Monday Tip – Use The Rel=Author Tag

Last year Google introduced a new tag called rel=author, the purpose of the tag was to identify the author of a piece of content and assign the authors image to it in the rankings.

There has been much written about it since but despite that it seems that very few people have implemented it.

I could write pages about why you should be implementing rel=author but Jill Whalen has covered it really well on her High Rankings blog where she gives 5 reasons for implementing the authorship tag.

If you’re thinking it’s just not worth the trouble, here are 5 reasons why it’s super important:

1. It’s kinda sorta easy to implement.

While it is a bit confusing to figure out exactly how to enable authorship based on Google’s directions (which seem to keep changing), in reality their latest criteria have made it easier than ever to implement.

2. It makes your content stand out.

Imagine if you could put big stars around your content listings in Google’s search results that everyone would see. Rel=Author does exactly that! Only it’s not stars, but your name and photo.

3. Provides credibility and more exposure.

Beyond just seeing my smiling face in the listings for my content, as you can see in the above screenshot, Google is also showing how many people have circled me on Google+ as well as a “More by Jill Whalen” link. Clicking that link shows more information about me from my Google Profile, plus posts I’ve made on Google+ related to the search query, and all the other articles that I’ve written on the subject.

4. Higher clickthrough rate.

I’d say this one goes without saying, due to all of the above factors. It would be difficult to *not* click on the listing that Google is screaming for you to click on.

5. Additional metrics in Webmaster Tools.

As if all of the above weren’t enough, once you have your authorship up and running and showing up in Google results, you’ll also see new author stats in your Webmaster Tools account.

Read The Full Article

But for me the 2 main reasons for using the rel=author tag are:

1. It gives you credibility

2. You get a higher click through rate!

With all the recent google changes anything that gets you more traffic naturally should be implemented without delay.

At the same time they introduced a Google labs feature that allows you to check the stats of your articles via the webmaster tools page.

The rel=author authorship tag is relatively easy to implement and i’ve created a video below to give you more information and show you how you can implement it today.

It’s a 2 step process, first you need a Google Plus account and then you need to link your google plus account to the blogs you contribute to and them link the content to your google plus account.

I appreciate that some readers don’t like giving google anything but the bare minimum of data and i can appreciate that BUT if you are writing a personal blog or have 1 or 2 sites that you publish in your own name then it’s a very worthwhile addition.

One of the things that I immediately noticed is that Ezinearticles is still a very useful source of traffic, (what? You really thought Article Marketing was dead?)

One thing to be aware of is that you need to use a proper headshot for your profile picture at google, so it’s worth using the same image for all your sites and avatars as it helps with branding and makes your content immediately identifiable.

The Video shows you why I believe you should start using the rel=author tag and how to implement it

Have a great week!