Common subscription issues

A subscription key is no longer needed to use our premium plugins because we launched a customer portal where you can find and manage all the Yoast SEO products you own. If you don’t have an account yet or want to know how it all works, this guide will get you started. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common subscription issues and errors.

The subscription is active in MyYoast but is does not show as active on your website

As part of changing to our customer portal, there are a number of reasons why the subscription will be active in MyYoast but not show active on your website. Please check the following:

• Did you download and install the premium plugin?
  If not, please install the premium plugin. Our installation manuals will walk you through the process.
• Is a supported version installed on your site?
  If your premium plugin version is below 5.x, please manually update to the current version to activate your subscription.
• Is the premium plugin installed into the correct folder?
  If you are unsure of the folder name, please remove the plugin, download a new copy from MyYoast, and install the premium plugin again. Your settings are stored in the database so you will not lose any information when you remove and reinstall the premium plugin.
• Are you using the correct URL in MyYoast?
  The URL in MyYoast needs to be the same as the one found in Settings -> General -> Site URL. Changing the URLs in the WordPress settings could break your site, so be sure to make a backup first!
• Are you using an older version of a previously managed by Yoast plugin such as Google Analytics by Yoast (now Google Analytics by MonsterInsights) or Post Connector?
  If so, please update to the most recent version of the plugin as some older versions interfere with the subscription activation verification process.
• Do you receive a connection error?
  If so, please see the section below.

Subscription Connection Errors

500 status – Server error. Check logs for more details

Cause
Yoast SEO uses cURL to verify the plugin subscription. For communication to be successful, your web host must meet our premium plugin requirements.

Solution
Please send the complete error to the support desk of your webhost. They should be able to help you fix this, since this is a server-issue. Or you can switch to another webhost.

404 error

Cause
The site isn’t listed in MyYoast or does not have an active subscription.

Solution
Add the site to MyYoast and/or connect the subscription.

403 error

Cause
The server cannot communicate due to a block.

Solution
Please contact your web host for assistance.

400 Bad request

Cause
Your Yoast version is outdated. Please check our change log for the most current version.

Solution
Perform a manual update of the plugin to the current version. You will need an FTP program such as FileZilla and your FTP details, which can be obtained from your host provider.

ssl3_read_bytes – stream_socket_client(): SSL operation failed with code 1. OpenSSL Error messages: error:14094410:SSL routines:ssl3_read_bytes:sslv3 alert handshake failure stream_socket_client(): Failed to enable crypto stream_socket_client(): unable to connect to ssl://my.yoast.com:443 (Unknown error)

Cause
The error above indicates that your server may be running SSL v3. We require that your server does not use SSL v3.

Solution
Please contact your web host for assistance with your server setup.

SSL23_GET_SERVER_HELLO – stream_socket_client(): SSL operation failed with code 1. OpenSSL Error messages: error:14094410:SSL routines:SSL23_GET_SERVER_HELLO:sslv3 alert handshake failure stream_socket_client(): Failed to enable crypto stream_socket_client(): unable to connect to ssl://my.yoast.com:443 (Unknown error)

Cause
The error above indicates that your server may be running SSL v3. We require that your server does not use SSL v3.

Solution
Please contact your web host for assistance with your server setup.

Server Connection Tests

In rare cases, there may be an issue with the communication between our server and your server. Unfortunately, unless you’re an administrator on the web server, you can’t solve the problems above yourself. You’d need to contact your web host and ask them to fix these issues.

If your web host is unable to resolve the issue, please ask your web host or server admin to provide us with the information listed below to help us identify where the connection issue occurs.

Server Information

• Server IP(s) or IP range
• A cURL test from the server to https://staging-plugins-my.yoast.com/
  (Command: curl -i https://staging-plugins-my.yoast.com/ )
• A traceroute from the server to https://staging-plugins-my.yoast.com/
  (Command: traceroute my.yoast.com )