I used to hire an SEO agency (NP Digital) to help my website rank on Google. Every month, I paid them, but I had no idea what they were actually doing. My traffic was stuck, and I felt like I was wasting money without seeing results.
That’s when I started looking for an easier solution—something that I could manage all of my myself without needing expert knowledge. After doing some research, I found a WordPress plugin called Rank Math that promised powerful SEO tools for free and easy upgrades.
At first, I wasn’t sure a plugin could replace a full agency. But once I started using Rank Math, I realised how much control it gave me—and how simple SEO could be.
This is my experience of replacing an SEO agency with Rank Math, and what really happened after I made the switch.
I Was Spending Money on SEO Without Seeing Real Results
For months, I was paying a professional SEO agency to manage my website. They sent me regular reports, but I didn’t fully understand them. I trusted them because I thought SEO was too technical for me.
Even after five months, my organic traffic barely changed. My Google rankings stayed the same, and I wasn’t seeing any increase in clicks or sales. I checked Google Search Console and noticed that impressions were flat, and my average position was stuck around page two.
To give you an idea, here’s what my Google Search Console looked like during that time:
I started asking myself, “If I’m spending money every month, why isn’t anything improving?” That’s when I realised I needed to try something different—something I could understand and control myself.
I Felt Out of the Loop (Like I Had No Control Over My Website)
Working with an SEO agency often felt like handing over my website to strangers. I received monthly reports filled with technical terms, but no one explained what those numbers really meant.
They promised growth, backlinks, and content optimisation—but I had no idea what work was being done. I couldn’t see any changes on my site. My blog posts looked the same, my keywords weren’t improving, and I wasn’t ranking any higher.
Every time I asked for details, I got vague answers like “SEO takes time” or “Google is unpredictable.” I didn’t feel involved in my own website’s success. Worse, I couldn’t even tell if they were doing anything at all.
I wanted to learn. I wanted to understand. But instead, I felt stuck—completely dependent on an agency that kept me in the dark.
I Started Looking for an Alternative I Could Manage Myself
After wasting months with no growth, I knew I had to change something. I wanted control over my own SEO.
I searched Google and YouTube for SEO tools that didn’t need a full-time agency. I looked for real user reviews and step-by-step tutorials.
My goal was clear: find something easy to use, powerful enough to get results, and made for beginners. No complex reports. No hidden work.
That’s when I discovered Rank Math. It came up again and again in blogs and videos from real users. People were calling it the best free SEO plugin for WordPress—and I was curious.
That’s When I Found Rank Math
During my research on Google and YouTube, one tool kept showing up—Rank Math.
It wasn’t just mentioned casually. People were recommending it with real passion and proof. I saw creators sharing their screen, walking through settings, and showing how much easier SEO became for them.
What stood out to me was how feature-rich Rank Math was—even in the free version. It offered on-page SEO suggestions, schema markup, 404 monitoring, and more. All in one plugin.
Plus, the interface looked clean. No fluff. No confusing options. Just practical tools I could understand and start using right away.
Setting It Up Took Me Less Time Than Making a Cup of Coffee
I expected the setup to be difficult—like most SEO tools. But Rank Math surprised me.
The setup wizard walked me through everything step-by-step. It even auto-detected settings based on my site.
After installing the RankMath SEO plugin on my SEO agency, I am redirected to the Setup wizard page. And there are 3 setup options: Easy, Advanced, and Custom mode. I chose Advanced and started the process.
Then every step is easy to understand, like giving the website name, alternative names, connecting with Google Search Console, and a few advanced steps, but I can easily skip them and set as the default.
Within minutes, Rank Math was fully installed, configured, and ready to optimise my content.
It honestly took less time than making my morning coffee. And I finally felt in control.
Rank Math Gave Me a Clear SEO Score and Told Me What to Fix
When I first opened a blog post after installing Rank Math, I noticed a simple SEO score on the side. It gave my content a number out of 100, showing me exactly where I stood. This made SEO feel less like a guessing game and more like a checklist I could follow.
The best part? Rank Math didn’t just tell me my score—it told me exactly how to improve it. Everything was clear, simple, and explained in everyday language.
Here are some of the things it helped me fix in my first post:
- ✅ Add a focus keyword in the title and URL
- ✅ Improve the meta description for better click-through rate
- ✅ Add internal and external links
- ✅ Use the keyword naturally in the content
- ✅ Optimize images with ALT text
- ✅ Fix heading structure (H1, H2, etc.)
- ✅ Content URL length
- ✅ Focus Keyword density
- ✅ External link with do-follow backlink
- ✅ Title needs to contain power words
Every time I made a change, the SEO score updated live. That small win—watching the score go up—made the process exciting and motivating.
Before Rank Math, I never really knew what was wrong with my content. Now, I had a personal SEO assistant inside my WordPress dashboard, guiding me step-by-step.
This one feature alone helped me rewrite and optimise most of my existing blog posts. And I did it all without hiring anyone or reading complicated SEO guides.
Let’s talk about the real-time suggestions and how helpful they were
One of the biggest game-changers for me was Rank Math’s real-time suggestions while editing posts.
As I typed, it pointed out what I could improve—right there, in the editor. I didn’t need to save or refresh the page. I saw the SEO score update instantly based on what I changed.
It felt like having an expert look over my shoulder, guiding me with:
- 🟢 Keyword density tips
- 🟢 Readability checks
- 🟢 Title and meta description feedback
- 🟢 Suggestions to add images or links
- 🟢 Alerts if content was too short or missing a keyword
What I loved most is that the tips weren’t vague or technical. They were clear, actionable, and beginner-friendly. I never felt overwhelmed.
This feature helped me create better content—faster. I didn’t need to jump between tools or checklists. Rank Math gave me everything, in real time, exactly where I needed it.
It wasn’t just helpful — it made the whole SEO process feel natural.
I Followed the Tips, And My Rankings Actually Improved
After updating a few posts using Rank Math’s suggestions, I started noticing changes in Google Search Console.
Pages that barely ranked before were slowly climbing the results. Some of my older content even hit the first page for low-competition keywords.
Here’s what I did, consistently:
- 🛠 Followed all on-page SEO tips from Rank Math
- 🧩 Added keywords naturally in headings and content
- 🔗 Included internal and external links
- 🖼 Optimised image alt text and file names
- 📋 Wrote SEO-friendly titles and meta descriptions
I didn’t run ads. I didn’t hire anyone. I just followed the checklist Rank Math gave me—and it worked.
My organic clicks started going up. Impressions grew. I finally felt like I was building something sustainable, step by step.
I No Longer Needed to Pay for Keyword Research or Audits
SEO used to feel like a black box. My agency sent reports full of jargon I couldn’t understand. With Rank Math, everything changed.
The built-in Analytics Dashboard showed me what really mattered — in plain English.
Here’s what I can now see inside WordPress, thanks to Rank Math:
- 📊 Overall Optimization Score – Quick view of how well my site is optimized
- 🔍 Total Keywords – How many keywords I’m ranking for in Google
- 📈 Search Impressions – How often my pages appear in search results
- 👆 Search Clicks – How many people clicked on my site from Google
- 🎯 Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Helps me improve titles and meta descriptions
- 📌 Tracked Keywords – I can manually track important keywords and monitor progress
- 🏆 Top 3 Positions – Shows keywords ranking in the top 3
- ⚡ Top 4–10 Positions – Lets me know which posts need a little push to reach top 3
- ⬇️ Top 11–50 Positions – Helps me find quick-win opportunities for content updates
All of this is shown in clean graphs and tables. No need to switch between multiple tools or spreadsheets.
Fixing Technical Issues Was Easier Than I Expected
One thing that always scared me about SEO was the technical stuff—especially 404 errors and broken links.
Before Rank Math, I didn’t even know those issues were hurting my site. My agency never explained it clearly.
But Rank Math made it simple. Inside the dashboard, I discovered:
- 🚫 404 Monitor – It showed me all the broken pages visitors were landing on
- 🔁 Redirection Manager – I could quickly redirect those broken URLs to the correct pages
- ⚙️ Easy-to-use interface — No coding or plugins needed, everything worked inside WordPress
- 🧠 Smart automation — Rank Math even suggested redirects automatically in many cases
Fixing these issues used to take days (and emails to my agency). Now, I can solve them in minutes.
Talk about Rank Math SEO Analyzer
One thing I really liked about Rank Math was the SEO Analyzer — it’s like having a mini SEO expert inside your dashboard.
Before Rank Math, I had no clue where my SEO problems even were. My agency never gave me a clear picture.
But the SEO Analyzer changed that. Here’s what I found inside:
🎯 Priority Issues – It highlights the biggest problems that could tank your rankings, so you know exactly what to fix first.
🔍 Basic SEO Checks – It looks for stuff like missing titles, meta descriptions, and header tags. Things I thought were small but actually matter a lot.
🧩 Advanced SEO – This digs into tricky things like schema markup and canonical URLs — stuff I didn’t even know I needed.
⚡ Performance – It tells me how fast my site loads and suggests ways to speed it up, because slow sites lose visitors and rankings.
🔒 Security – It checks if my site has HTTPS and other security basics that Google loves.
What I love is that it breaks everything down in simple terms, with clear scores and tips. No more guessing or waiting on my agency to tell me what’s wrong.
Now I can run the analyzer anytime and fix issues fast. The best part? It gives me confidence that my site is always optimized and ready to rank.
Rank Math Didn’t Just Replace My Agency (It Made Me Smarter)
When I first switched from my SEO agency to Rank Math, I thought I was just saving money. But what I didn’t expect was how much I’d actually learn in the process.
Before, SEO felt like a black box — my agency handled everything, and I just hoped for the best. With Rank Math, everything became clear. I could see what was working, what wasn’t, and why.
It wasn’t just about fixing problems — it was about understanding them. Things like keyword optimization, site speed, and even those tricky technical errors suddenly made sense.
Rank Math’s tools gave me insights I never had before. I stopped feeling lost and started feeling in control.
So yeah, it replaced my agency. But more importantly, it made me smarter about SEO. And that’s something no agency could ever give me.
