What is Google Authorship? It’s basically a way for you to become an “expert” of your content via Google Search. It also provides a personal touch to your content by placing your photo (the one attached to your google+ profile) right next to your content that shows up in a google search result. Now there are some limitations to this, but we’ll talk about what they are in a moment. Here’s a snapshot of one of my results:
This is what Google has to say about why you should link your content (aka Authorship):
So, how do we turn “on” Authorship? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial:
1. If you don’t already have a Google+ Profile, create one. If you already have a Google+ Profile, skip to Step 2.
2. Go to Google+ Authorship, sign up with your email and click on the verification link Google will send you. (I’ll break this particular step down further…)
3. Make sure you have a professional looking headshot set up in your Google+ Profile. A blog button is not recommended as people searching for things are visual. They want to see professional profile pictures and are more likely to click on someone they recognize (or the link beside someone they recognize). According to Doug Antkowiak of SEJ, “These enhanced results receive a higher click-through rate compared to more traditional results because of three factors: Visibility, Placement, and Trustworthiness.”
4. Make sure your byline appears on all pages that you have content (on your blog). My byline reads: By: Taylor Bradford
5. Make sure your byline name matches the name on your Google+ Profile.
6. Verify that you have an email address on the same domain as your blog. Example: My blog is pinkheelspinktruck.com – My email could be: Taylor@PinkHeelsPinkTruck.com **If you don’t have an email address for your domain, no worries!! Go to Step 8.
7. Plug your email address into this site (make sure you are logged into your google+ account before you do this!)
**When you click the blue button that says Sign-up for Authorship you are agreeing to the following: “Submitting this form will add your email address to the Work section of your profile, which by default is viewable only by your circles. You can keep your email private if you wish. It will also add a public link to the domain of the email address to the Contributor to section of your profile.”
What this means is that it’s linking your dot com email address with your blog (your dot com), creating Authorship.
8. If you don’t use your dot com email address or don’t have one, this is what you do:
a. Create a link to your Google+ profile from your webpage, like this:
Here is the example: <a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>Google</a>
Replace [profile_url] with the your Google+ profile URL, like this:
<a href=”https://plus.google.com/109412257237874861202?rel=author”>Google</a>
Your link must contain the ?rel=author parameter. If it’s missing, Google won’t be able to associate your content with your Google+ profile.
b. Add this link somewhere in your blog code. For me, it was easiest to add it into my Google+ Social Media Button that appears in my sidebar. So instead of linking that button to just your Google+ Profile (which you are still doing), you’ll take that link you just created and use it instead…making sure to get the added important bit of code… ?rel=author
Note: I also use this same code in the social media buttons that I put at the end of every one of my blog posts. You don’t have to do this. I just do because.
c. Okay, now it’s time to go back to your Google+ Profile Page. You want to be on your Profile and in the “About” Section…where all your profile information is located.
d. Scroll down to the Links Section (where you see Contributor to)
e. Click the Edit button at the bottom of the Link Box
f. This is what the box will look like after you click the Edit Button:
g. Click on the Add Custom Link button in the Contributor section and add the name of your Site and then the URL:
h. Click the Save Button
9. Now, if you want to check and see if your site is working like it should (meaning you’ve established Authorship), go to the Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool Site.
10. Type in your URL and Click Preview
11. It will tell you whether or not your site has established your Authorship. If anything in red appears, follow the instructions to fix what it says to fix. (this will be a case by case basis). If you don’t see your authorship status quite yet, give it 24-48 hours to make the connection. Sometimes it takes awhile.
Here’s what it should look like:
Now, I know that was a whole lot of “stuff” to work through. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me!!
Remember, I said earlier that there were some limitations to the authorship. Limitations is really the wrong word, as you’re not limited in any way with Authorship. What I mean is that if you are logged into your Google account, and you try searching for your authorship picture by searching for something you’ve written, you may not see your picture pop up. You can always try logging out and searching for it, but you still may not see it. It has to do with Google Bots and their algorithms. I don’t quite understand it, but the gist is this: if Google thinks you are relative enough on the content you are searching for (an “author”), it will put your picture next to your content. It doesn’t do it all the time. But the more content you create after adding Authorship, the more likely in the future your picture will appear to your link in someone’s search result (if what that person is searching for is relative to the content on your blog).
All in all…add the Authorship. When you guest post for someone, make sure you link back to your Google+ Profile using that link you created earlier (if you just typed in your dot com email address, go back and create a link shown in 8a). And add that person’s site in your contributor section, so that Google can see that you are creating content there as well.
Again, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate. I’ll be more than happy to help you out!! 🙂
Want more Blogging Edumacation? Here are some other posts:
1. Blog Giveaway Rules – Part 1
2. Blog Giveaway Rules – Part 2
3. Do you Do Follow or No Follow?
4. How to use Dropbox to get your Computer Photos to Instagram
5. How to Show Some Blogger Love
6. 2013 FTC Disclosures for Bloggers
You can find additional Blogging Edumacation lessons here.
Jessica @ Bespangled says
This post is perfect timing – this is literally on my list of things to do this week. I have also looked at other tutorials (namely, Google’s own) and they are super confusing. This is very in-depth and seems very easy to follow. Thank you thank you thank you!!
Helene says
this is wonderful!! thank you so much for showing me this!!!!
Kelly says
This is really informative thank you- bookmarking it for future use!
Kelly says
Thank you so much, this was great!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Amanda {A Royal Daughter} says
Awesome, thanks!
Ali says
I am so thankful I found your blog – I had no idea this was out there, much less how to do it! You are really wonderful for sharing all this knowledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Lauren says
Great tutorial – thanks so much for sharing!
D says
I’m having some trouble with the Authorship Email Verification. Can you go over that again in more detail?
Rhondda Mol says
Thank you Taylor 🙂 I finally got it to work! Rhondda
chrissy@thePEARLblog says
I still can not seem to get mine to work.
Jeanne@Grandmafifi says
This worked great! Thank you!
Katie @decoratemylife says
Thanks for this post! I got my confirmation email this week and linked to your post on my blog today!
Tiffany (Fabulous Mom Blog) says
I have this set up already and have anyone who contributes to my blog do the same. Great tutorial.