Rel=publisher
-
Hi there,
One of the things I want to get my department to do is pursue Google Authorship. I don't think assigning a person with rel=author is the best idea for us, so I am going with the rel=publisher option. Are there any other actions I should take - aside from having good content that will be +1'ed by Google - to ensure that I am taking full advantage of the benefits of having strong Google Authorship?
Thanks,
Sarah -
Absolutely; you should implement it anyway. Even if Authorship doesn't turn out to be as important as it was first thought it would be, it is another signal to Google.
-
Good point. I've taken that approach that if I use it well, it'll work well and until it's replaced and not working - will continue to.
But as with all things SEO ... one always needs to pay attention to what's going on around you.
-
I saw that too Linda, and will be keeping an eye on that. Am I right to assume there's no harm in implementing it anyway? By the time we get to that point, it may be moot.
-
There is some question about the fate of Google Authorship; in fact AJ Kohn says that the Authorship Project at Google has been abandoned and Google will be using other ways to extract identity from pages.
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/authorship-is-dead-long-live-authorship
-
Thanks! I'll start the conversation with our content team then. I think the ends justify the means.
-
I've always used it as a "this person is responsible for this content" which helps clarify things. Yes having an author deemed an authority helps of course but on the other side, they'll never be an authority if they don't start somewhere and your own blog is a good spot to work from as a starting point.
Re: taking inspiration from the work of others, as long as that person or work is getting credit for it (i.e. stat sources noted, etc.) then there's nothing wrong with it. That author write that piece so they get the credit. the author of the stats (for example) will get the credit for their work on their own site (re: authorship).
This is of course opinion as content ownership has a whack of grey areas but if you know your sector, what you can and can't ethically do, and properly credit your sources in the post - you shouldn't have any problems.
-
Thanks Dave, that does help!
What I'd like to be able to do implement is the author tag, but I don't think associating a face with the tag is an option. We could associate it with a staff writer, but I don't know that it would be a good idea. I assume the authorship option is for experts with clout and, although our staff writer(s) would be gathering the content from such experts in our company and turning them into blogs, I don't know that it's the intent of Google Authorship. Is that frowned upon?
Using a staff writer or two could be a workaround, but I wouldn't want a staff writer to be mistaken for a virtuoso - he/she would be a conduit of good information, taken from the experts and put into nice, readable blog posts. And we'd be transparent about it - for example a Q&A with an expert published into a blog.
-
Authorship and publisher are different things. the author tag tells Google who wrote a piece, the publisher tag tells Google who owns the site and it only needs to be put on the homepage (as far as I know ... anyone have any different feedback?)
You can read about the difference at http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2013/02/05/the-difference-between-rel-author-amp-rel-publisher.aspx in more detail but in short ... they don't do the same thing and I don't think the publisher tag is going to do what you want it to.
Hope that helps !
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Will the articles or blog-posts will get more visibility and do better in ranking by publishing them in different formats like videos?
Hi all, I just wonder how much the different formats of an actual content will bring more ranking improvement or visibility for an article or blog-post or landing page. If a topic has been created in video and slides, will that helps landing page at Google technically? Thanks
Social Media | | vtmoz0 -
Rel=Publisher On Business Blog
Hello! We were just wondering if we can add the Rel=Publisher on our business blog? We would like to have any of our blog posts that rank to have the small thumbnail/logo of our business similar to the way the rel=author tag works in the serps. All posts are published by our business and we would not like any of our personal pictures showing up. Any help greatly appreciated! Thank You!
Social Media | | TP_Marketing0 -
Rel=publisher
I've had the rel=publisher set up correctly for months now and verified it using the Google rich snippet tool. For some reason when I search my site/brand the Google+ profile will not show? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to have it show up? Thanks!
Social Media | | TP_Marketing0 -
Installing rel=publisher
Hi, I want to add rel=publisher to my website. According to Google support I should use the following tag - Add to homepage - [rel="publisher">Find us on Google+](https://plus.google.com/my page]) A few questions: Is this in addition to my social media button linking to my page to direct users there or should it be used instead? Where does "find us on Google +" appear on the page - or is this a hidden instruction only meant for Google? Could I add the code without the "find us on Google +" so that it would read Can this be added anywhere on the homepage (as implied by Google) or should it be on the meta head? Thanks!
Social Media | | theLotter0 -
Do you still need 1,000 followers for rel=publisher
If I want to add rel=publisher from my Google + page to company website do I still need 1,000 followers or has Google lifted that requirement since launching the feature?
Social Media | | theLotter0 -
Rel Author
Should I be linking to the author's G+ profile or their Google Places for the rel author tag? It's my understanding that Google Plus profile is different from G Places and hence two different urls. If I'm linking to the profile page of the author and not their Google Places, does this have any negative impact in terms of SEO?
Social Media | | priceseo0 -
Rel=author and rel=publisher - what to use?
Hi guys i have a big e-commerce website, we have put rel=publisher on our homepage and linked it up with our google + profile. We sell holidays and have a big resort guide full of quality content, do i need to put rel=publisher on those too? It doesn't seem right to put a personal author with a personal google + page on content as the author. Do i simply as a business page use rel=publisher instead? Any advice much appreciated, i find this confusing in all honesty on what benefits the most.
Social Media | | pauledwards0 -
Is it wise for employees to be tied to a company's content with rel=author?
We're an e-commerce company that sells consumer goods. We are launching a blog that will have advice, tips, etc. on topics related to our industry. I'd like for us to implement rel=author on the content. If we rel=author the content to an employee, what are the possible repercussions if that employee leaves the company? I know the markup is pretty new and hasn't been widely implemented, but has anyone dealt with this?
Social Media | | CMC-SD0