Google Authorship for Content Marketers

Jan 2013

Back in the old days—y’know, like, a year ago—life for us content wonks was pretty simple. We posted our own content on our own blogs, did our social media thing, and if we wanted to know how we were doing, well, we just checked our own site traffic and social analytics.

Fast-forward to 2013 (feels like wedid fast-forward to get here, doesn’t it? or am I just getting old?) and our tidy little universe is a bit more complex. These days we’re just as likely to:

Curate content for an online community
Guest-post on someone else’s blog
Contribute regularly to a superblog
Co-author an e-book
Collaborate on a webinar or online course

Meanwhile Google, in its never-ending quest to deliver quality content to the eager little hands of searchers, has added a new term to search-minded marketers’ lexicons:authorship.

When it does its ranking thing, Google has always looked at the content itself and the reputation of the site it’s posted on. Now it’s starting to look at the “who” behind the “what” and the “where.”

Simply put, Google authorship lets you get SEO credit for all the content you post around the Web, regardless of where it’s actually housed. Over time, your magical Google mojo (yes, that’s a technical term) will build up and contribute to better search results for everything you attach your name to.

All Aboard the Google Author-ship!

“Sounds great, Parker. So, how do I get in on this deal?” I’m so glad you asked!

1. Get on Google+

The first thing you need to do, if you haven’t already, is set up a profile on Google+. Yep, I’ve been telling you that the Googlegods are integrating their social platform more and more into their search function, and it’s only just begun.

So if you haven’t set up a profile on Google+ yet,do it now. You’ll have to eventually, and sooner is better than later.

2. Set Up Your “About the Author” Boilerplate

Put together a little paragraph about you that, along with your profile picture (you do have a good one, don’t you?), will go at the bottom of anything you write. I’ve got mine at the bottom of this post to show you what it might look like.

Since you’ll be posting on different platforms (for guest posts, etc.), it’s a good idea to copy the HTML code and paste it where you can easily find it when you need it. But not quite yet, because we have one thing to add to it.

OK, here’s where the real magic happens:

3. Add a “rel=author” Tag to Your “About the Author” Boilerplate

To do this, you’ll need your 21-digit Google+ ID number. Just go to your Google+ Profile page, highlight the big long number after the first slash, and copy it to your clipboard:

Now go back to your “About the Author” blurb and hyperlink your name to your Google+ profile using the following code:

Here’s what mine looks like:

<a href=”https://plus.google.com/109481824380893603549/?rel=author”>Rachel Parker</a>

The rel=author bit is the magic part. It’s the piece of the code that tells Google, “Hey, this is the author’s identifying information” so that you can start racking up credit for all the awesome content you create—no matter where it’s located.

And you’re done! Takes a bit of effort to set up, but once you have that HTML code saved in a handy place, you can pop it into any format that takes HTML tags.

Have you been using Google Authorship tags? If so, has it made a difference in your search mojo? Tell us about it in the comments—we’d love to hear from you!

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About the Author

A self-described geek who can recite entire episodes of South Park by heart, Rachel Parker has had a passion for content ever since she was old enough to hold a crayon (purple, please).

As Founder and CEO of Resonance, Rachel helps businesses publish content that connects with their audience … and converts those followers into customers. She’s also the host of the Content Marketing Podcast and a sought-after speaker, having presented to many major business and marketing organizations. Contact Rachel about speaking to your group or business.

See you again next week!

Our Clients Are Saying

Increased our likes and interaction rates

Working with Rachel was a delight. Not only does she communicate very well, but she provided valuable insight about our social media platforms and followers. We have much better engagement with our fans and followers, which increased our likes and interaction rates.
Event Sold Out Two Years In A Row!

Rachel worked with me on creating a content marketing calendar and content for the Big Social Media Summit (Big SMS) three years in a row. She is very organized and knows just the right amount of posts on social, email newsletters and content to send. Her content marketing efforts helping us sell out our event three years in a row! I am expecting the same for October 2014.

Rachel was hired to write content for our email newsletter and content for our social platforms. In addition, she had a budget to do advertising on social media. She participated in the event live and after the fact to assure buzz was created before, during and after the event. As a result, our event sold out.

When I work with Rachel, I have total peace of mind. I know that she is on target, on time, reliable and delivers over and above the results I expect.

I trust Rachel totally with her ideas on strategy, marketing and the content used to not only promote our events, but also post on my behalf on social networks. I have been doing social media for 8 years, and I hire Resonance to post on some of my social sites as it saves me time, and keeps my social sites relevant and current. They always post great, engaging content that gets my social properties likes, comments and shares.
Added 5 figures to my business in less than 4 weeks

Rachel took the overwhelm and stress out of writing content for my marketing campaign! When I approached Rachel, I was really concerned that I wouldn’t have the time to focus on writing copy for a lengthy marketing campaign that included sales pages, solo emails, newsletters and social media updates. Well, let’s just say I’m glad I hired Rachel because I couldn’t have done it without her support and expertise. I loved how she used my voice and words to craft content that helped me reach and attract my ideal client. As a result of working with Rachel, I added 5 figures to my business in less than 4 weeks, hundreds of new social media followers and exceeded my sales and list building goals! You know your marketing copy is working when you hear someone say, “I see you everywhere”. Thank you Rachel for helping me not only get seen by my ideal clients but get paid!
Produced ROI Result

Form.io needed someone who could grasp the complexities of our product, capture the subtlety of our differentiating value propositions, and convey them in the right voice for an exacting customer audience…. Resonance delivered, by crafting a multi-faceted online content marketing strategy that drove traffic and conversion, producing the ROI result we were looking for….
Professionalism and Sincere Desire to Help

I just didn’t seem to be able to find the time or the right words to explain what I offer and how my company helps people accomplish their goals. Rachel was able to ask me some questions, do some research and capture my voice while writing my website copy exactly as I needed it to be written. Now, the copy on my website is much more professional than what I would have created and having this task handled by Rachel and Resonance freed up my time to complete other tasks I am better suited to do.

It was a joy to work with Rachel. Her professionalism and sincere desire to help was apparent from the first communication until the final delivery. I will definitely use Resonance again and highly recommend their services.
One of the best “vendor” relationships I’ve ever had.

My company had little or no time to spend on social media. Our needs were to ensure a steady stream of posts across three platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter) by harvesting and re-purposing content from our own site and news streams. So I contacted Rachel Parker of Resonance Content Marketing.

The result was two-fold. Not only did our ranks of followers grew steadily, the steady drip, drip, drip of content helped us train our personnel and direct their own individual social media efforts.

Rachel and her team are extremely organized and open to discussion and new ideas. They deliver a rapid response to new opportunities — and an overall feeling of being on the same team. One of the best “vendor” relationships I’ve ever had.
Increased website traffic, New Lead Generation

We were experiencing a lack of internal resources to consistently maintain the Ustream blog. So we turned to Resonance Content Marketing to write blog posts on current industry topics while maintaining a consistent tone with the brand. The result is increased website traffic, new lead generation from gated assets on blog, and better educated/qualified leads. And I now have more time to spend on marketing strategy with the confidence that the content we push out is extremely well written and engaging.

Rachel is an amazing writer and has really managed to create engaging and relevant blog material on topics that aren’t always super interesting. On many occasions, she has been able to quickly turn around one-off requests and the results are always top-notch. She has also helped guide our content strategy based on her expertise in content marketing, which has been a huge asset to our team.
Social Media Ranking Better Than Ever!

We are so happy to have hired Resonance for our social media needs. We spend most of our time serving our clients and studying our field so we can provide the highest quality possible. We no longer worry about our social media, as we have total confidence in the wonderful work Rachel and her team have accomplished.

Our social media is active, promoted, and is ranking better than ever! People often comment about what they see on our Facebook page. Resonance has added a creative, and artistic twist to our social media that is appealing and captivating to our audience. This has allowed me more time to work with my team and clients, so I can focus on service towards the people that help our business grow.

I know there will be wonderful content on Facebook, and that Rachel will answer to posts, comments and questions as soon as a comment arrives. I am often impressed at how quickly she responds! Thank you Resonance! I highly endorse Resonance and encourage companies who need social media strategies to work with Resonance! You won’t regret it!