Before I explain how, it occurred to me that you may want to know why. Rather than turn this post into an epic, I thought I would point you toward a wealth of advanced information on the subject.
A friend and fellow blogger, Bill Slawski of SEO by The Sea, has written many articles relating to this subject. His post, are you trusted by Google contains good information and many links to other articles he has written on the subject. I highly recommend his blog if you are into advanced SEO and Google patents.
One more thing before we start. The web is a fast changing place. Information can quickly become out of date as things change. I found this out when looking for information on this very subject. Here’s a little tip to help find up to date information on any subject, fast.
Tip!
When you carry out a search for information. Try adding the year or even month and year to your search.
Example:- ( How To Set Up Google Authorship Markup On WordPress 2012 ).
Setting Up Google Authorship Markup In WordPress
Step 1 – WordPress Author Bio
First
In the WordPress admin area – Go to users and select – (Your Profile) from the left hand sidebar.
Change the first name and last name fields to EXACTLY match the first and last name of your Google Plus profile.
Next
Add your web address and email address to the appropriate fields.
Next
Copy the following code. Then paste it into the box marked Biographical Info
<a href=”https://plus.google.com/ YOURGOOGLE ID/about”>+Steve Hippel</a> finish your biographical information by telling users about yourself here.
Next
Change the name (Steve Hippel) to EXACTLY match that of your first and last name in Google plus. Make sure that you leave the + sign in front of your name. i.e (+Fred Bloggs).
Next
In the code above, change the line of text (YOUR GOOGLE ID) to your Google plus id. You can find this by going to your google plus profile (NOT PAGE). Click on the profile icon and copy the number only from the address bar. Do not include any slashes, just the number.
Next
In the code, change the text (finish your biographical information by telling users about yourself here), to suit your needs
Now save your author bio and exit the users section of WordPress.
Step 2 – Add your Google Plus button.
Copy the following code and replace the line of text YOUR GOOGLE ID with your Google id, as explained above.
<a rel=”author” href=”https://plus.google.com/YOUR GOOGLE ID/about”><img src=”http://www.google.com/images/icons/ui/gprofile_button-32.png” width=”32″ height=”32″></a> Visit me on Google+
Add this to a text widget or to the “page” and “single” templates in the WordPress editor, as appropriate. It is probably best to add it to a text widget if you are not familiar with the WordPress framework.
Optional – Change the line of text (Visit me on Google+) to whatever you want.
Step 3 – Setting Up Google plus.
First
Go to your G+ account and select profile – then edit profile.
Next
On the right of the page:-
Select (contributor to) – then -( add custom link). Add your blog, homepage address as a custom link and click save.
Optional
Repeat the steps above for (other profiles) also on the right, just above (contributor to).
Fill out as much of the information as you can on the edit profile page. Add a profile picture as this will show up in some searches.
You are now done with the setup.
Step 4 – Testing
If you Have A Google Webmaster Tools Account Set Up:-
Go to google webmaster tools and on the left hand side select (Other resources)
Click on the (rich snipets testing tool) and paste your homepage url in the text field.
Click on preview.
If all is OK you should see your profile picture next to a bogus search result.
Any errors or warnings will be shown below in red.
If You Do Not Have A Google Webmaster Tools Account:-
Test your link here Rich Snipets Testing Tool
That’s it, your authorship is now set up.
This is fantastic Steve,
Being a mobile car mechanic from Sittingbourne and running my own website I appreciate all the time and effort Sussex SEO and other sites regarding seo do as I am still very new to the subject.
It worked at first attempt, I had tried other methods that have been posted but without success.
Thank you.
Richie@Mobile Car Mechanic Sittingbourne recently posted..Peugeot Citroen BSI Reset
Thank-you Richie.
I know that there are various ways of going about setting up Google authorship. I have read a few articles on the subject that managed to turn it into rocket science. Glad that you found my post straight forward and got it set up OK.
To your credit Steve, this article was indeed easy to read and understand. The information on “being found” by Google s spiders is so important. Seo service throughout the net are many, the more refined the search the better your result.
Hi Steve. Thank’s for your feed back. I can see that we are in the same line of business. I was just wondering how difficult it is to explain the benefits of SEO to clients on the other side of the world????
I added a link to my Google+ page and added the Google+ button a while ago. But I just tried the Rich Snippets in Google Webmaster, and lo and behold, you are right! It says it is not linked to Google+. I’ll try out your suggestions tomorrow.
Thanks so much for this post.
Leora Wenger recently posted..Tips for Beginning Bloggers
Hi Leora.
Judging by the comments so far and my own experience, this reasonably simple technique works. Let me know if you have any problems. Oh and by the way, thank you for the +1 on my article using a facebook personal profile for your business could get you in trouble
No problem about the +1 – you do write clearly and carefully.
A few notes: I added the link to my Google+ profile in my sidebar, though it would probably be better to put it in the author template, because sometimes I have guest authors. I’ll have to do that later.
Google Webmaster wanted rel=”me” instead of rel=”author” – then it worked.
When I copied straight from your code, I had to change the swirly quotes to straight quotes to get the code to work.
Thanks again for the post.
Leora Wenger recently posted..Two Plugins: NextGen Gallery and WordPress SEO
Hi Leora.
The guest authors thing occured to me earlier today. I have the answers but I’m a bit tied up with the launch of an ebook and a faceBook business page promotion at the moment.
I hope to update the post tonight or tomorrow. Hang on in there, the answers are comming.
I will say that rel=”me” is essential if you have guest authors. The swirly quotes seems to be something that happens in the copying process. I have experienced that several times when copying code from web pages.
Anyway, I’m glad you got things working OK and thank’s for your kind words about my writing style.
Steve Hippel recently posted..How To Set Up Google Authorship Markup On WordPress
Hi Steve,
Today, I read this article first time, and it is very helpful for me,I will definitely do this for my blog, also could you please explain, can I go for other social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter etc.in a similar way. and is help in increasing ranking on Google? I am keenly awaiting your response.
Regards
Amit
Hi Amit.
I’m glad you found the article helpful.
In answer to your question. As of 2011, Google is taking more notice of social signals when detemining where your website will be placed in the SERPS. All other SEO methods are of course still important. FaceBook likes, links from social networks etc, are all good for SEO.
Many are saying that Google are doing this for their own means, ie (to push Google Plus). I don’t know their motive but it does make a lot of sense that these signals are important. If many people like your page on FB page, +1 your your page, link to and talk about your page on social networks, there is a good case for deeming that your page as important.
The links to SEO by the sea (at the top of this page) will give you an insight into the recent changes. They are quite technical but looking at the patents is a good way to understand how the algorithm might work. The other thing to bare in mind is that when someone +1s your webpage, they have given it a vote. If they carry out a related search and are logged into their G+ account, your page will be placed higher in the results than it would otherwise.
I hope this helps answers your questions and thank-you for your input.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your quick reply, of course your advice is helpful. As I know that content is king nowadays, and my business is of web development services provider in CMS such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and many more etc. also we are dealing with the IPhone application and android applications, kindly suggest me that what kind of content I have to put on the website so visitors engage on my website. I am awaiting your response.
Thanks & Regards
Amit
Hi Amit.
With respect, you are asking me a very broad question. When I look at a project it always starts with keyword research. Looking at the links that you have left here, it looks like you are targeting (wordpress web development company) as one of your keywords. I have not done any research but I would guess that this is a very competitive term and may require a lot of work. Structuring your content correctly is important but will only account for 20-30% of your SEO. Off page SEO accounts for the other 70-80%.
There are a lot of articles on my blog that look at SEO. These are really designed for small business owners and cover the basics in a simple way. If you are looking for something more structured and advanced, I could send you a link to a video. It’s not something that I really want to share here as it would give too much away to my own competitors.
By the way, you have a stunning looking website.
Steve Hippel recently posted..WordPress Comment Policy Plugin
Hey really nice article..i recently added Google+ on my WordPress website..It is really helpful to me..Beside that i explored many things from your post.Thanks for sharing.
Rosie Brown@WordPress Design recently posted..Elements of web design to avoid on a website
No problem. Glad that you enjoyed the post and found it helpful.
So you must have a google plus account to get authorship on your account? What about having a facebook?
jon@clickopp recently posted..Senuke X Vs. Ultimate Demon
Yes Jon, I have a FaceBook and many other social accounts. I’m sure you will agree, it’s a must in this business.
Thanks DiTesco. I already worked on this before but I think I need to update the Google+ snippet on my site. Again thanks for your simple tips
duckprince recently posted..Phần mềm bảo trì thiết bị WinMain CMMS trên nền Web 2.0
You are very welcome. Just one thing, I thing you are getting me confused with another blogger, I’m not DiTesco. Just hope that DiTesco isn’t missing out on a thank-you. lol.
Steve Hippel recently posted..WordPress Plugins For SEO
Hi Steve Hippel,
Sorry about my mistake.
Maybe i viewed 3 or more blogs at the same time. So sory.
Like my comment above, just different name: Steve Hippel
Thanks
duckprince recently posted..Lợi ích của việc ứng dụng OpenERP
Hey, no problem.
I think you are right, DiTesco has a similar post on his blog. No offence was taken. It made me laugh because I knew exactly what you had done. The main thing is that you took the time to leave a comment and I really appreciate that. No need to appologise. It’s just nice to know that people are reading and finding value in my work. Thank’s again.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this article which helped me get my rich snippets set up for authorship. I struggled with cutting and pasting the code as it stands for the widget. I’m not sure if there is an error in there somewhere. In the end I recreated it from scratch using your code as a template.
As far as authorship is concerned, it might be worth mentioning that you also need to fill in a form with Google to get this actioned and it doesn’t happen right away.
Best regards Steve
Hello Steve.
Glad you got set up OK. I must admit, I recently started using “tynt” and that will affect my code being copied. I didn’t think about the couple of posts where I suggest you copy the code. Oops!
I don’t recall having to fill out a form with Google. It was a while back when I done this. Maybe this is a more recent addition? I will have to look into it and alter the post accordingly. Thank’s for the heads up.
I was hearing a lot about the google authorship verification, guess it’s suppose to stop people from stealing your content? Either way thanks for this I need to get on this asap, if it get’s me a little google love then it’s well worth it
Dave Houk recently posted..Finding Love Through Internet Dating
Hi Dave.
A little Google love can only be a good thing. Don’t think it will stop people stealing your content but will help stop them stealing your thunder.
Steve Hippel recently posted..An Overview Of SEO For Small Local Businesses
This method doesn’t add microformat
This method does: http://diythemes.com/thesis/rtfm/google-relauthor-thesis/
Hi Brad.
I know that some of our regular readers are confident with the theme editor. I’m sure they will find the post useful. It’s not often, I let links go in the comment but this is one that should be shared.
Thank’s
Could we change the admin to ower name and use this profile or do we need to create a new author profile with our name?
Thanks
Ruy recently posted..Dominio PT
Hi Ruy.
In the WordPress Dashboard, go to “users” -> “Your Profile” and you can change everything except for the user name.
Thanks
Do does anybody know of a provider I can pay to make sure this is done correctly? Thanks, Adrian
Adrian La Fosse recently posted..Video Tour – Hurricane Builders Chris floorplan in Columbia and Lexington SC
Hi Adrian.
I wrote this post very early on and it was designed for my target audience (small Businesses) who need a simple solution. Although this solution works, it is only suitable for blogs that have only one author.
I can point you in the direction of another blog where you may find the answers that you need. If you want to pay someone to do it for you, most SEO’s and web designers (self included) should be able to help.
Here is a more versatile solution http://yoast.com/wordpress-rel-author-rel-me/
Thanks for introducing me with wordpress. Keep up the good work, I read few content on this blog and I conceive that your post is real interesting and has lots of great info.
No proble Jazz.
Thank you for the feedback. I’m sure you will find WordPress an outstanding web marketing platform.
Hey Steve
That’s some really well written and easy to understand instructions to set up Google Authorship.
It really stumped me when I first heard about this and in the end I decided to use the AuthorSure plugin because it didn’t involved messing around with code.
Tim Bonner@Tim-Bonner.com recently posted..Could Your Google+ Button Use A Little Love?