Rel=author is a piece of code that attributes content to a certain author, in this video Social and Content explain what its all about, why you need to do it and how.
The what, the why and the how of rel=author
What – What exactly is it?
Rel=author is a piece of code that attributes content to a certain author, via their Google+ profile. It basically centralises all of the content they’ve written and published on the internet. When their content appears in the SERPs, their image and Google+ details are displayed alongside.
Why – Why do I need to be doing it?
There are combined benefits for both the authors themselves and the brands they’re representing…
1. The content will stand out more in the SERPs
2. Stats show that click-thru rates on content that’s associated with an author are higher
3. It establishes the author as an authority and a credible writer and by proxy doing the same for the brand
4. Gives your content more exposure and broadens its reach
5. Google has hinted that it is viewing rel=author associations as social signals, so taking advantage could improve your site’s social signals and also its social footprint – as well as your own
6. Creates lots of love authoritative inbound links to your site
7. Some think it could help protect your site against future algorithmic updates
Is it really just about the author though?
No, the benefits are felt by proxy through the author, although there is another tag called rel=publisher that does the opposite. Basically you should remember that rel=author connects people with people and rel=publisher connects people with brands.
How – How can I do it?
It’s really simple. There’s a great page on the Google Help site that explains it – just do a search for rel=author on Google… all you have to do is set up a nice G+ full of lovely info about yourself and with a decent headshot. Add whatever site your content is published on to your contributor to section, then on that website, you can add a piece of code that basically includes the rel=author tag and your G+ profile… the help page will explain more
With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My site has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any solutions to help stop content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.
Thanks for your comment. It’s certainly something all brands have to be on the lookout for, because as you say, many other sites can simply pick up the content without asking. What I’d recommend doing is:
1. Running your content through Copyscape – a search engine which looks for other copies of your content on the internet (http://www.copyscape.com/) 2. Doing a Google search of the content’s title and relevant variations (sometimes sites will pick up the content but change the name to avoid any consequences) 3. Doing a search on the major search engines for the content’s title and again, relevant variations (Twitter is a particularly useful one for picking up duplicated content)
Once you’ve identified any websites that have republished your content, take the time to look through them. If a), they’ve picked the piece up and included a link back to your website, then I’d simply see that as a nice natural link back into your site (as long as it isn’t a site that’s completely irrelevant to your industry – if it is, consider option b), or b) republished your content and tried to pass it off as their own, find the website owner’s contact details. Send them an email confirming that the content belongs to you (include a link to where it was originally content) and ask them politely to remove it from their site. If they don’t respond within 5 – 7 days and still haven’t removed the offending piece of content, contact them again to confirm that you will take have to take further action if they do not remove the content immediately. If again it isn’t removed, take a look at your legal rights and options.
Do also consider putting a caveat on your website that clearly states the content published on the site is copyrighted and must not be reproduced without express permission of the website’s owners (whose contact details should appear alongside this).
I hope this helps! Ultimately duplicate content is something we all face, so keeping your eye out for any republished content is crucial – not only for your brand’s sake, but for your website’s, too.
Thanks
Vertical Leap
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