There’s a hot new SEO Plugin out there and it’s name is RankMath.

I think of it as “SEO For The Rest Of Us.”

I have never liked the other SEO plugins(I need not name them. They’re already well known).

RankMath is smart and easy to use. It looks like it was built into WordPress. You can download it from the WordPress plugin repository.

I recently did a sit down with Bhanu Ahluwalia, Chief Marketing Officer and a co-founder of RankMath. Somehow I met Bhanu online a few months ago. He’s been incredibly responsive to my questions and comments about RankMath.

Here’s what he ad to say about his plugin which is getting a lot of buzz around WordPressland.

Me: There are already two very well known WordPress SEO plugins out there. Why Rank Math? Why did you think you can make a name in a very crowded space?

Bhanu: We created Rank Math to solve a problem we were facing on our own websites – there was not a complete SEO solution available for WordPress. Rank Math is a suite of SEO tools that any website owner would need to combat on-page and technical SEO challenges. If someone uses Rank Math, they don’t need a separate plugin for the Schema Markup (some of our competitors have now bundled Schema options too), for monitoring 404, for redirecting broken or deleted pages, for auto image SEO, for Local SEO, for WooCommerce SEO, or for seeing their Search Console data right inside one complete SEO plugin.

Despite there being a few well-known SEO plugins – we saw the opportunity to give users with one plugin what they have to attain with multiple plugins – all inside one intuitive, unified interface. The growth we have seen with Rank Math has only proven that we were right, and people do appreciate a useful plugin when they see one.

Me: What’s behind the name “Rank Math?” What does it mean?

Bhanu: The name mostly has to do with the on-page SEO analysis we run and the score we assign to each optimization we check for in the user’s content. The score adds up to a 100, and the idea is that, if done correctly, the higher score would ideally mean a well-optimized blog post. So, the math that will help the user rank.

Me: What makes you different? Why should someone using Yoast or All In One SEO switch over to Rank Math?

Bhanu: We give users complete control over their on-page SEO. A beginner can use the plugin as-is, but if they want, they can control every aspect of their SEO. Want to noindex paginated series’? We have got your back. How about setting up a title/meta description template for your CPTs? Rank Math’s got it. Apart from that, we also offer options like a 404 monitor, redirections, Google Search Console integration, Automated Image SEO, Sitemaps, Schema, and much more.

Me: What’s your background? How did you get into the SEO Plugin business, and what role do you play at Rank Math?

Bhanu: I started with blogging back in 2009 after completing my engineering in Computer Sciences. That quickly turned from being a hobby to being a full-time career. Together with my co-founders, we first launched MyThemeShop to create fast-loading, SEO-friendly themes. Then, we launched a full-fledged SEO plugin with Rank Math. I am responsible for making sure new features get added to the plugin, and current features are always improved.

Me: Where is Rank Math located? Do you have an office or are you a completely distributed operation?

Bhanu: We are registered in the US, but we have a very diverse team from all over the world (US, Canada, Europe, Asia) and a team that all work from home. We are a 100% remote team.

Me: Where do you see SEO and your plugin going? What plans do you have for a premium service, when would that roll out and what might that include?

Bhanu: We are focusing on improving it every day based on our users’ feedback. We are working on working on a paid version of the plugin, but we won’t limit or remove anything that is currently working in the free version. The Pro version will focus on helping advanced users and making things automated.

Me: Thank you Bhanu for taking time to do this. I wish you mjuch success with RankMath.