; }, 10, 4 ); `

Add extra sitemap index entries (e.g. news/video)

add_filter( ‘ranklite/sitemaps/index_items’, function( $extra, $opts ) { $extra[] = array( ‘loc’ => home_url( ‘/news-sitemap.xml’ ), ‘lastmod’ => gmdate( ‘c’ ), ); return $extra; }, 10, 2 ); `

Tweak the breadcrumb trail before output

add_filter( ‘ranklite_breadcrumb_trail’, function( $trail ) { // $trail is an array of arrays like [ ‘name’ => ‘Blog’, ‘url’ => ‘https://example.com/blog/’ ]. return $trail; } ); `

Programmatic redirect registration

do_action( ‘ranklite/register_redirect’, ‘/old-path’, ‘/new-path’, 301 ); `

See inline docs for more hooks and parameters.