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Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced writer, editor & content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

You can find Edwin on: Twitter

In 2006, after working full time in a bookstore for many years, I made a bold decision: I went back to school. I wanted to combine my love for writing with the lure of the internet and picked Digital Communication at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem to achieve that. Four years later, I graduated with honors.

In the meantime, I started working for The Netherlands’ largest monthly magazine on web design and web development. In my role as a managing editor, I wrote, edited and translated hundreds of articles on this fascinating subject. In addition to that, I made sure the day-to-day operations of the magazine went all according to plan.

At Yoast, I do much of the same work, except on a bigger scale. As a content specialist, I am responsible for delivering quality content in an engaging and optimal way.

In my spare time, I love rocking my 1972 Fender Precision bass with my band (Every Other Me), fiddling about with synthesizers, listening to music, watching an endless stream of – classic – movies, taking long hikes and enjoying life with my sons and girlfriend.

Edwin

Yoast SEO 21.6: Generative AI now available for WooCommerce SEO

28 November 2023 Edwin Toonen

Yoast SEO 21.6 helps you rethink how you approach search engine optimization. With the power of generative AI integrated into our SEO tools, crafting compelling titles and meta descriptions was never faster or more effective. We added generative AI to Yoast SEO a while back, but now you can also improve your products in WooCommerce […]

Read: "Yoast SEO 21.6: Generative AI now available for WooCommerce SEO"
Yoast SEO 21.6: Generative AI now available for WooCommerce SEO

What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?

21 November 2023 Edwin Toonen

If you search for a specific company, you’ll likely see a big block of information on the right (sometimes the top) of your screen. That’s Google’s Knowledge Graph. This block – also known as the Knowledge Graph Card or Panel – contains relevant, context-specific information regarding your search, powered by the Knowledge Graph. If you […]

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What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?

Search evolved: Exploring the AI-powered world of Google’s SGE

9 November 2023 | 3 Comments Edwin Toonen

Thanks to AI, search is very much on the move. Generative AI can help us do more in search engines, as Google shows in its Search Generative Experience (SGE). This experimental addition to the search engine gives us a glimpse of the future of search. Let’s take a look and see what it entails! What […]

Read: "Search evolved: Exploring the AI-powered world of Google’s SGE"
Search evolved: Exploring the AI-powered world of Google’s SGE

Yoast SEO 21.5: Helping you block AI bots in Premium

31 October 2023 Edwin Toonen

We are pleased to announce Yoast SEO 21.5, packed with valuable features to elevate your optimization efforts. This release introduces a highly requested option allowing you to block AI web crawlers. Now, you can effortlessly control access to your content and ensure it remains where you want it to be. Blocking bots used to train […]

Read: "Yoast SEO 21.5: Helping you block AI bots in Premium"
Yoast SEO 21.5: Helping you block AI bots in Premium


AI bots in SEO: To block, or not to block

25 October 2023 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

AI web crawlers like GPTBot, CCBot, and Google-Extended play a significant role in training content for AI models. These bots crawl websites, collect data, and contribute to developing and improving Large Language Models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence. However, many people have asked us the same question: should you block these AI bots in your robots.txt […]

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AI bots in SEO: To block, or not to block


Yoast SEO 21.4 brings more enhancements

17 October 2023 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

We are excited to announce the latest release of Yoast SEO, helping you optimize your website’s performance in search engine results. This update improves our features and brings enhancements that will take your SEO efforts to the next level. Get ready for Yoast SEO 21.4! More assessment improvements At Yoast, we understand the importance of […]

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Yoast SEO 21.4 brings more enhancements

What are YMYL websites? How does Google evaluate these?

11 October 2023 Edwin Toonen

SEO is all about trying to rank high on search engine result pages. However, not every website is treated equally by Google. Sites focusing on topics impacting people’s lives and finances have a higher standard to meet. Welcome to the world of YMYL, where improving content goes beyond regular SEO techniques. In this article, we’ll […]

Read: "What are YMYL websites? How does Google evaluate these?"
What are YMYL websites? How does Google evaluate these?