Edit SEO data in a spreadsheet (CSV export and import)

The SEO data as CSV card lets you edit the SEO fields of your whole site in Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice. You export a CSV file, change the cells you want, and import the file back. RankFlect SEO shows a preview before anything changes, and the whole import can be undone in one click.

This is different from Export & import, which moves all RankFlect SEO settings and data between sites as a JSON file.

Export the CSV

1. Go to RankFlect SEO → Tools.
2. Find the SEO data as CSV card, right below Export & import.
3. Click Export CSV. On a large site the button shows the progress ("Exporting 500 of 2,000…").

A file named rankflect-seo-data-YYYY-MM-DD.csv downloads. It has one row per published post, page and public custom post type item, then one row per term in public taxonomies (categories, tags and similar).

The file is UTF-8 and opens correctly in Excel, including non-Latin text such as Bangla or Arabic.

The columns

Column	What it is	Imported
type	The post type or taxonomy name, for example post, page or category.	Used to match the row
id	The post or term ID.	Used to match the row
url	The address of the post or term.	No. Used to match a post when id is empty
title	The post title or term name, to help you find the row.	No
seo_title	The SEO title.	Yes
meta_description	The meta description.	Yes
focus_keyword	The focus keyword. Several keywords are separated by commas.	Yes
canonical	The canonical URL.	Yes
noindex	yes or no.	Yes
nofollow	yes or no.	Yes

Other columns are ignored. Common column names from other tools also work, for example meta_title for seo_title or focus_keyphrase for focus_keyword.

Rules for the cells

• An empty cell leaves the field as it is. You only need to fill in the cells you want to change.
• [clear] clears the field. Use it to remove a value on purpose.
• noindex and nofollow take yes or no (1, 0, true and false work too).
• canonical must be a full address that starts with https:// or http://.
• The file can use commas or semicolons between cells, so files saved by Excel in any region work.

Import the CSV

1. Save your edited file as CSV.
2. Go to RankFlect SEO → Tools → SEO data as CSV and click Import CSV.
3. Choose the file. RankFlect SEO checks every row first ("Checking rows: …") and opens Import SEO data from CSV.
4. Read the preview. Nothing has changed yet. You see:
   • how many items will change and how many fields,
   • how many rows are unchanged and how many are skipped,
   • example changes, with the Now and After import value of each field,
   • warnings, and a table of the skipped rows with Why it is skipped.
5. Click Import.

When it is done, a message says how many SEO fields were updated on how many posts and terms.

"RankFlect SEO takes a backup first, and the whole import is one batch in the Change Log, so you can undo it."

Why a row is skipped

Reason	What to do
No id, or the URL does not belong to a post on this site.	Add the id from the export, or fix the url.
Unknown type: use a post type or taxonomy name, as in the export.	Keep the type value from the export.
No post or term with this id and type exists on this site.	Check that the row comes from this site's export.
This post is a revision, a draft that was never saved, or in the trash.	Restore the post first, or remove the row.
You cannot edit this post (or term).	Ask an administrator, or remove the row.
noindex must be yes or no.	Use yes or no.
The canonical URL must be a full address.	Use the full URL with https://.

Undo an import

• Open RankFlect SEO → Change Log. The whole import is one batch named "SEO data CSV import". Click Revert on the batch to put every field back.
• Tools → Backups also lists a backup named "Before importing a SEO data CSV", taken just before the import. See Backups, export and import.

Free and Pro

The CSV export and import is free. On the free plan each post has one focus keyword, so only the first keyword in a cell is kept, and the preview shows a warning on those rows: "Only the first focus keyword is kept. More keywords per post are part of RankFlect SEO Pro." With RankFlect SEO Pro, all keywords in the cell are imported. See Focus keywords.

Who can use it

The card is on the Tools page, which needs the Tools & backups permission (administrators by default). On top of that, each row is only imported if you can edit that post or term. See Role manager.

FAQ

Can I use this to move SEO data from another SEO plugin?

Use Switch from another SEO plugin for that. It reads the other plugin's data directly. The CSV import is for editing RankFlect SEO's own fields in bulk.

Does the import change my post titles or content?

No. The url and title columns are never imported. Only the SEO fields change.

Can I import a file from another site?

The CSV is meant for the site it was exported from. Rows are matched by type and id, and IDs are different on each site, so rows from another site are skipped or land on the wrong posts. To move SEO data between sites, use Export & import, which matches posts by slug and URL path.

Are drafts included in the export?

No. The export has published content and terms in public taxonomies only.