Google has come out with another way to rank us in searches. AuthorRank. This has many bloggers scrambling and trying to figure out what they need to do in order to rank in searches in the future.
I have spent the past several days setting up Authorship on more blogs than I can keep track of. It is an easy fix and if you can’t find someone to do it for you, or you are like me and want to know how to do these on your own, then this post is for you.
There are countless articles explaining exactly what Google Authorship is and this post is going to cover how to set up your self hosted WordPress blog so that when the new ranking system comes along, you are ready to go. I have seen several posts explaining how to do this and while they are good posts and are clear to follow, they are missing some of the most important steps.
First up you are going to need a Google+ profile. If for any reason you do not have one then go and create one now. Make sure your Google+ profile name is your full name and not the name of your blog.
Once you are logged into Google+ go to your profile page.
Click on the Edit Profile button. This is a good time to change your name on Google+ if you need to. Just click on your name and change it to your full name if need be.
Scroll down just a little until you get to the Contributor section. When you enter your website make sure you enter it exactly as it appears on your site. If you have the www. in your address then be sure to enter the www. here.
Enter the name of your blog as well as the URL of your blog and click save.
Keep your Google+ profile page open and in a new tab log into the dashboard of your blog.
Go to Users and find the username you use to post on your blog. Just under you username hit the edit button.
Scroll down and find the About Yourself section and locate the Biographical Info box.
In this box you will have to enter a little bio about yourself. Write it in the 3rd person and make sure to start it off with your full name as shown on Google+.
Once you have your bio written you will need to link your full name to your Google+ profile with an author tag.
Use this code to link to your Google+ page.
Scroll down just a little bit more and make sure you check the box that says Enable Author Box on this User’s Posts. Unfortunately there is not a way to do this without creating an author box. If I find a way in the future that allows you to link as an author without the author box I will update this post.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and save the changes you made.
Almost done!
Next you will have to apply for Google Authorship. This last step is very important and without it, you will never get this set up. To apply just enter your email address that is on the same domain as your blog. You cannot use hotmail, gmail, yahoo, or any other email services. *If you have never set up and email for your domain you can do this in your cPanel or by contacting your host and asking them to help. After you enter your email address, scroll down and hit the Sign Up For Authorship button.
Google will then send an email to your account with an link asking your to verify authorship. Hit the link to confirm.
You can then head over to the Google Structured Data Testing Tool to test and make sure it worked.
Enter a URL of any blog post that your wrote and hit Preview.
Scroll down and under Author it will give you a spot to enter your Google+ profile.
Enter your profile URL making sure not to use any / or other words in the URL. Then hit Verify Authorship.
If you did everything correctly, then your info will show up in the Author box and the button will turn green.
Congratulations you are now a verified Google Author.
Stay tuned for how to sign up for Authorship on Blogger.
If you have any questions or run into any problems, please just ask.
About Rachel
I found this SO, SO, SO helpful! However, I am not getting the email from Google+ (after I apply to authorship).
Thank you so much!!
Sara Phillips recently posted..Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies #Review
Now I know why you were looking how to get into your email. LOL
Alison recently posted..Landon’s Article Of Clothing I am Treasuring #dreftlaundry
Sara, are you using the email associated with your domain? It cannot be yahoo, gmail, or hotmail. Rather it should look like this: Sara@SensiblySara.com If you are still having trouble send me an email at Rachel@YellowTennessee.com and I can help you out.
Thanks for the great tutorial!!
Alison recently posted..Landon’s Article Of Clothing I am Treasuring #dreftlaundry
I’ve been putting this off because it seems like such a pain but I’m bookmarking this tutorial. You make it sound a lot less daunting than I was picturing it.
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom recently posted..Preserving Precious Baby Memories with #DreftLaundry Detergent
Thanks so much, Rachel! You helped me tie the two together in this tutorial.
TerriAnn @ Cookies & Clogs recently posted..Madagascar Pre-Order Circus Party at Blockbuster – 10/6 Only!
great tutorial, I set this up a month or so ago when it first rolled out. I got my verification and tracking results last week!
Meghan @JaMonkey recently posted..Getting Kids to Eat Healthy with Nature Box
Thanks for the how-to!
Notorious Spinks recently posted..LifeLock to Protect Consumer Credit
Have I mentioned how much I love you for doing mine? Because I so DO!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell recently posted..Anger on Le Catapult – WW
I’ll have to get this down this week.
Tammy recently posted..Autism and Religious Education
Great tutorial! Thanks for putting it together.
Sheri recently posted..Tips for having a great time at Disney World
Great Tutorial~
Thanks for sharing.
Sheila recently posted..100% All Natural Protein Bar
Excellent! Sounds confusing but totally isn’t!
thanks for this! it was so helpful
I haven’t even tried to do this yet, ugh. But I now have this bookmarked for when I do.
Crystal recently posted..POOF-Slinky and Our America Game Review
I just did this last week using a plugin, it was super easy!
Jenn @therebelchick recently posted..Can You Really Make Yourself Feel Happy?
thanks for the tutorial. I’ve been meaning to do this but needed it spelled out for me lol.
Katie recently posted..Pink your sink with Method
I’m going to bookmark this. I can’t say I’m too excited to do it. Just another thing to worry about :/
Christa recently posted..16 (& 17) Week Updates!
great information, thank you!
You are awesome for doing this tutorial. Wanna know something shameful? I still don’t have a Google+ account. Ha!
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies recently posted..What I Ate This Week | Make These Immediately: Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups
Thanks… I need to do this!
Kathy recently posted..Global Chicken Kabobs
Very helpful, thank you!
Maggie recently posted..31 down, 9 more to go! Pregnancy Update
I used a plug-in (aka I’m lazy)
Maybe I’ll get around to removing the plus-in and setting it up this way. Thanks for the tutorial!
Connie Seattle Mom Blogger recently posted..LifeLock – What is it, How Does it Work, and Is it Worth It? @lifelock {#GIVEAWAY}
Sigh …. this tutorial kind of makes me wish I was using the Genesis framework so I could have done it so easily. On Thesis it is NOT this simple b/c that Theme doesn’t include an author box.
Rachel recently posted..Keeping It Real: The Chicago Cutlery DesignPro Knives In Action