Yoast - Building Smarter Multilingual SEO Tools with Manuel Augustin & Marina Koleva

Today Sonia Kampshoff speaks with Marina Koleva (linguist and developer) and Manuel Augustin (product owner and plugin release lead) from Yoast. Together, they explore how linguistics, technology and multilingual SEO intersect.From mastering multiple languages to building features in the Yoast SEO plugin, Marina and Manuel share insights into how language expertise drives better search optimization tools. They also discuss the challenges of adding new languages like Japanese to the plugin, the role of AI in SEO, and why human editing is still essential for high-quality online content.Key TakeawaysLanguage knowledge doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful - even partial familiarity with a language can open career opportunities and problem-solving approaches.AI enhances SEO tools by suggesting improvements like optimized titles, but still requires a human eye for originality, nuance, and tone.Working with languages builds adaptability - the more you get used to linguistic 'discomfort' the easier it becomes to tackle new systems.Not all AI replaces traditional methods - rule-based processing remains essential, especially in areas like counting words and sentence structure.Human creativity remains central to SEO - automation assists, but originality and cultural context still define high-quality, optimized content.About the GuestsManuel and Marina both work at Yoast on their multilingual SEO plugin for WordPress and other website building platforms. They are linguists and also developers - as they tell us in this conversations, at Yoast all linguists need to know about web development, and all developers need to know a bit about languages and linguistics.Yoast website: yoast.comManuel on LinkedIn: Manuel AugustinMarina Koleva' profile on Yoast: Marina KolevaAbout Sonia KampshoffSonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life.In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.LinkedIn: Sonia KampshoffInstagram: WorkingWithLanguagesWebsite: MorePerfect.DigitalIf you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.✉️ Join my free newsletter☕ Support my work, buy me a coffee