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.
Link building isn’t easy. That doesn’t mean it’s rocket science. It means it takes a lot of work if you do it right. Link building done the wrong way can backfire, resulting in a ban from Google altogether. In this post, I’ll discuss our ideas about getting more backlinks: link building from a holistic SEO […]
Read: "Link building from a holistic SEO perspective"
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?"
It’s time to spring clean your content! Does your website have any dusty corners or content that’s been swept under the carpet? Keeping your content fresh and findable is essential for SEO. So it’s time to give your site a spring clean and tidy that content up! Just follow the four simple steps in our […]
Read: "Clean up your old content with our SEO workout!"
Want to know how to rank high in Google? You’re not the only one. “Could you please write a post with a clear path on just what to do to rank high in Google?”, “What should I do to make sure I’ll outrank my competition?”, “Could you write a clear, step-by-step to-do list on how […]
Read: "How to rank high in Google"
How do you make sure that the content on your website is still relevant? Why is that even important? For some people, writing new blog posts is the biggest challenge of blogging. However, it’s also important to keep an eye on your existing posts and whether they’re still up to date. And funnily enough, that […]
Read: "Keep your content fresh and up to date!"
The first step in every content SEO strategy should be executing keyword research. In this ultimate guide we'll teach you how to do that.
Read: "Keyword research for SEO: the ultimate guide"
This post explains everything you need to know about cornerstone content – or evergreen content, as it’s also known. You’ll learn what it is, why it’s important for SEO, how to write this kind of content and how you should link from your posts to your cornerstone articles. What is cornerstone content? Cornerstone content is […]
Read: "What is cornerstone content?"
Why do so many ecommerce sites have a blog? Is that because online shop owners love to write posts? Or perhaps they have a lot of spare time on their hands? Probably not. Although blogging is a lot of fun, it is also a great marketing and SEO strategy. And because of that, ecommerce site […]
Read: "Why and how to set up a blog on an ecommerce site"
Writing a well structured blog post and an SEO-friendly blog post at the same time can be a challenge, this guide helps you out!
Read: "10 tips for an awesome and SEO-friendly blog post"
Does that very last paragraph even matter? Do you need to think about SEO at all if you’re writing a conclusion? Well… yes you do! That last paragraph is a very important one for your readers. And whatever is important for your readers, is important for Google as well! But why is a concluding paragraph […]
Read: "How to write an SEO-friendly conclusion"
June 2-4 is the 10th edition of WordCamp Europe 2022! Yoast is traveling to Porto (Portugal) with a big group to attend the event in person. And we can’t wait to meet you live at the Yoast booth! What to expect from WordCamp Europe? There’s always a lot going on at WordCamp Europe. Over three […] Read about WordCamp Europe 2022 »
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!
