How to verify your site on Mastodon with Yoast SEO Premium

Yoast SEO Premium 20.1 introduced an integration with Mastodon. Mastodon is a decentralized, open-source social network. Think of it like Twitter, but instead of being controlled by one big company, it’s run by lots of different people all around the world. With Yoast SEO Premium, you can now easily verify your website on Mastodon.

Why should you verify your site on Mastodon?
How to verify your site on Mastodon with Yoast SEO Premium

Why should you verify your site on Mastodon?

You can verify yourself as the owner of the links in your profile metadata on Mastodon. Verifying your website on Mastodon lets others know that your Mastodon profile is officially linked to your website. This can help increase the credibility of your brand.

The Mastodon profile of Joost de Valk, founder of Yoast, with verified links

In addition, you can make sure search engines like Google recognize your Mastodon profile. When you fill in your Mastodon profile in the Yoast SEO Premium settings, the plugin will use this data to generate structured data code. This code helps search engines understand that this Mastodon profile belongs to your business, which means that if you have a knowledge panel, they may display your Mastodon profile in there as well.

How to verify your site on Mastodon with Yoast SEO Premium

Let’s take a look at the steps you need to take to verify your site on Mastodon with Yoast SEO.

Log in to your WordPress website.
You’ll be in your Dashboard.
Click “Yoast SEO” and then “Settings”.
In the admin menu on the left-hand side, click “Yoast SEO” and then “Settings”.
Click “Site representation”.
In the Yoast SEO settings menu, click “Site representation”. You can only verify your site on Mastodon with Yoast SEO if your site represents an organization, so if you have selected “Organization” at the top of the Site representation settings.
Scroll down to “Other profiles”.
Fill in your Mastodon profile URL.
Look for the field below “Mastodon”. Fill in the full URL of your Mastodon profile (e.g. https://mastodon.social/@yoast).
Click “Save changes”.
Make sure you’ve filled in your website URL in your profile metadata on Mastodon.
To edit your profile metadata, click “Edit profile” on Mastodon and scroll down to “Profile metadata”.
Your site is verified!
Yoast SEO now automatically adds the correct code to verify your site with Mastodon. Your site will be displayed on your Mastodon profile with a green background and a checkmark next to it, proving that you’re the owner.

Yoast SEO will also show that you’ve successfully added your Mastodon profile in the Mastodon integration box. You can find this box on the Integrations page in Yoast SEO (Yoast SEO > Integrations).