26 Comments
There are a few Google+ authorship tutorials on WA, but this is how I do it. Also, authorship verification processes have changed over the past year or so, so this one may vary from past tutorials. Of course, doing this will get you picture in the SERPs (Google's Search Results Pages).
In the second half of the video I take you through the verification process for Publisher Status.
Remember:
Google+ Authorship is for your personal Google+ Profile
Google+ Publisher Status if for your Google+ Business Page
You can have either or both, depending on your niche, and how you brand your- self/website/social media.
One thing that has come to my attention is that you are going to want to link back to you Business Page FROM your website, and you can do that via a Google+ Badge. The instructions on how to install that are here https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/get-a-google-badge-in-a-sidebar-widget.
*You'll notice I kind of whip through the process pretty fast. I'm trying a new style of tutorials, where I include all info, but keep the video short. If it's too fast, you can always pause the video and rewind. Please let me know if it was too fast and made it difficult to learn; I will slow down future tutorial videos!
UPDATE!
In the video tutorial I was able to verify publisher and author status. HOWEVER, I should note that on Google's pages here (Authorship) http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1408986 and here (Publisher) http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1708844 there are two differences.
1. For authorship, you need to link ALL pages, so putting your ?rel=author link in a sidebar widget or footer would be better.
2. For publisher status, you need to link your home page to your BUSINESS PAGE using
?rel=publisher
***If that is too confusing, first try it like I show you in the video. If you are unsuccessful, try these two changes.
UPDATE 2!
1. I was able to verify publisher status for a business page without using ?rel=publisher by using the Google+ badge as seen in the video.
2. "Linking Your Website" as shown in the video may not be as simple as I show. Today, I was only able to successfully verify the link today by verifying the website in Webmaster Tools.
In the second half of the video I take you through the verification process for Publisher Status.
Remember:
Google+ Authorship is for your personal Google+ Profile
Google+ Publisher Status if for your Google+ Business Page
You can have either or both, depending on your niche, and how you brand your- self/website/social media.
One thing that has come to my attention is that you are going to want to link back to you Business Page FROM your website, and you can do that via a Google+ Badge. The instructions on how to install that are here https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/get-a-google-badge-in-a-sidebar-widget.
*You'll notice I kind of whip through the process pretty fast. I'm trying a new style of tutorials, where I include all info, but keep the video short. If it's too fast, you can always pause the video and rewind. Please let me know if it was too fast and made it difficult to learn; I will slow down future tutorial videos!
UPDATE!
In the video tutorial I was able to verify publisher and author status. HOWEVER, I should note that on Google's pages here (Authorship) http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1408986 and here (Publisher) http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1708844 there are two differences.
1. For authorship, you need to link ALL pages, so putting your ?rel=author link in a sidebar widget or footer would be better.
2. For publisher status, you need to link your home page to your BUSINESS PAGE using
?rel=publisher
***If that is too confusing, first try it like I show you in the video. If you are unsuccessful, try these two changes.
UPDATE 2!
1. I was able to verify publisher status for a business page without using ?rel=publisher by using the Google+ badge as seen in the video.
2. "Linking Your Website" as shown in the video may not be as simple as I show. Today, I was only able to successfully verify the link today by verifying the website in Webmaster Tools.
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nathaniell
Premium
Did you find anything different from what I've shown in the video? One of the challenges of this video was that I had previously done authorship and publisher for this website. I then removed it, and started again for the tutorial.
So please let me know if you found the tutorial complete. Thanks!
So please let me know if you found the tutorial complete. Thanks!
DarleneN
Premium
Hi Nathaniell, the main problem I had is that I didn't realize I had to set up a business page in order to do the Publisher stuff. That wasn't super clear from your video. I found that out from reading the comments, specifically your response to Acuvic at the bottom of the page. You may want to point out that you need to make a business page for your website.
jhoecannon
Premium
Nathanielll...I had followed some other training a while back that had explained how to create authorship...and, I had done it for a customer of mine. The Rich Snippet tool says that my customer's "Authorship is working for this webpage".
The other training that I followed did not talk about the "Publisher" status and when I went to the Rich Snippet tool and entered his Url, under "Publisher" it says "Page does not contain publisher markup".
So I went to his Google+ account and I noticed that he had not entered an email address, so I entered his email address and clicked "Save". Instantly, i got the "check" symbol...I did not get a message to "verify".
I also noticed in the Links" box on his Google+ profile page that where in your video you have a heading that says "Website", on his page it reads "Contributor to"...below this is the Url for his website and to the right of his Url is just a blank space...whereas in your video, you first had a box that said "Link website" and after you clicked it, you got the same "check" symbol that you got to the right of the email address.
Anyway, after entering the email address (and, I had gotten the "check" symbol), I went back to the Rich Snippet tool, entered the Url for his website and clicked "Preview" again.
Once again, it says that "Authorship is working for this webpage"...but, under "Publisher" it still reads "Page does not contain publisher markup".
Any idea what my problem might be? When I do a search on Google and when I find his website's listing, I never see his picture. I know Google doesn't show it 100% of the time, but I never see it.
The other training that I followed did not talk about the "Publisher" status and when I went to the Rich Snippet tool and entered his Url, under "Publisher" it says "Page does not contain publisher markup".
So I went to his Google+ account and I noticed that he had not entered an email address, so I entered his email address and clicked "Save". Instantly, i got the "check" symbol...I did not get a message to "verify".
I also noticed in the Links" box on his Google+ profile page that where in your video you have a heading that says "Website", on his page it reads "Contributor to"...below this is the Url for his website and to the right of his Url is just a blank space...whereas in your video, you first had a box that said "Link website" and after you clicked it, you got the same "check" symbol that you got to the right of the email address.
Anyway, after entering the email address (and, I had gotten the "check" symbol), I went back to the Rich Snippet tool, entered the Url for his website and clicked "Preview" again.
Once again, it says that "Authorship is working for this webpage"...but, under "Publisher" it still reads "Page does not contain publisher markup".
Any idea what my problem might be? When I do a search on Google and when I find his website's listing, I never see his picture. I know Google doesn't show it 100% of the time, but I never see it.
nathaniell
Premium
Remember, Publisher Status is for the Business Page, which is different from the Google+ Profile. You were seeing "Contributor To" and not seeing an email verification request because you are looking at his Personal Profile, not his business page.
When you check the rich snippets tool, do you see his picture? If so, then you are good to go. However, like you said, Google adds this to SERPs at their discretion. It could be that his picture is his logo and not a headshot, but I'm not sure what picture you've got going on there.
You can also attempt to notify Google manually here https://plus.google.com/authorship.
You do not need to verify publisher status to get an image in SERPs. In fact, it would probably only be useful if you have one personal profile, but several business pages that you would like to verify. I personally think that this verification process can help these business pages rank better in SERPs.
I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.
When you check the rich snippets tool, do you see his picture? If so, then you are good to go. However, like you said, Google adds this to SERPs at their discretion. It could be that his picture is his logo and not a headshot, but I'm not sure what picture you've got going on there.
You can also attempt to notify Google manually here https://plus.google.com/authorship.
You do not need to verify publisher status to get an image in SERPs. In fact, it would probably only be useful if you have one personal profile, but several business pages that you would like to verify. I personally think that this verification process can help these business pages rank better in SERPs.
I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.
jhoecannon
Premium
nathaniell
Premium
nathaniell
Premium
Will it not confirm your publisher status? Try installing the google badge https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/get-a-google-badge-in-a-sidebar-widget and see if that works. You are probably going to need that reciprocal link.
You can also double check that you have verified your email address and linked your website.
If not, let me know what's going on and I'll see if I can figure it out.
You can also double check that you have verified your email address and linked your website.
If not, let me know what's going on and I'll see if I can figure it out.
nathaniell
Premium
You will find this in your Google+ Business Page. You can create a business page by going to your Google+ Profile, finding "Pages" on the left sidebar, and creating a page there.
In your business page, click "about", and scroll down to look for "Link". Let me know if you find it. If not, I can provide you with a screenshot.
In your business page, click "about", and scroll down to look for "Link". Let me know if you find it. If not, I can provide you with a screenshot.