The Fletcher Method

WordPress Authorship: How to Set Up Google+ Authorship on Your Blog

how to set up google authorship wordpress

During your last several Google sessions, have you noticed the trend of more and more “headshots” popping up in search results? The icons you’ve been spotting are a result of Google’s “authorship markup”, a way for website publishers to “claim” or authenticate themselves with the website(s) they’re associated with.  While these images bare visual benefits, clearly standing out and drawing the eyes of searchers away from their text-only colleagues, many online marketers have noted measurable improvements in search rankings themselves as a result of Google authorship.

If you have yet to implement this simple and powerful step towards online awesomeness, now’s the time to take action and get your very own Google Glamour Shots going.

In this short step-by-step guide, I walk you the simple process of setting up Google authorship and Google publisher links using Google+ and WordPress. Doing both is very important, both for search Google and getting seen by your target audience:

  • Setting up authorship allows your photo to show up in Google search results pages (see the image bellow), a clear advantage visually.
  • In Google’s eyes, authorship is a signal of trust, as it links a website to an actual and “authenticated” human being.

 

What’s the Difference Between an Author and a Publisher?

This is a common question. The best , “Geek-Free” way to answer this is to use the metaphor of a daily newspaper.  The New York Times is a publisher and the staff writer listed in the byline would be the author.  Your website is the entity publishing the content and you (and anyone else who writes for your website) are the author. It’s that simple.

 

How to Set Up Google Authorship Using WordPress

According to Google:

If you want your authorship information to appear in search results for the content you create, you’ll need a Google+ Profile with a good, recognizable headshot as your profile photo. Then, verify authorship of your content by associating it with your profile using either of the methods below. Google doesn’t guarantee to show author information in Google Web Search or Google News results. Click here for more from Google

Google authorship requires little more than creating a personal Google+ account and creating a two-way link between this profile and your website, using the following steps:

STEP 1: From your personal Google+ page, click on “edit profile” and scroll down to the “contributor to” section. In the field provided, add your full website URL.

NOTE: be sure to paste the URL exactly as it is in your web browser (with our without the “www”, etc.) WordPress provides a simple place to enter your Google+ profile link (below):

STEP 2: Log into your WordPress site and click “Users”, and go to your profile.  Look for the “Google+” field and paste in the URL for your Google+ profile’s “about” page (see image below):

STEP 3: Test your work using Google’s structured data testing tool (below). You should see your photo in the sample search result, and the green “verified” button.

If you’ve followed these steps correctly, you’ll start seeing your image show up next to your content in no time (about 48 hours).

NOTE:  Be sure you’re the author listed in your WordPress site for all pages and posts you want to receive authorship credit for. Be sure that anyone else contributing to your website/blog has completed the above mentioned steps as well.

 

How to Setup Google Publisher Links Using WordPress

Once you’ve setup your Google authorship links, it’s time to create Google publisher links using a very similar process:

STEP 1: Create a Google+ business page (see Video 2 below). If you haven’t already done so, claim your Google+ local page using the instructions provided on the listing page

STEP 2: Click on “edit profile” and add your website URL in the space provided (below):

STEP 3: Log into your WordPress website’s dashboard and clock on SEO > Titles & Meta > Home (below).  In the space provided, enter the URL of your Google+ business profile’s “about” page.

  • NOTE:  This step requires you to be using the Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin, which you should be, as it’s the best SEO plugin for WordPress sites.

 STEP 4:   Test your work using Google’s structured data testing tool.  Past the URL for your home page in the provided field.  You should now see green “verified” buttons for both publisher and authorship.

Once you’ve properly linked personal and business Google+ pages to your WordPress site and vice-versa, you’ll start enjoying improved visibility in search results, from both Google and your target audience!

 

Video 1: How to Set Up Your Google+ Profile

Video 2: Link Your Google+ Profile to Your WordPress Site

Video 3: Google+ For Business

 

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