I'm the head of strategy at Yoast. I love to come up with new ideas and products that help website owners with their SEO. Together with our leadership team I focus on how we can steadily grow in a healthy way!
You can find Marieke on: TwitterLinkedinFacebookInstagramWordPress
I studied Sociology and Communication Sciences at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. I obtained my PhD in Social Sciences in January 2011. Since then, I worked as a researcher as well as a teacher at multiple universities.
Since the beginning of Yoast, I have been involved in the company. But, as of September 2013, I gave up my position at the university and decided to focus solely on my activities at Yoast. In 2015, I founded Yoast academy, our online SEO learning platform. I’ve also been the CEO of Yoast from January 2019 until November 2021.
Nowadays, I’m the head of strategy. In this role, I make sure that all the amazing ideas we have are aligned, we keep on track with our goals, and quickly adapt to changes within the ecosystems we operate in.
I’m married to Joost de Valk and we have four amazing children together.
Writing quality content should be a key aspect of every SEO strategy. But when is your content considered high-quality? And does high-quality mean the same for your users as it does for Google? In this article, I’ll discuss what quality content is and how you can make sure your content hits the mark. It will […]
Read: "What is quality content and how do you create it?"
Reading from a screen can be difficult, so if you want people to read your whole blog post, it must be easy to read. This will get you more returning visitors and a higher conversion rate. Luckily, improving the readability of your content is something you can do relatively easily, to give your site a […]
Read: "5 tips for writing readable blog posts"
Your social media endeavors need to be a part of your SEO strategy. Especially now that the younger generations (Gen Z) are using platforms like TikTok and Instagram instead of Google. This means your site’s popularity on social media ties into your SEO more than ever! But which social media should you focus on? With […]
Read: "How to use social media (updated 2022)"
You might have heard that you need structured data on your website. Not only will Google understand your content better, but it will also increase your chances of getting those shiny rich results. In Yoast SEO, we output Schema as a graph. This means it’s all tied together and the relationship between various elements is […]
Read: "Schema – why you NEED Yoast SEO to do it right!"
Are you struggling to write product descriptions that are both SEO-friendly and engaging? If so, you’re not alone. It can be tough to strike the right balance between the two. Luckily, we found an awesome tool to help you. Bertha.ai is an AI-powered platform that makes it easy to write SEO-friendly product descriptions. In this […]
Read: "How to write an SEO-friendly product description with Bertha.ai"
Using the right keywords is essential in SEO. Because using the words your audience searches with will help your posts and pages rank. That’s why we always tell you to put some effort into finding the perfect keywords to optimize your articles for. So, after finding the perfect keyword, why shouldn’t you use it over […]
Read: "Why you should use synonyms and related keywords"
If you’re a content creator, you’ve probably considered using a content AI tool to help you write. After all, these tools can be extremely helpful in generating ideas and getting your creative juices flowing. But is it really a good idea to rely on an AI tool for your writing? I wrote this post together […]
Read: "Writing with Yoast SEO and Bertha – a content AI tool"
Ranking in search engines requires a website with flawless technical SEO and great, relevant content. Luckily, the Yoast SEO plugin takes care of (almost) everything on your WordPress site. Still, if you really want to get the most out of your website and keep outranking the competition, some basic knowledge of technical SEO is a must. […]
Read: "SEO basics: What is crawlability?"
If you’re serious about your SEO, you’ve probably set (implicit) goals on what you want to achieve. Perhaps you want to rank in the top ten search results for a specific keyword. Maybe you want your organic traffic to rise with a certain number. But what do you do if you are unable to meet […]
Read: "How to adapt your content SEO strategy"
Yoast SEO Premium comes with a great functionality that will help you write SEO-friendly texts. We put a lot of work and care into developing it, and the software and our techniques are really smart and advanced. So, at Yoast, we’re very proud of our Premium SEO analysis. But why do YOU need this? Will it […]
Read: "Premium SEO analysis: As smart as Google"
Marieke likes to talk about content strategy, readability, site structure, internal linking and company culture.
Content SEO
What to do to keep your website fit? In this talk, Marieke shows you 7 ways to improve the content SEO fitness of your website.
WordPress
Marieke was a guest on Stratabeat's B2B Marketing Tech Talks, where she was interviewed by Stratabeat CEO Tom Shapiro. Watch the video to hear Marieke's thoughts on what's going on in the world of WordPress and SEO.
Internal linking, Site structure
In this talk, Marieke speaks about decluttering your site structure and how you can help customers and Google to understand websites better. She also explains how internal linking can help you outrank your competitors.
Copywriting, Internal linking
In this talk at WordCamp India, Marieke explains the importance of SEO copywriting and internal linking. After that, she shares some practical tips to start optimizing your website today!
Content SEO
[Dutch] At WordCamp NL, Marieke spoke about how to make a difference and stand out in the search results with content SEO.
Yoast SEO
Marieke was interviewed at WordCamp Finland (online), where she talked about her role at Yoast and shared more information about Yoast as a company.
Copywriting
In this talk, Marieke explains why people and search engines love copy that is easy to understand. She also covers 2020's Google trends and shares practical tips on how to improve your SEO copywriting for websites.
Yoast SEO
In this talk at WordCamp Philadelphia, Joost and Marieke shared some of the highs and lows in growing the company. How did they grow out to be where they are now? And why is WordPress so important to Yoast? This and more you'll see in the video!
Yoast SEO
Michelle Frechette interviewed Marieke for her WPCoffeeTalk Interview Series.
Site structure, Yoast Care fund, Yoast Diversity fund
In this talk, Marieke talks about the Yoast Diversity fund, the Yoast Care fund and why diversity is so important. In addition, she provides tips to improve your site structure.
Yoast Diversity fund, Yoast SEO
In front of the Yoast booth at WordCamp US, Marieke talks about the game "sjoelen", the Yoast Diversity fund, and shares tips for first time WordCamp attendees.
Diversity
At WordCamp Nijmegen, Marieke talked about prejudices, women and diversity. In the end she offers solutions that can contribute to more equality and inclusion within society!
Yoast SEO
Marieke was interviewed about the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin.
Site structure, Yoast Academy
Marieke and Jesse talk about how people process information and how you can help users by making your content clear and understandable to comprehend.
Internal linking, Site structure
At WordCamp Europe 2018, Marieke shared 3 tips on how to improve your site structure.
Open source
Marieke and Joost discuss why having a business model around open source projects is so important. Enjoy watching!
