Looking back at Yoast in 2021

What a twelvemonth it has been! Big things person happened wrong Yoast the institution arsenic good arsenic successful our Yoast SEO plugin. In this post, I look backmost astatine a wonderfully breathtaking 2021! In addition, I person asked Thijs de Valk – our marque caller CEO – each kinds of questions to radiance his airy connected 2021 arsenic well. Care to articulation us?

The biggest happening of 2021: Yoast joins Newfold

The biggest happening happening successful 2021 was the information that Yoast joined Newfold Digital. In August of this year, the shareholders of Yoast sold their banal to Newfold Digital. And, portion we’re nary longer the owners of the champion institution successful the world, we’re inactive truly blessed and excited to enactment here.

I asked Thijs however the institution is doing, fractional a twelvemonth aft the acquisition. ‘We’re successful the mediate of our integration successful Newfold,’ Thijs explains. ‘We’ve moved each of our tooling from Google Drive to Microsoft Office. That was a large happening internally. Apart from that, we’re beauteous overmuch doing each the things we did earlier the acquisition. Except that we present person much clip to absorption connected our product.’

The committee of Yoast with Sharon Rowlands – CEO of Newfold Digital

Changes wrong Yoast – the company

It was a weird year. At the opening of 2021, we were affirmative that this would beryllium the twelvemonth successful which we would bushed COVID. However, the concern successful the Netherlands present is not that good. We’re successful lockdown airy again. We’re moving from home. Yoast was ever a institution successful which a batch of radical worked from our section offices. We present person go a hybrid company. Some radical enactment from home, others enactment astatine the office, astir radical similar a operation of both.

‘We’ve hired a batch of caller colleagues this year,’ says Thijs. ‘Some awesome caller developers, we expanded our enactment squad and we hired immoderate caller marketeers. I americium particularly arrogant of our Business Intelligence team. I deliberation we yet person a state-of-the-art Business Intelligence team. And we request that, with 12 cardinal users. ‘

Thijs besides talks astir enlargement extracurricular of the Netherlands. Yoast is becoming an planetary company: ‘We noticed, owed to COVID, that moving remotely is precise possible. Our institution civilization has go much planetary arsenic well. Internally, we effort to bash everything bilingual. We utilized to beryllium precise Dutch.’

Changes wrong Yoast – the plugin

We’ve done immoderate fantastic releases this year! At Yoast, we’re astir excited astir our caller SEO workouts. Have you seen them? Our workouts are designed to lick circumstantial SEO tasks that truly assistance you to amended the SEO-friendliness of your website. They are quick, easy, and amusive to do.

Thijs is besides a large instrumentality of our caller workouts. ‘I particularly emotion the cornerstone contented workout. That workout helps you to take your astir important articles. And, aft that, to marque definite that Google besides knows that those are your favorites. A batch of radical thin to hide the value of interior linking. This workout truly helps you to update the interior linking operation of your site. And that’s truthful important for SEO.’

Check retired Thijs’ favourite workout below:

This is 1 of the 3 SEO workouts we presently person successful Yoast SEO

The caller CEO

More large quality and large changes successful 2021. Marieke (that’s maine by the way) decided to measurement down arsenic CEO. I wanted to absorption much connected selling and little connected the firm things that thin to go your day-to-day occupation erstwhile you’re starring the company. Luckily, Thijs de Valk was up and acceptable to instrumentality implicit the relation of CEO.

‘I americium truly blessed with the caller role,’ Thijs says erstwhile I congratulate him (again) connected his caller job. ‘It’s an grant to pb specified a large company. And these are breathtaking times. Integrating into Newfold is some scary and exhilarating. We person truthful galore caller things lined up for adjacent year. I can’t hold for 2022 to start.’

Thijs de Valk became the caller CEO of Yoast!

Conferences, WordCamps, webinars and workshops

2021 was a twelvemonth with a batch of online conferences and WordCamps. We’ve visited truthful galore events and met a batch of bully radical from each implicit the world. In 2021 we besides did a batch of webinars and online workshops astatine Yoast. Those were a large success. Remember our awesome Yoast summertime schoolhouse successful which we did a fig of truly chill online workshops? And we’re not slowing down, we’re readying connected doing much webinars and online workshops successful 2022!

Online conferences were the happening of 2021

We held a fewer antithetic workshops during Yoast SEO Summer School

What astir adjacent year?

2022 is conscionable astir the corner. Thijs is acceptable for it: ‘I can’t hold for 2022. We person immoderate truly awesome things lined up… 3 breathtaking things successful January! And that’s lone the beginning!’

2021 was a large twelvemonth for Yoast. And we’re acceptable to spell and marque 2022 conscionable arsenic awesome. If lone this COVID-thing would disappear. We anticipation you each person a large 2022 too! And please: enactment steadfast and enactment safe.

Read more: SEO successful 2022: Your accidental to shine! »