Meta Tags

Introduction

The Meta Tags feature allows you to create SEO-friendly meta titles and descriptions programmatically for each page you generate. You can combine it with dynamic variables to personalize meta tags.

Our Meta Tags feature integrates with the most popular WordPress SEO plugins:

RankMath

Yoast SEO

All In One SEO (AIOSEO Pro)

This guide explains how to use the feature and what settings you need to configure in each SEO plugin to ensure proper integration.

Configuring SEO Plugins for Meta Tags

Before you can create and use Meta Titles and Descriptions, you must configure your WordPress SEO plugin. Below are the required steps for each supported plugin.

RankMath SEO

By default, Rank Math does not expose meta fields like rank_math_title and rank_math_description through the REST API. You must manually enable access.

Step 1: Enable Role Manager in Rank Math

Go to WordPress Dashboard → Rank Math → Dashboard.

Scroll down and find the Role Manager module.

Enable it, so users with the appropriate role can edit SEO settings.

Step 2: Register Rank Math Meta Fields for REST API

To allow access to Rank Math meta fields via the REST API, add the following code to your theme's functions.php file (see How to Edit functions.php Using WP File Manager:

add_action('init', function() {
    register_post_meta('post', 'rank_math_title', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    register_post_meta('post', 'rank_math_description', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    
    // Also enable for pages
    register_post_meta('page', 'rank_math_title', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    register_post_meta('page', 'rank_math_description', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
});

This ensures that the Rank Math SEO title and meta description fields are accessible via the WordPress REST API.

If meta fields do not appear in the API, ensure that the plugin is properly activated and up to date.

Yoast SEO

By default, Yoast SEO does not expose meta fields like _yoast_wpseo_title and _yoast_wpseo_metadesc through the REST API. You must manually enable access.

To allow access to Yoast meta fields via the REST API, add the following code to your theme's functions.php file (see How to Edit functions.php Using WP File Manager):

add_action('init', function() {
    register_post_meta('post', '_yoast_wpseo_title', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    register_post_meta('post', '_yoast_wpseo_metadesc', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    
    // Also enable for pages
    register_post_meta('page', '_yoast_wpseo_title', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
    register_post_meta('page', '_yoast_wpseo_metadesc', [
        'type'         => 'string',
        'single'       => true,
        'show_in_rest' => true,
    ]);
});

This ensures that the Yoast SEO title and meta description fields are accessible via the WordPress REST API.

If meta fields do not appear in the API, ensure that the plugin is properly activated and up to date.

All In One SEO (AIOSEO Pro)

AIOSEO requires REST API to be manually enabled.

Go to AIOSEO → Feature Manager.

Enable "REST API".

Click Save Changes.

How to Edit `functions.php` Using WP File Manager

Go to WordPress Dashboard → Appearance → Themes.

Find Your Active Theme (the one currently enabled on your website).

Go to Plugins → Install WP File Manager.

Open WP File Manager → Navigate to wp-content/themes/[your-active-theme].

Locate and edit functions.php.

Paste the above code at the end of the file and save changes.

How to Use Meta Tags

To set up meta tags, look for the "Additional Fields" dropdown in the interface. There, you will find input fields for Meta Title and Meta Description. You can define Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions using dynamic variables from your dataset. This enables you to generate personalized meta tags for each page automatically.

Troubleshooting

Issues with Variables or Dataset

Issue:

Your meta tags appear, but values are incorrect or not replaced as expected.

Solution:

Check Variable Names:

Ensure variables (e.g., {{City}}, {{ServiceName}}, {{Category}}) match the dataset headers exactly.

Variables are case-sensitive and must be correctly formatted.

Ensure Data is Present:

If a variable is missing in the generated meta tags, the dataset may not contain data for that field.

Check for empty or incorrect values in your dataset.

Contact and Support

For further assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team. Contact us at contact@seomatic.ai or via chat.