The Yoast SEO plugin is a cornerstone of WordPress optimization, providing invaluable tools for enhancing content for both search engines and readers. However, a common frustration among WordPress users is when Yoast SEO’s content analysis malfunctions, reporting issues like “The text contains 0 words” or displaying inaccurate word counts, even on pages with substantial content. This breakdown in analysis prevents users from receiving crucial feedback on their SEO and readability efforts. This guide will delve into the causes of these problems, offering a systematic approach to diagnosis and resolution, ensuring your content is optimized for maximum impact.
Understanding the Core Functionality of Yoast SEO
Before diving into troubleshooting, it’s essential to understand what Yoast SEO’s content analysis does. At its core, the plugin analyzes your post or page content against a set of criteria designed to improve its search engine ranking and readability. This analysis considers factors like keyword density, sentence length, passive voice usage, heading structure, and overall content length. The plugin then provides a score and actionable suggestions for improvement.
The Premium version of Yoast SEO expands on this functionality with more in-depth analysis, including identifying related keywords, assessing the quality of internal and external links, and providing insights into keyword usage in specific sections of your content. A failure in this analysis, particularly in the Premium version, can stem from the plugin’s inability to recognize plural and word forms within the text, hindering its ability to provide accurate feedback.
Common Causes of Content Analysis Failures
The “0 words” error and other content analysis issues aren’t typically indicative of a fundamental problem with your content itself. Instead, they usually point to a conflict or bug within the WordPress environment. Several factors can contribute to these problems:
- Plugin Bugs: Specific versions of the Yoast SEO plugin have, at times, contained bugs that disrupt content analysis. The Yoast development team is generally responsive to these issues, releasing updates to address them.
- Special Characters: Unexpected characters, particularly at the beginning of your content, can interfere with the plugin’s parsing process. A common culprit is a hyphen (-) without a trailing space.
- Page Builders & Themes: Yoast SEO is designed to work seamlessly with the default WordPress content editor. However, compatibility issues can arise when using complex page builders (like WP Bakery) or custom themes that alter the standard content structure.
- Subscription Issues (Premium): If you’re using Yoast SEO Premium, an invalid or expired subscription can disable the advanced analysis features.
- Morphology Feature: The morphology feature, which helps Yoast understand different word forms, may not be functioning correctly.
Diagnosing the Problem: A Step-by-Step Approach
Pinpointing the root cause of the issue requires a systematic approach. Here’s a breakdown of troubleshooting steps:
- Check Yoast SEO Version: Ensure you’re running the latest version of the Yoast SEO plugin. Outdated versions are more likely to contain known bugs.
- Inspect for Special Characters: Carefully examine the beginning of your content for any unusual characters, especially hyphens or other symbols without trailing spaces.
- Deactivate Other Plugins: Temporarily deactivate all plugins except Yoast SEO. This helps isolate whether a conflict with another plugin is causing the problem. If the analysis starts working correctly, reactivate plugins one by one to identify the culprit.
- Switch to a Default Theme: Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Three). This helps determine if your theme is interfering with Yoast SEO’s functionality.
- Verify Subscription Status (Premium): If you have Yoast SEO Premium, log in to your MyYoast account and confirm that your subscription is active and correctly linked to your website.
- Clear Caches: Clear your WordPress cache (if you’re using a caching plugin) and your browser cache. Cached data can sometimes cause conflicts.
- Check the WordPress Console: Use your browser’s developer tools (usually accessed by pressing F12) to check the console for any JavaScript errors that might be related to Yoast SEO.
Addressing Specific Issues & Solutions
Once you’ve identified the potential cause, you can implement the appropriate solution. Here’s a breakdown of solutions for common problems:
- Plugin Bug: If a plugin bug is the issue, the best course of action is to wait for an update from the Yoast team. However, as a temporary workaround, you might consider rolling back to a previous version of the plugin (like 24.2), but be aware that this can pose a security risk.
- Special Characters: Remove any problematic characters from your content and ensure proper spacing.
- Theme/Page Builder Conflict: If your theme or page builder is causing the issue, you may need to contact the theme/page builder developer for support or consider switching to a more compatible theme or page builder.
- Subscription Issue (Premium): Renew your subscription in MyYoast or purchase a new subscription if necessary.
- Morphology Feature: While not directly addressable by the user, ensuring you are on the latest version of Yoast SEO is the best course of action, as updates often include improvements to this feature.
- Gutenberg Blocks: Issues can sometimes arise when using Gutenberg blocks. Try switching to the classic editor temporarily to see if the problem persists.
Comparing Common Issues and Solutions
Here's a table summarizing common problems and their corresponding solutions:
| Problem | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "The text contains 0 words" | Plugin Bug, Special Characters | Update Yoast, Remove Special Characters, Rollback (with caution) |
| Incorrect Word Count | Theme/Page Builder Conflict | Switch to Default Theme, Contact Theme/Page Builder Developer |
| Premium Analysis Not Working | Expired/Invalid Subscription | Renew/Purchase Subscription in MyYoast |
| Readability Tab Missing | Plugin Conflict, Caching Issues | Deactivate Plugins, Clear Caches |
| SEO Score Discrepancies | Plugin Bug, Caching Issues | Update Yoast, Clear Caches |
Understanding Support Resources
When self-troubleshooting proves insufficient, several support resources are available:
- WordPress.org Support Forums: The official WordPress.org support forums are a valuable resource for finding solutions to common Yoast SEO issues. Numerous threads discuss the “0 words” error and other content analysis problems. (https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-seo-content-analysis-not-working/)
- Yoast Knowledge Base: Yoast provides a comprehensive knowledge base with articles and tutorials covering a wide range of topics. (https://yoast.com/help/)
- Yoast Support Team: If you have Yoast SEO Premium, you can contact the Yoast support team directly via live chat or email. (https://yoast.com/help/support/)
- Community Forums: Various online communities and forums dedicated to WordPress and SEO can offer valuable insights and assistance.
Final Thoughts: Maintaining a Healthy SEO Workflow
Yoast SEO is a powerful tool, but like any software, it’s not immune to occasional glitches. By understanding the common causes of content analysis failures and following a systematic troubleshooting approach, you can minimize downtime and ensure your content remains optimized for success. Regularly updating the plugin, maintaining a clean WordPress environment, and utilizing available support resources are key to a smooth and effective SEO workflow. Remember to always back up your website before making any significant changes, such as rolling back to a previous plugin version.