Hack The SEO help center

Set up Hack The SEO, step by step.

Setting up Hack The SEO takes about 15 minutes in WordPress, then around ten minutes with Claude. This guide walks through the 11 steps in order, with the exact name of every button. Nothing changes on your site during setup.

Start at step 1 Plugin documentation
  • 11 steps, about 25 minutes
  • Nothing changes without your click
  • Every change can be undone for 30 days

Before you start, have these at hand

  • A computerSetup is done on a computer, not on a phone.
  • Administrator accessTo your WordPress site: you need to be able to add a plugin.
  • Your Hack The SEO accountThe one tied to your subscription, on app.hacktheseo.com.
  • A Claude accountOn claude.ai or in the Claude app. The free plan is enough to get started.

Your site must use https (the small padlock in the address bar).

The guide

The 11 setup steps

Three stages: you install the plugin, you follow the Start screen, then Claude takes over.

The plugin's Start screen (« Démarrer ») is displayed in French for now. For every button, we give the label you will see on screen, in quotes, followed by its meaning.

  1. Get the plugin and your key

    1. Log in to your client area: app.hacktheseo.com.
    2. Open the Installer le plugin page (install the plugin).
    3. Click Télécharger Hack The SEO (download). You get a .zip file: don't open it, keep it as it is.
    4. Keep this page open: your key is at the bottom, with the Copier ma clé button (copy my key).

    Your key is personal: don't share it.

  2. Install the plugin in WordPress

    1. In WordPress, go to Plugins, then Add New Plugin.
    2. Click Upload Plugin (top of the page), then Choose File.
    3. Pick the .zip file downloaded in step 1.
    4. Click Install Now, then Activate Plugin.

    Hack The SEO now shows in your list of plugins.

  3. Paste your key

    Start screen · 1 of 6

    Right after activation, the Hack The SEO Start screen opens. It has 6 short steps, listed in the left column.

    1. Paste your key (copied in step 1) into the Votre clé field (your key).
    2. Click Continuer (continue).

    The Start screen didn't open? Go back to the install page of your client area and click the link that reopens it (« Démarrer » ne s'est pas ouvert ? L'ouvrir).

  4. Choose “With Claude”

    Start screen · 2 of 6
    1. Click Avec Claude (with Claude).
    2. Answer the question “Do you already have Claude?” (« Avez-vous déjà Claude ? »).
    3. Click Continuer.

  5. Connect Google (recommended)

    Start screen · 3 of 6

    Claude needs your Google visits from the last 3 months to build your plan. It only reads: nothing is changed on Google's side.

    1. Click Relier avec Google (connect with Google).
    2. Pick the Google account that has access to your Search Console, then accept.
    3. If you're asked which site to follow, choose yours. You are then sent back to Hack The SEO automatically.

    No Search Console, or no time? Click Plus tard (later): Claude builds a first plan without your Google numbers, then refines it when they arrive.

  6. Connect Claude to your site

    Start screen · 4 of 6
    1. Click Ajouter à Claude (add to Claude). Claude opens in a new tab.
    2. In Claude, the name “Hack The SEO” and your site's address are already filled in. Click Continue, then Connect. Claude shows a warning about external links: that's normal, the address is your own site's.
    3. A Hack The SEO page opens: log in with your Hack The SEO account and click Autoriser (authorize) only once.
    4. Go back to WordPress: the page updates by itself.

    Nothing opened? In Claude, open the connectors settings and add a custom connector. Name it “Hack The SEO” and paste the address the Start screen gives you (link « Rien ne s'est ouvert ? », button Copier).

  7. Accept the rules

    Start screen · 5 of 6

    Read them once. In short: Claude proposes, you approve. Every change is logged and can be undone in one click for 30 days. You can stop everything at any time.

    1. Click J'accepte les règles (I accept the rules).
    2. You are then asked whether your site has a backup. Pick the answer that fits:
      • J'ai une sauvegarde d'aujourd'hui I have a backup from today
      • Mon hébergeur sauvegarde chaque nuit my host backs up every night
      • Je ne sais pas I don't know
      • or Plus tard later

    Why this question: before changing a page, Claude checks that a backup less than 7 days old exists. Not sure? Claude guides you to find it at your host.

  8. Send the sentence to Claude

    Start screen · 6 of 6
    1. Click Copier la phrase (copy the sentence).
    2. Open Claude and start a new conversation.
    3. Paste the sentence and send it. It means “Start my SEO.”

    Commence mon SEO.

  9. Answer Claude's questions

    Claude first takes a tour of your site. Then it asks you a few short questions, one at a time: most of the time, you answer with a letter or a number.

    Allow about ten minutes. At the end, Claude presents your review, your strategy and your 90-day plan, then sends it to your WordPress.

    Need to stop halfway? Later, open a new conversation and write: On continue mon SEO. (“Let's continue my SEO.”) Claude picks up where you left off.

  10. Approve your plan

    1. In WordPress: Hack The SEO, then Votre plan (your plan).
    2. Read the plan. Something doesn't suit you? Click Demander une correction (ask for a correction) next to it.
    3. Click Valider le plan et la semaine 1 (approve the plan and week 1). The button sits below the list of weeks.

    After that, each week is prepared on Thursday. You approve it in one click before Monday 9 am. Nothing changes on your site without your click.

  11. The morning pass

    Claude works on your site Monday to Friday, in the morning, with one action per pass.

    • With a paid Claude plan: at the end of setup, Claude gives you an instruction to paste into a Claude scheduled task, set to run on weekdays. It guides you screen by screen, then does the first pass in front of you. After that, it runs on its own.
    • With the free plan of Claude: every morning, Monday to Friday, open Claude and write On continue mon SEO.
What happens next?

Claude, every morning. You, one click a week.

Your only regular task: approve each week in one click, in Votre plan (your plan). Claude sends you a short report after each pass.

  1. MondayMorning pass: one action on your site.
  2. TuesdayMorning pass: one action.
  3. WednesdayMorning pass: one action.
  4. ThursdayMorning pass, and next week is ready: approve it before Monday 9 am.
  5. FridayMorning pass: one action.

The report

After each pass, four lines, always the same:

Fictional example · Day 12 of 90 Done Google title of the Pricing page, checked live. Check nothing unusual. For you 1 change to approve. Next pass Thursday, draft of an article.

Where to look in WordPress

  • Votre plan (your plan): the 90-day plan, the weeks to approve and the changes waiting for your click. The number next to the menu tells you how many.
  • Tableau de bord (dashboard): your site's status at a glance.
  • Mon IA (my AI): the connection with Claude, your rules, and the Tout arrêter button (stop everything).

You stay in control, at every step

These are rules written into the plugin, not promises.

  • Claude proposes, you approveNothing changes on your pages without your consent.
  • Undo for 30 daysEvery change Claude makes is logged and can be undone in one click for 30 days.
  • Stop everythingAt any time, in Mon IA: Claude then only reads.
  • A backup firstA page is only changed if a backup less than 7 days old exists (default setting).
  • 12 safe trialsBefore touching your real pages, Hack The SEO runs 12 trials on a copy hidden from Google.
  • One action per passNo big upheaval: one change at a time, checked live.

Stuck on a step? The answers

The Start screen didn't open after activation.

Go back to the install page of your client area (app.hacktheseo.com) and click the link that reopens it (« Démarrer » ne s'est pas ouvert ? L'ouvrir). The screen resumes at the step you had reached.

I clicked “Ajouter à Claude” and nothing opened.

In Claude, open the connectors settings and add a custom connector. Name it “Hack The SEO” and paste the address the Start screen gives you (link « Rien ne s'est ouvert ? », button Copier). Also check that your site uses https.

I don't have Search Console. Is that a problem?

No. Click Plus tard (later) in step 5: Claude builds a first plan without your Google numbers, then refines it when they arrive. You can connect Google later, in Réglages (settings), Connexions tab.

Is the free plan of Claude enough?

Yes, to get started. It can't schedule the morning pass: every morning, Monday to Friday, you open Claude and write On continue mon SEO. With a paid plan (Claude Pro, for example), Claude runs on its own through a scheduled task.

I stopped halfway through the conversation with Claude.

Open a new conversation and write On continue mon SEO. Claude picks up where you left off.

After an update, Claude doesn't see what's new.

In Claude, open the connectors settings, select Hack The SEO and reconnect it. Then open a new conversation and write On continue mon SEO.

How do I undo a change?

Every change Claude makes is logged and can be undone in one click for 30 days. You can also ask Claude, in the conversation, to undo a specific change.

How do I stop everything?

In WordPress: Hack The SEO, then Mon IA, Tout arrêter button (administrators only). Claude then only reads, until you turn it back on.

How is this different from the free plugin on wordpress.org?

They are two different plugins. The free “Hack The SEO” plugin on wordpress.org handles technical SEO (schema, sitemap, redirects, AI crawlers…). This guide covers the plugin of your subscription, downloaded from your client area, which works with Claude. When it is active, the free plugin switches itself off.

Go further

The plugin documentationEvery screen, every module, the safeguards and compatibility.Read the documentation Claude and your WordPressHow Claude connects to your site and what it is allowed to do.See the page PlansThe plugin with the Claude pilot, or the SEO GEO Pilot run with our team.See pricing
SEO and GEO FAQ SEO and GEO glossary The WordPress SEO plugin The free plugin The blog
Older guides for the app.hacktheseo.com tools
Getting started Traffic analysis Keywords analysis Website audit On-page audit Competitor keywords Topical map Topics for LLM WordPress integration SEO glossary

Stuck on a step? Let's do it together.

Book 15 minutes with us: we go through setup with you, on your site.

Book 15 minutes with us