Yoast SEO Seems Not To Help Anything

I have been using YOAST SEO for 4 months now, I have watched YouTube videos, read Yoast’s own guide and tried to do everything that he and others suggest to set up and optimize my WordPress site, and blog. Yet I have seen absolutely no increase in page rank, or any other increase in authority, page views, and traffic.

Is anyone else disappointed with this plugin?

I do not understand why you need to have an “Exact phrase” when picking keywords either. If you have a long-tailed keyword, Like “Jed’s best pick farm in Nebraska. Why would you need that exact phrase and not most of the important keywords – Jed, picks, Nebraska?

Can someone explain this to me please – thinking about trying ALL-IN-ONE Seo.