Avatar of Edwin Toonen

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

What are breadcrumbs? Why are they important for SEO?

13 April 2023 | 4 Comments Edwin Toonen

Breadcrumbs are an essential part of almost every good website. These little navigational aids don’t just tell people where they are on your site, but they also help Google work out how your site is structured. That’s why adding these helpful little pointers makes a lot of sense. Let’s take a look at how breadcrumb […]

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What are breadcrumbs? Why are they important for SEO?

Yoast SEO 20.5: Improvements and security fixes

11 April 2023 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

We just released Yoast SEO 20.5, which has many enhancements and (security) fixes! Our team has been working hard to implement these changes to enhance your experience and help make your SEO journey smoother. In this post, we’ll tell you all about the latest release. Improvements in Yoast SEO 20.5 One of the main enhancements […]

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Yoast SEO 20.5: Improvements and security fixes

Yoast SEO 20.3: Better highlighter and Portuguese language support

14 March 2023 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

Today, we’re making Yoast SEO 20.3 available to the world. This release comes with a long list of enhancements, bug fixes, and other improvements designed to help you improve your SEO experience. Improved highlighting in analyses One of the most significant updates in this release is an improved highlighting feature. Yoast SEO helps you quickly […]

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Yoast SEO 20.3: Better highlighter and Portuguese language support


Yoast SEO 20.2: Improving our database system

28 February 2023 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

In Yoast SEO 20.2, we’ve improved our innovative indexables technology. We’ve developed a faster and more reliable way of indexing your site’s data. In turn, we make better use of this data to improve your site’s SEO. Plus, this technology helps us do our best to make the web greener and lays the groundwork for […]

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Yoast SEO 20.2: Improving our database system

Check validity of structured data in Google Search Console

23 February 2023 | 6 Comments Edwin Toonen

Google Search Console is an essential tool for website owners. This tool shows you how your site appears in Google’s search results. It also shows you what to improve to maximize your listings in the results. One of the many cool features of Search Console is the structured data analyses found in the Enhancement reports. […]

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Check validity of structured data in Google Search Console

Google PageSpeed Insights helps make your site faster

16 February 2023 | 3 Comments Edwin Toonen

As someone working on SEO, you must understand the importance of site speed. You must realize that fast sites equal happy users and happy search engines. PageSpeed Insights is an invaluable tool from Google that can help you optimize your website. It enables you to improve your rankings by giving you everything you need to […]

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Google PageSpeed Insights helps make your site faster

Yoast SEO 20.1: Mastodon and inclusive language improvements

7 February 2023 Edwin Toonen

After successfully introducing a new settings interface in Yoast SEO 20.0, we have more exciting news! We have built an integration with Mastodon, the decentralized and open-source social network. Yoast SEO Premium users can now verify the link in their Mastodon profile with this integration. We’re also adding your profile to the structured data we […]

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Yoast SEO 20.1: Mastodon and inclusive language improvements

How to speed up your WordPress website: 12 tips to start optimizing website for speed

1 February 2023 | 4 Comments Edwin Toonen

We’ve said this time and time again: a fast website is necessary for SEO. In a sea of similarly good (or not-so-good) results, Google will favor fast pages that can deliver a good user experience to searchers. If your goal is to attain higher rankings and drive organic traffic from Google, you need to speed […]

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How to speed up your WordPress website: 12 tips to start optimizing website for speed

How to create the right meta description

26 January 2023 | 14 Comments Edwin Toonen

The meta description summarizes a page’s content and presents that to users in the search results. It’s one of the first things people will likely see when searching for something, so optimizing it is crucial for SEO. It’s your chance to persuade users to click on your result! This post will show you the characteristics […]

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How to create the right meta description