Up and running in twenty minutes
Grab your key, install, answer a few questions, turn on the tools you want. In this order.
Check your email
Bought Pro? Your licence key and a download link have been emailed to you by Freemius, our payment provider — usually within a minute. Can’t find it? Check your spam or promotions folder, or email support@metawrench.io with the address you bought with.
Using the free version? Skip this step — your download starts from the Download free button on the pricing page.
Install
Download the MetaWrench zip from the link in your email. Keep it zipped. Then in WordPress: Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip, Install, Activate. Setup opens on its own. If a screen asks you to opt in to updates and diagnostics, you can choose Skip.
Answer the setup questions
What kind of site is this, the business name, address, phone, hours and the areas you serve. These answers feed the schema, the llms.txt file and the advice on every page edit screen, so get them right once and you won’t type them again. Everything can be changed later under My Business.
Add your licence key (Pro only)
Paste the licence key from your email into the licence step of setup, or click Upgrade to Pro at the top of any MetaWrench screen and paste it there → Activate. The Pro tools unlock and updates arrive in your WordPress dashboard from then on. On the free tier, skip this.
Turn on the safe ones first
These cannot break anything and give you an immediate return:
- Indexing → Sitemap: untick Media and Template. Submit to Google and Bing.
- SEO → Schema: turn on Breadcrumbs and WebSite / WebPage. Leave ratings off until you have reviews.
- Email → SMTP: pick your provider, paste the credentials, send yourself a test.
- Backup: connect Google Drive or Dropbox, take one full backup now, set a weekly schedule.
- Security → General: turn on login protection and file protection.
Then performance, one at a time
Performance → Page speed → Measure, so you have a before number. Then turn on one setting, load your homepage and a couple of inner pages, and measure again. Cache first, then images, then minification, then JavaScript delay. If a page breaks, you know exactly which setting did it — turn it off or add the script to the exclusions.
If your host already has a page cache (WP Engine, Kinsta, Hostinger and most managed hosts do), leave MetaWrench’s page cache off and use the rest.
Connect Google
Connections → Reporting → Connect Google. One sign-in covers Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile. Pick the right property for this site and the dashboard fills in over the next day.
Write one page properly
Open your most important page. In the MetaWrench box under the editor, set a focus keyword, a title under 60 characters and a description between 140 and 160. Save. Then SEO → On-page SEO to see how it scored and what to fix. Do the rest of the site the same way, one page at a time.
Come back in a week
Check the 404 log for addresses worth redirecting, the broken-link report, the email log for anything that failed, and the firewall activity. After that, the scheduled jobs keep running and the dashboard tells you when something needs you.