A look at the ins and outs of Google’s authorship programand why you should care about it.

FINCON12, Denver, Colorado, September 8, 2012

GOOGLE WANTS your

QUALITY CONTENT!HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGEAND GET NOTICEDwww.investinganswers.com

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Who am I?

Aspiring author. Veteran journalist, now VP of Content with InvestingAnswers.com. Evangelist for the Writer's League of Texas. Snarky sports fan. Proud Austinite.

I’m ALSO… DAD

More info: www.oursite.com

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WE WANT TO BE NOTICED

• Unlike my son, we want to people to notice.– More readers– More page views– More ad clicks– More money

• That’s where Google authorship comes in

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What is authorship?

For writers: A way to connect your identity to your content on the Internet and get noticed.

For Google: A way to identify the best content from the best writers and make sure it gets noticed.

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HOW does it look?

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GIVING THE WEB A FACE

“The main thing that we are trying to address is the faceless nature of the web.”

- Google’s Sagar Kamdarin an interview with StoneTemple.com

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not just about looks• Images draw eyeballs – and clicks

• Byline links gives air of credibility

• “More by” links mean exposure for older stories by author

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Higher Overall Search Rank

Higher Page Rank

Higher Author Rank

Quality Authors

GOOD FOR SEO9

Still evolving,but here’s where things are headed…

Good for you, too• Again, still evolving, but: – Writing for reputable sites makes you more reputable– Reputable writers make sites more reputable

• Can also help separate you from copycats, thieves

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How does it work?

With a lot of help from Google Plus

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ESTABLISHING IDENTITY• Connecting stories to profile pages– Author establishes link between themselves

and their article via their Google+ profile– Google confirms author’s identity– Google says, “He’s legit”– Google adds picture & links to search results

(though it can be sporadic)

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The real reason?• Helping Google+ in battle vs Facebook, some say– Fledgling social media tool struggling– Google creates way to integrate G+ into SEO– People now have great incentive to join G+, which they’d

otherwise dismiss

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Whatever the reason, the reality is this:

This matters to Google, and it should matter to you(whether you like it or not)

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Start with great content• Google is focused on quality content

• Quality content gets ranked higher, others suffer:– Shallow or sloppy content– Stolen or plagiarized content

• But you’re probably already writing strong content

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Get a Google Plus profile• Profile should include:– Name (matches bylines)– Headshot (No logos) – A short bio– Links to sites you write for

(in “Contributor to” section)– Your +1s

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MAKING THE CONNECTION• There are three main options:– Just an email address– The Google two-step– The triple play

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1. Just YOUR EMAIL18

“Contributor to” link

REMEMBER THIS…• Email address must match site URL

• Byline name must match G+ profile name

• When verified:– Email appears in “Work” part of G+ profile– Link appears in “Contributor to” part of G+ profile

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2. The Google two-stepArticle page

Google+ profile page

“Rel=author”

“Contributor”

Article page

Google+profile page

Website home page

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REL=“WHAT?”• Plus.google.com/1111111111111?rel=author

• <A HREF=“Plus.google.com/1111111111111” rel=“author”>By Christian Hudspeth</A>

• Place in the byline or a tagline

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CHECKING YOUR WORK• Google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

• Shows if you’re verified as an author

• Can be inconsistent

• Links to more info available after presentation

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REMEMBER THIS…• Must create the loop between site and G+– Links from site to G+– Link back from G+ to site

• Byline name must match G+ profile name

• Use rich snippets tool to test coding

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3. The triple play

“Rel=me”

Article page

“Rel=author”

“Contributor”

Article page

Google+profile page

Author bio page

Rel=“me”

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Author bio page26

ME, ME, ME• Coded same way as rel=author

• Plus.google.com/1111111111111?rel=me

• <A HREF=“Plus.google.com/1111111111111” rel=“me”>G+ ICON GOES HERE</A>

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REMEMBER THIS…• Must create the loop between site and G+

• Byline name must match G+ profile name

• Using G+ logo for link is good idea

• Use rich snippets tool to test coding

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Which should you use?

Google says, “They’re equal.

Just use the easiest one”

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Which is the easiest?• 1- or 2-person blog: Use email method– Two-step would work, too; triple play = overkill

• More complex sites: Use the triple play– Email method or 2-step could work, too

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MAKING IT HAPPEN• All methods have their quirks

• Wordpress has many widgets and add-ons to help with implementation

• Recommendations available after presentation

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IN CONCLUSION…• Good for both you and your site– Improved visibility– Improved credibility– Improved search ranking, eventually

• Don’t have to be an SEO or coding expert

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Want more?

Helpful links, implementation documentation, information on blog plug-ins

and more available at:

FinancialBloggerConference.com

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ANY

QUESTIONS?

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I SINCERELY

THANK YOU!

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Matt SchulzInvestingAnswers.com

Matt@investinganswers.com@matthewschulz