About Progress Planner
We make website maintenance less scary – and a lot more effective
Progress Planner helps website owners stay active, relevant, and successful with smart guidance, gamification, and expert‑backed SEO and branding insights. Built by the team behind Yoast and now Emilia Capital, we know what it takes to keep a site ranking – and we’re making that process easier, clearer, and (dare we say) fun.
Our story
We’ve spent decades helping millions of websites grow, rank, and thrive. At Yoast, Joost and Marieke built the world’s most popular SEO plugin.
But after years of watching people launch websites only to let them collect dust, we realized something: the internet doesn’t need more abandoned sites. It needs tools that motivate people to keep going.
That’s why we created Progress Planner. It’s the nudge, the plan, and the celebration that turns maintenance from a chore into momentum.
How Progress Planner came to life
After selling Yoast to Newfold Digital in 2021, we founded Emilia Capital to invest in – and advise – other product companies. While helping teams ship great tools, we kept seeing the same problem we’d seen for years: websites go live… and then go quiet. In a smaller team ourselves, we also felt the pain first‑hand. Marieke missed having a project manager nudging priorities; tasks slipped; procrastination crept in (yes, even the Winnie‑the‑Pooh quizzes happened – Tigger energy confirmed).
So we asked: what if you had a project manager inside WordPress – one focused on the work that keeps a website healthy? Something that nudges, prioritizes, and celebrates the small steps that add up to real results. That question became Progress Planner.
Marieke dove deep into the science of procrastination – plus decades of personal tactics (and a recent ADHD diagnosis) – to design a system that actually helps people follow through. Combined with our SEO and branding expertise, Progress Planner blends guidance, accountability, and a little gamified joy to keep your site alive and winning.
What we stand for
- Expert guidance, not guesswork: We highlight what matters and what can wait, based on how healthy, active websites actually grow.
- Small steps that compound: Clear, bite‑size actions that fit real life. Ten minutes of the right work beats an hour of wheel‑spinning.
- Motivation built in: Streaks and badges reward momentum, while friendly nudges (hi, Ravi) keep you on track.
- Weekly clarity: An at‑a‑glance snapshot of your recent activity plus focused next steps – so you always know what progress looks like this week.
Meet the team:
Marieke co‑founded both Yoast and Progress Planner. With decades of experience turning complex SEO and branding concepts into accessible tools, she’s on a mission to make website maintenance less daunting and a lot more fun.
When she’s not shaping product strategy, she’s balancing life with four kids – and proving that even busy people can keep their sites fresh.
If you know WordPress, you know Joost – founder of Yoast SEO and long‑time advocate for better websites. At Progress Planner, he brings that same obsession with optimization to a new challenge: helping site owners beat procrastination.
His goal? Make staying active on your website as natural as checking your email.
The designer who co‑created the Yoast brand (with Erwin), Mijke makes progress look good. From badges to dashboards, she designs the visual cues that keep users motivated.
A lifelong list‑maker and task‑checker, she believes design should spark joy and results – so every Progress Planner interaction feels rewarding.
Half of the duo behind the Yoast brand (and Mijke’s partner in life and design). Erwin brings Progress Planner’s personality to life – from Ravi’s character and product illustrations to marketing visuals and badge sets.
He turns complex ideas into clear, lovable visuals that make progress feel simple (and shareable).
Known in the WordPress community as aristath, Ari is a developer who loves a challenge. He brings deep technical expertise to Progress Planner, ensuring the plugin is both powerful and easy to use.
He’s the one turning our “what if…” ideas into reality (without breaking your site speed in the process).
Backend maestro and problem‑solver. Filip helps turn complex ideas into clean, reliable code.
He focuses on performance, data integrity, and scalable architecture so Progress Planner plays nicely with real‑world sites – from small blogs to busy stores.
Iris keeps Progress Planner on track – literally. As Project Lead, she combines organization with creativity, ensuring ideas turn into features users love.
With a background in copywriting and a soft spot for lists, she brings both clarity and momentum to the team’s work (and your website’s progress).
The ultimate connector. Taco brings hosts, partners, and the WordPress community together so more site owners discover – and succeed with – Progress Planner.
With deep roots in the WordPress ecosystem, he leads host partnerships, co‑marketing initiatives, and community programs that help users build healthy website habits for the long haul.
Better known online as GoodPlanSam, Sam is a planning nerd with a knack for making complex ideas clear and engaging. At Progress Planner, they lead marketing and branding, helping turn procrastination struggles into stories of progress.
Bonus: Sam knows the joy of a well‑earned badge better than anyone.
Fleur keeps our plans organized and our copy sharp. She supports launches and campaigns with tidy timelines, clear briefs, and on‑brand writing—from social posts to landing pages.
Before joining the team, she honed her skills as a freelance copywriter and in marketing roles, bringing a practical, get‑it‑done approach to everything we ship.
Ready to Make Progress?
Your website deserves better than being left behind. Progress Planner keeps it alive, optimized, and growing.
