WordPress users often duplicate existing posts and pages to save time when creating similar content. One of the most popular tools for this is the Yoast Duplicate Post plugin. At the same time, many websites use Rank Math as their primary SEO plugin. This raises a practical question: does Yoast Duplicate Post copy Rank Math SEO settings such as the focus keyword, meta title, meta description, and schema? Understanding how these plugins interact helps prevent duplicate metadata, indexing mistakes, and wasted optimization effort.
How AAMAX.CO Helps Manage WordPress SEO Workflows
Managing plugins, metadata, and content workflows correctly can make a significant difference in search performance. AAMAX.CO is a full-service digital marketing company offering web development, digital marketing, and SEO services worldwide. Their WordPress specialists configure plugins, audit metadata, and set up publishing workflows that prevent duplicate titles, descriptions, and canonical errors. As part of their SEO services, they make sure every duplicated or newly created page is properly optimized before it goes live.
What Yoast Duplicate Post Does
Yoast Duplicate Post, which is developed by the Yoast team and is separate from the Yoast SEO plugin, allows users to clone posts, pages, and custom post types. It offers options such as "Clone," "New Draft," and "Rewrite and Republish." By default, it copies the post title, content, excerpt, featured image, categories, tags, template, and custom fields, also known as post meta. Users can control what gets copied through the plugin settings.
How Rank Math Stores SEO Settings
Rank Math stores its SEO data for each post as post meta in the WordPress database. This includes fields for the SEO title, meta description, focus keywords, canonical URL, robots meta settings, social media previews, and schema configuration. These values are saved with meta keys that begin with "rank_math_," such as the fields for the title, description, and focus keyword.
So, Does It Copy Rank Math Settings?
In most cases, yes. Because Yoast Duplicate Post copies custom fields by default and Rank Math stores its settings as custom fields, the Rank Math data typically carries over to the duplicated post. This means the clone may have the same SEO title, meta description, focus keyword, and schema settings as the original. The exact behavior depends on the plugin configuration. If specific custom fields are excluded in the Duplicate Post settings, those values will not be copied.
Why This Can Cause SEO Problems
Copying SEO settings saves time, but it can create issues if the duplicated content is published without updates:
- Duplicate meta titles and descriptions confuse search engines and reduce click-through rates.
- Identical focus keywords can lead to keyword cannibalization between similar pages.
- Copied canonical URLs may point the new page back to the original, preventing it from being indexed.
- Copied robots settings such as noindex can accidentally hide new pages from search.
- Duplicated schema may contain incorrect information for the new page.
How to Control What Gets Copied
In the WordPress dashboard, go to Settings and open the Duplicate Post options. Under the "What to copy" tab, there is a field for excluding specific custom fields. Users can enter meta keys to exclude, and wildcards are supported. Entering a pattern that matches Rank Math's meta keys will prevent Rank Math settings from being copied. This is useful for teams that prefer to optimize every new page from scratch.
The Rewrite and Republish Feature
The "Rewrite and Republish" feature works differently. It creates a temporary copy of a published post so that edits can be made without affecting the live version. When the changes are republished, they are merged back into the original post. In this case, copying Rank Math settings is helpful because the original URL, metadata, and SEO configuration should remain intact.
Best Practices After Duplicating Content
Whenever a post or page is duplicated, review the following before publishing:
- Update the SEO title and meta description to be unique.
- Change the focus keyword to match the new page's target topic.
- Check the canonical URL field and clear it if it points to the original page.
- Confirm robots meta settings are correct.
- Update schema details such as headlines, product names, or FAQs.
- Rewrite enough content so the new page provides unique value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rank Math have its own duplication feature? Rank Math focuses on SEO features, so many users rely on separate duplication plugins. Regardless of the tool used, reviewing SEO fields after cloning is essential.
Will duplicated pages be penalized? Search engines generally do not penalize duplicate content outright, but they may filter similar pages and choose only one to show. Unique content and metadata prevent this.
Can Rank Math warn about duplicate titles? Site audit tools, including Rank Math's own analysis features and external crawlers, can highlight duplicate titles and descriptions so they can be corrected.
Should drafts created by duplication be noindexed? Drafts are not public, so they are not indexed. The key is making sure the final published version has correct robots and canonical settings.
Conclusion
Yoast Duplicate Post generally copies Rank Math SEO settings because both rely on WordPress custom fields. This can be convenient, but it also introduces the risk of duplicate metadata, incorrect canonicals, and cannibalization. By configuring the plugin's exclusion settings and reviewing SEO fields after every duplication, WordPress users can enjoy faster workflows without compromising search performance.
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