LinkLens Labs Docs

SEO Core (Lite)

Low-overhead SEO that outputs correct essentials: titles, meta descriptions, canonicals, robots directives, Open Graph/Twitter cards, basic schema, and a lean /sitemap.xml. No scores. No nags. No front-end bloat.

✅ Lightweight ✅ Core-filter Canonical + Robots (no duplicates) ✅ Lean Sitemap

Quick Start

Install and activate LinkLens Labs – SEO Core (Lite).
Go to Settings → SEO Core (Lite).
Leave it on defaults, or set your preferred Title Template and Default Description.
Open /sitemap.xml to confirm the sitemap is live.
Optionally set per-post SEO overrides in the SEO (Lite) meta box on posts/pages.

Heads up: Canonical and robots are set using WordPress core filters, so you don’t get duplicate tags if your theme or WordPress core outputs them too.

What It Does

Title control: Uses a template like %title% – %sitename% with token support.
Meta description: From custom SEO description → excerpt → default description → site tagline.
Robots directives: Uses wp_robots filter to set index/noindex & follow/nofollow.
Canonical cleanup: Uses get_canonical_url filter and can strip tracking parameters.
Open Graph + Twitter: Adds social tags with a best-effort image from featured image or site logo.
Basic schema (JSON-LD): WebSite, Organization, Article, BreadcrumbList.
Lean sitemap: /sitemap.xml for posts/pages only, excludes noindex + system pages.
robots.txt sitemap line: Adds Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml when enabled.
Stand-down support: If “Product SEO” owns the head for a request, SEO Core (Lite) backs off.

Settings Reference

General

Enable SEO output: Master on/off switch.

Title / Description

Title template: Tokens: %title% %sitename% %tagline% %sep%
Default description: Used when there is no excerpt or custom SEO description.

Noindex Rules

Noindex search results
Noindex author archives
Noindex date archives
Noindex paged archives (/page/2/ etc.)

Canonical Cleanup

Strip tracking params: Removes utm_*, fbclid, gclid, _ga and a couple common email IDs.

Open Graph + Twitter

Enable social meta tags: Adds OG/Twitter tags site-wide.

Schema (JSON-LD)

Enable schema: Outputs a minimal, valid JSON-LD graph.
Organization name/logo: Optional overrides. Leave blank to use site name + custom logo.

XML Sitemap

Enable /sitemap.xml: Serves a lite sitemap of posts/pages.
Max URLs (soft cap): Limits how many URLs are output. Default is conservative.
Exclusions: Noindex items + system pages (cart/checkout/account/offline).

Per-Post Overrides (Meta Box)

When editing a post or page, use the SEO (Lite) box:

SEO Title: Overrides the final document title for that post/page.
Meta Description: Overrides excerpt/default description.
Canonical Override: Forces a canonical URL for that page.
Noindex / Nofollow: Applies via WordPress core robots directives filter.

Sitemap Notes

The sitemap is cached using a transient for performance. The cache is automatically cleared when posts/pages are published/updated/trashed/deleted. You can also toggle settings to clear it.

URL: /sitemap.xml
Includes: published posts + pages
Excludes: noindex items + system pages (cart/checkout/account/offline)

Compatibility

Works alongside many themes because robots/canonical are applied through core filters.
WooCommerce: Sitemap excludes cart/checkout/account by default.
Other SEO plugins: Avoid running multiple SEO plugins that output overlapping tags. Use one owner.
Product SEO stand-down: If your Product SEO plugin “owns the head” for a request, SEO Core (Lite) backs off.

Troubleshooting

I don’t see /sitemap.xml

Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save (flush rewrite rules).
Make sure XML Sitemap is enabled in the plugin settings.
Confirm your server isn’t serving a static sitemap.xml file first.

My canonical looks “too clean”

If you have tracking parameters that you intentionally want preserved, turn off Strip tracking params in settings.

I’m using “LinkLens Product SEO” too

That’s supported. SEO Core (Lite) includes a stand-down system so Product SEO can own the head on its product pages (or whenever it declares ownership).

FAQ

Does this generate “SEO scores” or recommendations?

No. SEO Core (Lite) focuses on clean, correct output (titles, meta, canonicals, robots, social, schema, sitemap).

Will it slow my site down?

It’s designed to be low overhead. The sitemap is cached, and the rest is minimal head output and core filters.

Does it work with caching plugins?

Yes. Head tags are static per page. The sitemap is a lightweight endpoint and is cached via transient internally.

Support

If something looks off (duplicate tags, theme conflicts, sitemap not reachable), send: your site URL, the page URL, and the page source around <head> or /sitemap.xml.