The GreatGoogle Authorship

KidnappingPresented by:

Mark TraphagenStone Temple Consulting

Hi, I’m Mark Traphagen!

• Sr. Director of Online Marketing – Stone Temple Consulting

• Google.com/+MarkTraphagen

• @marktraphagen

In December 2013 many Google Authorship photos went missing from Google search.

Matt Cutts promised this was coming at Pubcon Las Vegas in October 2013.

Mozcast.com/features

And sure enough, in December we saw it happen.

Mozcast.com/features

In fact since then, there have continued to be fluctuations in whose Authorship is showing.

And a new way of showing Authorship for some...

Second Class Authorship

“Second Class” Authorship, where author gets a byline but no profile photo.

Let’s put on our Authorship glasses and see what happened and why.

No Change

For authors, there were five possible effects: 1. Some authors showed no change at all.

Mixed by Site

2. Some authors had Authorship reduced for some sites but not others.

Mixed by Content

3. Some authors lost Authorship for some content on a site but not for other content.

Mixed by Authors

4. On some sites, some authors retained authorship while others lost it.

Author Loss Across All Sites

5. Some authors lost Authorship for all sites on which they had published.

Reduction by Query

From http://moz.com/blog/googles-december-authorship-shake-up

While fewer queries were showing authorship, the number of authorship results/page did not change.

Messages from the Kidnappers

In January 2014 we finally heard from some Googlers about the change.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “…estimating quality of an author’s documents.”

1. Google is using some kind of scoring of an author’s content quality as a qualifier.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “…estimating quality of an author’s documents.”

• “…the documents an author typically writes.”

The scoring is aggregated from content across all sites publishing the author’s work.

Messages from the Kidnappers

Google uses author scoring as a qualifier for other search features, such as In-Depth Articles.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “…estimating quality of an author’s documents.”

• “…the documents an author typically writes.”

• “…people you’ve circled on G+.”

There is also a personalization factor for logged-in searchers.

Messages from the Kidnappers

John Mueller - GWT

We also heard from Google Webmaster Tool’s John Mueller when questioned in a Hangout On Air.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “Is the author someone Google recognizes as “worthy”?

John Mueller - GWT

Mueller seemed to reinforce the idea of an overall author content quality score.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “Is the author someone Google recognizes as “worthy”?

• “Is the content high quality?”

John Mueller - GWT

The application can also be on a content-by-content basis.

Messages from the Kidnappers

• “Is the author someone Google recognizes as “worthy”?

• “Is the content high quality?”• “Is the site known for publishing

high quality content?”

John Mueller - GWT

There is also a publisher factor.

How can authors improve their chances that they will get more Authorship results?

@marktraphagen

Factor 1: Author Reputation

Factor 1: Author Reputation

• Reputation for quality content

1. Author has a reputation for the highest quality content.

Factor 1: Author Reputation

• Reputation for quality content• History of publishing such

content

2. The author has an established history of publishing quality content.

Factor 1: Author Reputation

• Reputation for quality content• History of publishing such

content• Consistent earning of social

shares

3. The author’s content usually gets good social signals.

Factor 1: Author Reputation

• Reputation for quality content• History of publishing such

content• Consistent earning of social

shares• Consistent earning of quality links

4. The author’s content tends to attract valuable, natural links from reputable sites.

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

Another factor seems to be the quality and reputation of the site on which the content is published.

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

• High domain authority

1. Does the site have good domain authority?

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

• High domain authority• Long history

2. Does the site have some history? (Newer sites less likely to show Authorship)

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

• High domain authority• Long history• Never been penalized

3. Does the site have a clean record with Google, never having been hit by any penalties?

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

• High domain authority• Long history• Never been penalized• Frequently publish content from

quality authors

4. Does the site have a reputation for publishing other high-quality authors?

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

Another factor: Site has not connected Authorship to non-author-content pages.

Factor 2: Site Quality & Reputation

bit.ly/relauthorFAQ

An official Google FAQ said only connect to pages w/ original content by the stated author.

Recovering the Kidnap Victims

So how do Authorship “kidnapping” victims get restored to having Authorship shown in search results?

Recovering the Kidnap Victims

• Publish on high-quality, trusted sites

1. Publish only on sites that appear to care about the quality of their content.

Recovering the Kidnap Victims

• Publish on high-quality, trusted sites

• Quality over Quantity (but stay fresh!)

Be more concerned with creating quality content than a quantity of content (but keep your content fresh!)

Recovering the Kidnap Victims

• Publish on high-quality, trusted sites

• Quality over Quantity (but stay fresh!)

• Connect rel=author only to real content

Only allow your Authorship to be connected to your real articles on a site.

Recovering the Kidnap Victims

• Publish on high-quality, trusted sites

• Quality over Quantity (but stay fresh!)

• Connect rel=author only to real content

• Build your network & audience

Building up an audience that loves your content and will share it creates good signals around your content.

Thanks!• StoneTemple.com• Google.com/

+MarkTraphagen• @marktraphagen

Thanks to Weal Media for the caricature!