February 9, 2025

It’s with combined feelings that we are saying goodbye to Marieke van de Rakt, who has determined to depart Yoast. Everybody at Newfold Digital and Yoast will miss her dearly, and we need to thank her for all of the great issues she has accomplished through the years. She’s performed a pivotal function in shaping the corporate’s imaginative and prescient, progress and success.

Now, she has bold plans to assist different organizations, to champion variety and sustainability, and to proceed to vary the world for the higher. So, let’s check out just some of the issues she’s achieved in her time right here.

Marieke’s life at Yoast

As you could know, Marieke has been a core a part of Yoast for the reason that starting. She’s been instrumental in so many alternative areas of the corporate, and throughout so many roles, that it’s laborious to summarize with out leaving issues out!

She based the Yoast website positioning academy, championed a constructive and inclusive firm tradition, pushed our advertising and marketing and branding efforts, and led the corporate as CEO. We are able to’t understate how a lot of an influence she’s had on the corporate and the model, and the way a lot of a long-lasting impact that can proceed to have.

​Yoast website positioning academy

In 2015, Marieke had a imaginative and prescient to empower others by way of information, resulting in her founding the Yoast website positioning academy; a free supply of accessible and dependable website positioning schooling. Now, a whole lot of hundreds of individuals all all over the world have accomplished programs, improved their website positioning abilities, and grown their audiences in consequence.

Championing a constructive firm tradition

Marieke at all times felt that it’s vital for workers to get pleasure from their work, really feel appreciated, and contribute meaningfully. Our core firm values nonetheless replicate that, at the same time as Yoast has grown and grow to be a bigger and extra complicated group. She was usually the individual driving us ahead and considering forward when it got here to our tradition, and has at all times been a robust advocate for a constructive and inclusive firm tradition. She’s closed gender pay gaps, elevated our variety, and championed our individuals.

The model

Yoast is likely one of the most well-known and beloved manufacturers within the trade, and Marieke’s affect might be felt right here, too. She’s performed a key half in defining and championing our appear and feel, messaging, communication, and model imaginative and prescient. That Yoast staff are universally acknowledged, revered, and influential all all over the world is a stage of standing that she performed an enormous half in us creating and sustaining.

Life as a CEO

Because the CEO, Marieke was chargeable for the general strategic path, day-to-day administration, and operational success of the corporate. Along with her huge understanding of the market, trade tendencies, customers and group, she enabled Yoast to stay on the forefront of the aggressive website positioning panorama. Yoast’s profitable acquisition by Newfold Digital in 2021 was accomplished below her purview.

Marieke actually has accomplished loads for Yoast through the years, and I’d encourage you to take a look at our historical past of Yoast web page to see the total extent of the legacy she is forsaking. 

Future for Marieke

If Marieke, then that she won’t be sitting nonetheless! She has many tasks that she is wanting ahead to spending extra time on. She’ll be investing in open supply, sustainable and female-led firms by way of Emilia Capital, and serving to organizations to handle gender imbalances and office inequality together with her Empowerwoment Project.

We want her the very best of luck with these undertakings and might be cheering her on from the sidelines.

The way forward for Yoast

Yoast remains to be in an extremely robust place, with a robust management workforce, product, and roadmap. While we’ll be unhappy to see Marieke leaving, it’s a constructive reflection on the soundness of the corporate and model that she’s ready to take action safely and fortunately. Marieke has spent the previous few months working with our groups, guaranteeing that her knowledge and imaginative and prescient is handed on efficiently. She’ll be leaving her legacy and tasks in succesful arms.

We even have the total help of our father or mother group, Newfold Digital, who’ll be serving to us as we transfer into a brand new chapter at Yoast.