Google Authorship for WordPress – Part 1 (w/o Use of Plugins)

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Since the recent release of version 3.5 of WordPress, back in December 2012, installing the necessary g+ rich snippet codes became a little bit easier. Though I’ve not exhaustively tested every scenario on it’s own, I can confidently recommend it, as it gets the job done. Successful installation of the code(s) yields a display of one’s profile photo, as part of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), when pages and posts from your website are indexed by Google.

Why is this a big deal? Consider a study by Catalyst Search Marking that quantifies the impact of the use of rich snippets on click through rate (ctr). It found that the number of clicks on a SERP, where a photo was displayed next to the result, dramatically increased by an order of 150%. If it’s your photo, that gives you huge advantage over your competition.

How To Get Your Photo To Display In The SERPs

There’s more than one approach to verifying your ownership of web content (website and article postings) that can be reviewed in my earlier article, The G+ Authorship Process. The simplest confirmation of ownership is if the email you are using in for your G+ account uses the same domain as the website you’re claiming ownership of. Alternatively, employing the following few step approach will accomplish the task.

Please note, whatever main photo you display on your G+ profile, is the same photo that will eventually be displayed in the SERPs. It is therefore recommended that you upload a professional photo, or a very good portrait headshot, of yourself there.

STEP ONE

Click “edit” on the Link’s Contributions section of your G+ About page, on the lower right side of your page, and click “add a custom link”, name it, and input the URL of your website.

STEP TWO

Copy your entire Google Plus URL. Note, the highlighted number is for a later step:

STEP THREE

Access your WordPress website, and open the USER page, where you would fill out your email, Bio and other important information. There will be a box for Google+ where will paste your Google+ URL link.

A little lower on the same page you will need to add the following rel=author, rich snippet, code into your Bio. Make sure to use the same unique G+ number, as highlighted above, in your code:

All pages and posts associated with the User, who’s email & Bio are so noted, will then find their photo associated with SERP results, within days to weeks, once Google indexes, or updates their record of your pages.

How To Get Your Company Logo To Display In The SERPs

Many folks are fond of their branding and want to see their company logo show next to the SERPs when it’s a web page that comes up in the results, instead of their head shot photo. They prefer the headshot only when it’s a blog post or article. So, how’s that done?

I might be getting a little ahead of myself, but it starts with the creation of a Business Page on G+ (will be discussed in a future article) where the main photo displayed on that page is your company logo. You then follow all the steps noted above, except you create an “Admin” or other User name, with its own unique Bio, that’s related to all the domain web pages only, and not posted content.

In the Bio section you would use the following rich snippet code:

<a href=https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114718222484474979813/114718222484474979813/ rel=”publisher”>Find us on Google+</a>

Note, the URL is much longer, and instead of the rel=”author” association, rel=”publisher” is used. I personally have not implemented this strategy on any of my websites, but I’ve been told it can take several weeks for the logo to start showing.

Another advantage of this approach is if your website has multiple authors. SERPs would then display photos or logos as appropriate depending if a web page came up or one or more author posts came up.

Test The Photo Result With Google’s Rich Snippet Tool

Want to make sure you coded everything correctly? You’ll need to visit this web page and enter your website URL. http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

Concluding, you can make an impact in search and stand out from your competition spending a little time linking your G+ account to your web content. Need help? Feel free to call me at: 919-523-4185 or email me at: bob AT seoforhighranking.com

Article Source References:

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1408986

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1708844

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/google-authorship/

To See Related G+ Authorship Articles: Google+ Authorship Articles