The reason for the site having to become more professional is the second, more personal and more important part of this post. Starting last July, when I "incorporated" my own Yoast BV, the Dutch equivalent of an Inc, I've been working on my own projects more, while also still working at and with OrangeValley. As of December 1st, yesterday, I no longer work for them.

Leaving OrangeValley

The fact that I've left OrangeValley might surprise some of you, so let me explain why. OrangeValley has grown tremendously since I became its first employee in October 2008, both in size and in knowledge. I've always thoroughly enjoyed working with the people there, as it's one of  the most talented crews I've ever had the pleasure of working with, helping a range of very cool customers. Naming any of my colleagues specifically would mean not naming one or two others, when all of them have their own specialties and they're all great people, so I won't. "Why leave then?", you'll ask.

Because it's time. It's time for me to be a true entrepreneur, and not an employee. I'm a very ambitious guy: being one of the best SEO's of the Netherlands, which I think I can fairly call myself, is not enough. I want to be amongst and compete with the best in the world. Some people might think that's arrogance, I've decided that doesn't bother me anymore.

So it is, with some pain in my heart, that I wish them all the best, I'm certain they'll do great things. There's two people whom I will name, as I especially want to thank them. Frank and Ortwin, managing partners at OrangeValley, have been great mentors throughout the time I worked with them, encouraging me to take my own path even when it had been in their better interest not too, to them I want to say: Thanks guys. While I'm leaving the company, we're not done yet, we will be working together in the future, I'm quite sure of that.

So what will you be doing?

I've got several ideas for products, at least one of which will lead to a very cool startup soon. A lot of this will happen in cooperation with other people, often with Frederick, in whom I've found a sparring partner of incredible value, and I've also got a couple of new sites planned with my buddy Roy.

Another product I'm working on and will be spending more time on, is my free WordPress SEO plugin and its paid modules. I'm very excited to work with Mark Robertson of ReelSEO on the Video SEO module and with Arjan on the Local SEO module. Those projects combined take up so much time that it's no longer possible for me to combine it with a job at OrangeValley, and frankly, I no longer have to. This site and my other sites make me enough money to live off, and allow me to fund all of these projects myself. I know, I'm a lucky guy.

So off we go, on to new adventures!

Yoast redesigned & bye bye OrangeValley is a post by Joost de Valk on Yoast - Tweaking Websites.A good WordPress blog needs good hosting, you don't want your blog to be slow, or, even worse, down, do you? Check out my thoughts on WordPress hosting!

It's rare that we get these types of conferences in Holland, that are of world class quality. This is one of them. My buddy Karl Blanks of Conversion Rate Experts is one of the keynotes, but the other ones are not in any way less interesting. What to think of Hannah Donovan, the creative director of Last.fm?

There are more, go to the site to read all about it. But: don't forget this: when you register, you are allowed to set the "Chi Member" button to "yes", just because you're a reader of Yoast.com, which will save you € 25,- on the already quite low registration price of € 250. I hope to see you there!

Design for Conversion is a post by Joost de Valk on Yoast - Tweaking Websites.A good WordPress blog needs good hosting, you don't want your blog to be slow, or, even worse, down, do you? Check out my thoughts on WordPress hosting!

The vacancies are listed here, in Dutch. Please pass it on to any of your friends who might find it interesting!

Want to work at OrangeValley? is a post by Joost de Valk on Yoast - Tweaking Websites.A good WordPress blog needs good hosting, you don't want your blog to be slow, or, even worse, down, do you? Check out my thoughts on WordPress hosting!

This seems like the best moment to do a short recap of what's happened in the last few years, and to see what the future will bring. Allow me to boast about Onetomarket a bit, and tell you about what we've reached.

The last few years at Onetomarket have been like a sitting in a roller coaster, in the positive and joyful sense. Onetomarket has developed from a good but not to big online marketing agency into a European player, competing with the best in the business. Our offices in Spain are doing great, not in the least because of the tremendous work of Lennert de Rijk there, and our German offices are becoming more serious everyday.

At the same time we've been able to make a name for our selves at the big conferences in the search marketing and affiliate world. One of the high points of the year was A4UExpo in London last year, which I'll attend again this year. My buddy and colleague Roy will be making his first appearance as a speaker on the SEO scene there.

I've had the chance to participate in very exciting and successful projects with clients like KLM and Wegener (and many others), of which I'm very proud and have had a load of fun with.

You're probably asking yourself right now: if everything is going that well, why are you leaving? The answer is simple: my interests have widened, especially towards the social aspects of communication on the web. The chance that has been offered to me in that sector, combined with the chance to build on a new company, made me decide to leave.

To quote my favorite book, "markets are conversations". I will be focussing on more on these conversations, and on the chances these conversations have to offer to companies.

The team I'm leaving can operate fine without me. They're the best SEO team you'll find in the Netherlands. The paid search team is great as well, and I can't even start to begin about the fantastic things a couple of relatively unknown talents are doing in the Analytics part. My leaving this company should be a trigger for them to make themselves heard a lot more!

And then, the future. My new job is within a company called Orangevalley. You'll be hearing a lot more about Orangevalley in the coming weeks!

I've had a great time at Onetomarket, and I'd like to thank all my colleagues for that. I'd also like to thank the management for all the trust they've placed in me. I wish Onetomarket loads of success, and will be following their development closely!

Leaving Onetomarket is a post by Joost de Valk on Yoast - Tweaking Websites.A good WordPress blog needs good hosting, you don't want your blog to be slow, or, even worse, down, do you? Check out my thoughts on WordPress hosting!