Yoast SEO is a WordPress search engine optimization (SEO) plug-in. The plugin is now installed on five million computers and has been downloaded more than 310 million times.

History of Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO launched its initial All in One SEO Pack plugin in 2007 – initially called WordPress SEO – as a WordPress plugin built by SEO expert Joost de Valk. Yoast SEO was renamed Yoast SEO in 2012. In 2012, the plug-premium in\’s version was released. Yoast held their inaugural conference, YoastCon, in 2015 at the Lindenberg Nijmegen Culture House in Nijmegen, Netherlands. In 2015, a vulnerability in version 1.7.3.3 and previous versions was identified. A security expert identified the issue, which might have exposed Yoast SEO customers to hackers.

Yoast had a total revenue of €10 million in 2018.

Yoast as a Company

Yoast SEO originated in 2005, when Joost de Valk founded the website \”joostdevalk.nl.\” Following a move to and subsequent sale of the site \”css3.info,\” de Valk built the Yoast platform in 2009, the initial version of WordPress SEO in 2010, and the firm Yoast BV in 2010.

Initially, Yoast concentrated on SEO consulting and produced the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress, as well as a Google Analytics plugin. Yoast SEO debuted a premium version in 2012. Yoast BV sold the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin in April 2016.

According to Yoast, they have around 100 workers as of September 2018, with 85 situated at company headquarters in Wijchen, Netherlands.

Reception of Yoast SEO

The software is used on over 11 million websites and 15.4 percent of the top one million websites worldwide. It has almost five million downloads on WordPress alone. Syed Moiz Balkhi, creator of WPBeginner, a blog for novice users of the WordPress platform, gave the company\’s software a rating of \”5 out of 5.\” According to Michael David, author of the 2015 book WordPress Search Engine Optimization, it is \”the granddaddy of all SEO plugins.\” Brian Santo, editor of EE Times, uses Yoast to determine an article\’s Google ranking based on analysis results (e.g., keyword density, links, and readability), but criticises the detrimental effects of SEO on journalism and suggests that Google employ more human or artificial intelligence to improve search.

Sponsorship

Yoast agreed to sponsor a professional basketball club in the province of Gelderland in September 2020. Yoast United will compete in the Dutch Basketball League (DBL).