SEO

On-page SEO

Scores every published page and post against the same set of checks and shows them all in one table, with each page’s focus keyword, where it currently ranks for it, its score out of 100, and how many other sites link to it. Open a row and it shows only the checks that need attention, with a one-line explanation of each, and a button to edit the page.

There are 37 checks, each weighted by how much it matters. The heavy ones are the page title, the main heading and the meta description; the lighter ones are things like paragraph length and link wording. The checks cover the page type, title and description length, headings and their order, amount of content, the focus keyword in the title, heading, first paragraph, address and image descriptions, keyword frequency, internal and external links, broken links, images and alt text, a way to take action, a phone number, a place name, noindex and canonical, address length and format, freshness, lists, secondary keywords, image sizes, structured data, and the sharing preview.

Settings

Site / Pages / Posts / Announcements

Filters the table to one content type. Site shows everything.

Check these

Scores the listed pages. Pages are also re-scored automatically when published. Pages checked with an older version of the checks are updated in the background.

Refresh rankings

Pulls the latest position for each page’s focus keyword from Search Console. Needs Google connected under Connections → Reporting.

Sort by column

Click Page, Keyword, Rank, Page SEO or Backlinks. Sorting by score, lowest first, is the fastest way to find what to fix next.

Edit this page

Opens the editor. The MetaWrench box under the content is where the title, description, keyword and page type are set.

When something looks wrong

A page scores 0 or says Not checked yet

Press Check these. If it stays at 0, the page has no focus keyword; several checks cannot run without one. Set it in the MetaWrench box on the edit screen.

Rank shows a dash

Either Google is not connected, or Search Console has no impressions for that keyword yet — new pages and niche keywords take days to weeks to appear. Connect, wait, and press Refresh rankings.

Backlinks shows a dash

Backlink counts come from Search Console’s links report. Same fix: connect Google, wait for data.

The score seems harsh on a short page

Amount of content is weighted, and a contact page will never score like a service page. Look at which checks failed rather than chasing 100 on pages that are meant to be short.

It says One main heading: 2 found

Your theme prints the site title as an H1 and your page has another. Most themes let you change the site title to a link or a div; otherwise ignore this one check.

Schema

Schema is the structured data in your page head that tells Google what your business is rather than making it guess: a plumber with these hours, at this address, serving these towns, with this rating. MetaWrench writes it as JSON-LD from your My Business answers plus the switches on this tab, and adds page-level types (Service, FAQ, Article, Product and so on) from each page’s edit screen.

The tab shows a live preview of exactly what is being published, with a button to test it in Google’s Rich Results tool.

Settings

Business type

Read-only here; set in My Business. It decides the schema type (Plumber, Dentist, Restaurant, and so on). Change it there if it is wrong.

Price range

Optional. Typed as dollar signs, $ to $$$$. Shows in some listings.

Star ratings

Adds your aggregate rating. Needs the overall rating, number of reviews, best possible rating (usually 5) and a link to your reviews, which Google requires: the page where the reviews actually live, such as your Google Business Profile. Leave off until you have real reviews; invented numbers get a manual penalty.

Breadcrumbs

Shows the page path in results: Home › Services › Drain Cleaning.

WebSite, WebPage and Article schema

Foundational types, recommended for every site. On by default.

Sitelinks search box

Adds a search box to your Google listing. Google decides whether to show it, and usually only for sites with a lot of searches. Harmless either way.

Service areas / Services you offer

Read-only lists pulled from My Business, shown so you can see what will be in the schema. Add or edit them there.

Custom schema override

Paste your own JSON-LD and press Save custom schema to publish that instead of the generated version. While an override is active, a notice at the top says so and the settings above stop affecting the live schema. Reset to auto-generated goes back.

When something looks wrong

Rich Results test shows an error

Read which field it names. Nearly always it is blank in My Business — a missing phone, address, or opening hours. Fill it in and test again.

“Invalid JSON — not saved” when saving a custom override

A comma or bracket is missing. Paste the JSON into a validator to find the line. MetaWrench refuses to publish broken JSON.

Changing a switch does nothing to the preview

A custom override is active. Press Reset to auto-generated.

Google shows the wrong business type

Change it in My Business, save, and request reindexing of the homepage in Search Console. Google updates the knowledge panel on its own schedule, often weeks.

Two sets of schema on the page

Another SEO plugin is also outputting JSON-LD. Deactivate it; duplicate schema with conflicting values is worse than none.

404 monitoring

Every address a visitor or a search engine asked for that does not exist, recorded automatically with how many times, when first, and when last. The ones with the most hits are costing you visits right now: an old service page that is still linked from a directory, a URL that changed when you redesigned, a misspelling in an ad. Any row can be turned into a redirect in one click.

The log keeps the 200 most recent addresses. Known scanner noise is not logged.

Settings

The table

Broken URL, Hits, First seen, Last seen. Sorted by hits so the most damaging is on top.

Create redirect

Opens a small form with the broken address already filled in. Enter the full address it should go to and save. The row is removed from the log and the redirect appears on the Redirects tab.

Clear log

Empties the table. It refills as new 404s happen.

When something looks wrong

The log is empty

Either nobody has hit a missing page yet, which is good, or a caching layer is serving 404 pages without WordPress seeing the request. Visit a made-up address on your own site; if it does not appear within a minute, your host’s cache is intercepting 404s — ask them to exclude 404 responses from the cache.

The log is full of junk like /wp-login.php or /.env

Those are bots probing for weak spots. Turn on the firewall under Security and they are blocked before they reach the log.

A real page shows up as a 404

Its address changed or it was unpublished. If it moved, create a redirect to the new address. If it should exist, check it is published.

Redirects

Sends an old address to a new one so the ranking and the links pointing at it carry over. No .htaccess editing, no separate plugin, and because the rules live in MetaWrench rather than the theme, they survive a redesign.

Settings

Old URL (from)

The path only, starting with a slash: /old-page/. A trailing slash is added if you leave it off.

New URL (to)

The full address including https, on this site or another: https://yoursite.com/new-page/.

Type

301 for a permanent move, which passes ranking. 302 for temporary, which does not. Almost always 301.

+ Add redirect / ×

Adds or removes a row. Press Save redirects when done; nothing is live until saved.

When something looks wrong

The redirect does not fire

Check the From path exactly matches what the browser requests, including case and trailing slash. Clear the page cache; a cached copy of the old page is served before redirects run. If it still fails, another plugin or your host is also managing redirects.

The browser says too many redirects

The To address redirects back to the From, or two rules chain in a circle. Trace the path: the To should be the final destination, not another redirected address.

I redirected a page and Google still shows the old one

Normal for a few days to weeks. A 301 tells Google to update on its next crawl. Request reindexing of the new address in Search Console to hurry it.

I want to redirect a whole folder

Each rule is one address. For a whole folder, list the pages that had traffic (the 404 log tells you which) rather than every page that ever existed.

Broken links

Checks every link in your pages and posts and reports the ones that no longer go anywhere: a supplier who redesigned, a partner who closed, a page you deleted two years ago. Internal and external links both. Results are grouped by the page they are on, with the link text shown so you can find it quickly. Links in menus and widgets are checked too and labelled as appearing on every page.

Settings

Check links now

Starts a scan. Large sites take several minutes and run in the background; the tab shows progress and you can leave.

Ignore

Marks a reported link as fine so it stops appearing. For sites that reject automated checks but work in a browser.

Not on a page any more

A link that was broken last scan but has since been removed from the page. Informational; it clears on the next scan.

When something looks wrong

A link is reported broken but works when I click it

Some sites block automated requests and return an error to the checker while serving the page to browsers. Press Ignore on that link.

The scan says Still checking for a long time

It checks each link with a short timeout and runs in batches. A site with thousands of links takes a while. If it has not moved in an hour, run it again; it resumes.

Internal links are broken after a redesign

The addresses changed. Fix the links in the page, or add redirects from the old addresses so every old link on the web keeps working, not just yours.

How do I find the link on the page

The report shows the link text, for example “read the guide”. Open the page in the editor and search for that text.

Page edit screen

The box under every page and post while you write it. Three tabs: SEO Settings, Social Media, Schema. This is where a page’s title, description, keyword and page type are set, and where the on-page score comes from. Works in the block editor, the classic editor, Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder.

Settings

SEO Settings → Focus Keyword

Primary keyword the page is about, plus optional secondary keywords. Several of the 37 checks use this; without it the page cannot score fully.

SEO Settings → Meta Title / Meta Description

What Google shows. Live counters: 60 characters for the title, 160 for the description, with the bar turning amber when you are outside the good range. Below them a live score out of 100 updates as you type.

SEO Settings → Canonical URL

Only when this page is a copy of another and you want Google to credit the original. Leave blank otherwise.

SEO Settings → Show in search results / Follow links on this page

The per-page override of Indexing defaults. Untick the first to hide one page without touching the site-wide setting.

SEO Settings → Featured image

Drag or choose. 1200 × 630 or larger so Google can show it beside the result. Also used as the sharing image unless you set one on the Social tab.

Social Media → Facebook and LinkedIn

Custom title (50–60 characters) and description (145–155) for the sharing card those two use. Leave blank and the meta title and description are used.

Social Media → X

Card type (large image or small square), custom title (40–50) and description (115–125).

Social Media → Pinterest

Description up to 500 characters, ideally 220–240.

Social Media → Video

Video URL, title and description, if the page is about a video.

Social Media → Auto-publish

For posts: publish to connected social accounts automatically when the post goes live, with an optional custom caption and image, and a per-platform skip.

Schema → Page type

Choose one: service page, service area page, blog post, product and so on. Decides which schema type the page outputs and which advice the checks give. Extras adds FAQ, HowTo, Recipe, Video, Review, Event, Job posting and others, each with its own fields. A page can have several.

When something looks wrong

The box is not there

Screen Options at the top right of the editor; tick MetaWrench. In Elementor, it is on the WordPress edit screen, not inside the builder.

The FAQ schema outputs nothing

The FAQ extra only publishes what is typed into its question and answer fields. It does not read FAQ blocks from the page content. Add the pairs in the box.

The score does not change as I type

It updates on each field blur, not every keystroke. Click out of the field.

Counters show red at 60 characters

Google truncates by pixel width, not character count, so wide letters run out sooner. Aim for 50–55 if your titles use capitals or Ws and Ms.