What Is Google Authorship?
Google Authorship tells Google that the blog post you just wrote and published belongs to YOU, not that other guy who is out there scraping and stealing content for their silly auto-botted, keyword stuffed, backlink-riddled piece of fraudulent crap, pardon my French.
Have you been hearing the equation rel=”author” bandied about? Ever noticed people’s pictures appearing on Google search results these days?
That’s because they have implemented Google authorship.
Why Do I Need Google Authorship?
“Need” is such a strong word, don’t you think? It’s also subjective. Maybe you don’t need it. Maybe you don’t need to protect your content from thieves and plagarists. Or maybe you don’t need your profile picture to appear in Google search results. Or maybe you don’t need Google, period.
But, if you do, and you add it soon, you will be ahead of the pack, and don’t you want to be out there leading the way? Many Google search results indicate very little Google authorship happening yet, which means YOURS will stand out from the rest because YOURS will have a picture if you add this little nugget of SEO goodness.
How Do I Add Google Authorship To My Blog?
What You Will Need:
1 Google+ profile
1 WordPress or Blogger blog
1 cup strong coffee (actually, the coffee is for me, not for you. Don’t forget to add cream, no sugar. Thanks, you’re a doll.)
Combine all ingredients into a blender and… nope, wrong recipe…
But seriously, you will need a Google Plus account.
Add profile links to your Google Plus profile
Go to the About tab on your Google Plus Profile page and click the Edit Profile button near the top.
Click Add Custom Link
Add your blog’s About Me page name and URL to the Other Profilessection.
Save your changes.
Click on the Contributor To section and add a custom link for your main blog URL.
You can see where I’ve added these things for Sticky Readers below:
Adding Google Authorship to Your Blog
Add the following link element HTML code to the <HEAD> section of your blog near the top, where you may see other link elements:
What is YourGoogle+Number? It’s that big ‘ol long number you see in the URL box at the top of your browser when you go to your Google Profile page.
Verify Authorship is Actually Working
Use Google’s Rich Snippets Tool to verify that your changes actually worked. Because, after all that work, if your picture doesn’t come up, that would kind of suck, wouldn’t it?
Enter any URL from your blog, whether it’s the main page, or a specific post, and click the Preview button.
You should get a bunch of happy information including your profile picture and a green message that says: Authorship markup is verified for this page.
Warning: This might not happen immediately. So it’s possible you did something horribly wrong or you have to wait. I will tell you that I had to wait. A few days, actually. Patience is a virtue, they say. Remind me to go smack “they”.
Another way to check is to simply Google the name of your blog, like this:
FAQs
1. Do I have to dig into my HTML code? Isn’t there an easier way?
Why yes. Yes, there is. If you have the WordPress DIY Thesis theme, or if you are using the WordPress SEO plug-in by Yoast. Either way, you still have to modify your Google Plus profile. These steps below replace having to add HTML code in your <HEAD> section.
The WordPress SEO plug-in way:
In your WP Dashboard, click on Users | Your Profile.
Add your Google Plus URL in the spot where it says: “Google +”.
The Thesis theme way:
Go to Your WordPress Dashboard and click on Thesis | Site Options | Document Head | Additional Scripts, and add that same rel=”author” code:
2. I have a Blogger blog and your instructions suck. Can anyone else help me?
I’m sorry you feel that way, but yes, you can try this guy’s instructions for adding Google Authorship to Blogger Blogs.
3. Where did you hear about this fabulous feature?
I have to sing the praises of Dennis Goedegebuure of The Next Corner for pointing this out to me. He held an extensive SEO session at a conference I recently attended and I can’t say enough good things about how helpful he was. He’s also a big proponent of that Yoast WordPress SEO plug-in I mentioned earlier. I would follow him if I were you.
4. Is your Twitter handle really nannygoats?
Yes. Man, you sure ask a lot of questions.
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