Google Authorship Markup Explained: How It Impacts Your SEO

Guide To Google’s Author Markup

Feel like your blog posts aren’t working as hard as they should for your Search Engine Optimisation / SEO? Your first instinct is probably to look at your content, deep-dive into your keyword research, or even review your site design. But the answer might be something far more simple. You might be overlooking Google Authorship Markup.

Google Authorship Markup isn’t just a way to stake your claim on the content you’ve created. It’s a tool that can improve your online credibility, increase click-through rates from organic search engine results pages (SERPs), and build up your brand. However, Authorship Markup has gone through some changes since it was first introduced more than a decade ago — leaving marketers confused over whether it still makes a difference today.

That’s what we’ll answer here. In this blog, we’ll go through:

• What Google Authorship Markup is
• The Authorship process
• Benefits of Google Authorship Markup
• How the process has changed over the years

And, most importantly, we’ll answer the big question: is Google Authorship worth it for your SEO?

Ready? Let’s go.

What is Google Authorship Markup?

Google announced Authorship Markup for the first time in 2011. According to Matt Cutts, this initiative was designed to attribute content to the original author’s Google+ profile, and connect different pieces of content written by the same author in SERPs (even if they’re other articles on different sites).

Essentially, if you’re a reputable author that’s created a ton of valuable content online, Google will see you as more trustworthy and authoritative — and rank your published articles higher in SERP.

Here’s how Google puts it:

Understanding the authorship process

Google only accepts authorship markups from verified online profiles. This means you need to:

1. Set up a verified digital identity that’s owned by Google, like a Google Profile
2. Add yourself as an author on your published content and link it back to your verified digital identity

However, before we get into adding authorship information to an article, we need to first take a look at the two different authorship tags that are used to mark up content.

Google Authorship Markup Tags

Authorship tags were created by Google as a way to attribute content to an author via a website’s HTML. These structured data tags are a way to claim authorship through reciprocal links to and from a Google profile.

There are two tags that are used in authorship or publisher markup:

• rel=”author”: This tag points all content pages to an author’s Google profile.
• rel=”me”. This tag is used to consolidate an author’s identity when they have more than one profile page (like if they’re a contributor to multiple publications). With the rel=”me” tag, all pages will point to one another and confirm that all of the URLs represent the same person.

Linking your content to your verified digital identity

Once you’ve got your verified digital identity set up, you’ll need to link your content to your identity. There are three ways to go about this: the 3-Link Method, 2-Link Method, and Email Verification.

3-Link Method

This method works if your site includes both an author biography and content on the same domain. For example, if you’re running an online publication, you might have ‘About the Author” pages on your website for every writer on your team.

In this instance, when you publish content, this will need to link to the author’s biography page on your site. You can then include a link to your author’s Google profile on their biography page, and link the Google profile back to the author’s bio page on your site like so:

Image source: Search Engine Land

2-Link Method

If you don’t have an author bio page on your website, you can still link your content to a verified digital identity using the 2-link method. In this case, it’s best to include a mini ‘About the Author’ section at the bottom of each blog post, along with anchor text that links back to your Google profile page.

In turn, your Google profile page should link to the main homepage of your website, like so:

Image source: Search Engine Land 

Email Verification

The email verification method is designed for authors who don’t have edit profile abilities on a website. With this method, you’ll need to include an author byline on the article with an email address from the same domain as the content page, then register and verify that email address in your Google Profile.

Image source: Search Engine Land

3 benefits of Google Authorship Markup

At the most fundamental level, attributing your post to an author helps boost your Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness, or E-A-T criteria. This matters because these three pillars are part of a broader set of evaluation criteria Google uses to evaluate web content and protect searchers from low-quality information.

Consider this: There are millions of blog posts published every single day, from journalists and industry experts to hobbyists. But for every genuine piece of content, there’s another article that’s designed to exploit search engine algorithms, promote misinformation, or that’s purely spam. Authorship or publisher markup is Google’s way of privileging content from verified authors to deliver better search results for searchers.

Here’s how Google Chairman Eric Schmidt summed it up in his book “The New Digital Age”:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

So where does authorship fit in?

1. Google Authorship helps build credibility and trustworthiness

When it was first launched, verifying your authorship meant that your author photo might be displayed alongside your listing in Google SERPs, similar to this:

The purpose of this addition was to help improve the credibility of articles and help audiences put a face to the content they were reading. However, Google phased this out in 2014 as these images were taking up too much real estate in search engine results — particularly as the focus shifted to mobile-friendly websites.

Today, if you link your content to your Google Profile, users will only see your name in the search snippet:

Regardless of the change, qualifying authors still receive a byline in search results. This adds extra credibility to an article, especially if your web competitors don’t have an author attributed to the post.

2. It can lead to an increased click-through rate

Alongside boosting the credibility of your content and you as an author, publisher markup has been shown to increase clickthrough rates from organic search results. In one instance, a blogger saw a 38% increase in clickthrough rate simply by adding the rel=author tag to their content.

Why does this matter? On top of bringing more traffic to your website, CTR is an important factor in organic search results. According to data released by Moz there was a strong link between a website’s “expected CTR” and its position in SERPs. What’s more, pages that have a higher-than-average CTR also got a boost in rankings.

Image source: Backlinko

The conclusion? Having a higher organic CTR on your article can send a signal to Google that your content is more relevant to searchers. In turn, this positively affects your SEO and helps you climb higher up in Google SERPs.

3. It can help improve brand recognition

Google’s authorship markup doesn’t just help drive traffic to the posts you write. By marking up your content, searchers can also be directed to other pieces of content that you’ve written — bringing even more traffic to your website.

Increasing visibility for your other content comes with additional benefits as well. If users like your articles, they’ll be able to search for you online and follow you (or your brand) on social media.

Changes to Google’s authorship markup

Despite the benefits behind marking up authors in search results, Google’s Authorship project has seen a few bumps in the road since it first launched in 2011.

First, Google itself has made dramatic changes to authorship over the years, from removing author photos in search to putting an end to Google+, which was originally meant to be integral to Google’s Authorship markup strategy.

On top of this, publisher markup has seen low adoption rates by authors and webmasters: only 30% of Forbes’ 50 Most Influential Social Media Marketers were using Authorship markups on their blogs. There were also issues with misattribution (like when Truman Capote was incorrectly auto-attributed to a New York Times article after his death).

Last, Authorship didn’t seem to be bringing enough value to searchers. Google was seeing little difference in click behaviour between search results with search value and pages without — especially given how many resources it took to process the data.

All of these changes have SEOs and marketers wondering:

Is there still value in Google Authorship?

In short, absolutely. Despite the fact that author photos were long removed from Google rich snippets AND the fact that Google+ no longer exists, it’s still worth adding “rel=author” to your content for three reasons.

It contributes to your E-A-T

Authorship is still the clearest way to let Google see what you create and how people respond to it. Even though your picture won’t appear next to your post, you can bet that Google is still tracking authors and using this data as part of a way to establish a piece of content’s E-A-T. (which is now Google E-E-A-T Criteria)

One clear example of this is the fact that Google still keeps bylines on certain articles. By giving up this valuable real estate in SERPs, Google is indicating that author rank makes a difference when it comes to search.

Author authority still matters to Google

Google understands that audiences are hardwired to trust people over brands. Even with all the changes to its Authorship project, Google has maintained that authors play an important role in a website’s SERP position alongside other factors like domain authority.

In its very own Search Quality Rater Guidelines, it talks about the reputation of a website’s content creators:

Working with low-quality contributors is a surefire way to get your website flagged for poor content and, even worse, penalised by Google. This is particularly important for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics like healthcare or finance.

Author rank may help with semantic search in the future

Semantic search is becoming more important in SEO, as Google looks to better interpret the searcher’s intent and the content behind their query to deliver more relevant and reliable results. A big part of semantic search is Google’s Knowledge Graph, which is a massive knowledge base of entities and the relationships between them.

Here’s a rundown from Ahrefs that shows how it works:

While these “entities” can be businesses or topics, they can also be people — such as authors. For example, a search for Matt Cutts will return his Twitter profile, author bios, and author’s content, as well as rich snippets and a Knowledge Panel:

As Google continues to evolve its semantic web search, authorship markup will be important in helping identify an author’s presence across the web, establish a knowledge graph around them, and direct searchers to content developed by that author.

The History and Evolution of Google Authorship Markup

Google Authorship Markup, once considered a significant part of search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, has gone through a remarkable evolution in terms of how content and authorship were linked to search rankings. While Google Authorship was officially retired in 2014, its journey left a lasting impact on SEO and the understanding of content visibility.

Here’s a look at the history, evolution, and eventual phase-out of Google Authorship Markup.

What Was Google Authorship Markup?

Google Authorship Markup was a feature introduced by Google in 2011. It allowed content creators to link their articles and blog posts to their Google+ profiles, providing a way to associate their work with their personal identity. The markup essentially allowed Google to recognize and display a content author’s name and profile picture next to their content in search results.

This visual display, which often included a small profile image of the author, was an attempt by Google to put a face to the content and provide more credibility to the information presented. This was intended to make search results more human and to allow users to easily identify content from reputable sources.

The Initial Launch and Benefits

When Google Authorship was first launched, it was met with excitement from SEO professionals and digital marketers.

Here’s why it was seen as a game-changer:

• Increased Click-Through Rates (CTR): Articles with authorship markup had the potential to stand out in the search results with their profile pictures next to the link, drawing more attention and potentially increasing CTR.
• Trust and Credibility: Content associated with an identifiable author could be seen as more trustworthy, especially if the author had an established online reputation.
• Personal Branding: Writers and content creators could build their personal brand by associating their name and face with high-quality content, which could influence their credibility across the web.

The Importance of Google+ Integration

Google Authorship was heavily tied to Google+, the social media platform launched by Google in 2011. For authorship markup to work, content creators needed to connect their content to their Google+ profile. This was one of the driving forces behind the rise of Google+ and the reason why many businesses and individuals signed up for the platform.

At the time, Google hoped that Google+ would become a competitor to platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The integration of Authorship with Google+ was intended to promote user engagement on the platform, but it didn’t gain the traction Google hoped for. As a result, the focus shifted away from Google+.

The Decline of Google+

As Google+ struggled to gain popularity, the social network’s impact on SEO and content visibility began to diminish. In 2014, Google announced that Google Authorship Markup would no longer be a ranking factor, and the display of author photos next to search results would be removed. The decline of Google+ played a significant role in this decision, as Google’s vision of linking content to individual social profiles was no longer viable.

In August 2014, Google officially removed the author photo from search results, marking the end of an era for Authorship. However, the removal of the image did not mean the end of the markup entirely.

The Evolution and Phase-Out of Google Authorship

After Google’s decision to remove the author photos, SEO experts and content marketers were left wondering about the future of authorship and its impact on rankings. Google’s John Mueller stated that while Authorship Markup was no longer a direct ranking factor, authorship was still important for establishing authority and building credibility. However, the increased CTRs associated with authorship markup were no longer guaranteed.

This led to a shift in the way SEO experts viewed authorship. While Google Authorship no longer impacted rankings directly, the connection between content and its creator remained important for building authority and trustworthiness.

The Final Discontinuation of Google Authorship

In 2015, Google officially killed Google Authorship by discontinuing support for the markup entirely. The decision was based on feedback from users, as well as the realization that it wasn’t producing the desired results for users or for Google.

Despite the phase-out, Google continued to place importance on content quality and authoritative sources in its ranking algorithms, albeit without linking content directly to specific profiles through the use of the now-defunct Authorship Markup.

The Legacy of Google Authorship

While Google Authorship is no longer a feature of modern SEO, its legacy has shaped how content is evaluated and ranked.

Key takeaways from its introduction and eventual phase-out include:

• E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): One of the key impacts of Google Authorship was the push towards emphasizing E-A-T signals in SEO. Google began prioritizing content from authoritative sources and individuals, even without direct authorship markup. Websites that are seen as trustworthy and authoritative continue to rank higher in search results.
• Focus on Quality Content: Although Authorship Markup was tied to an individual’s profile, its removal didn’t change the fundamental goal of SEO: creating high-quality, valuable content. Google’s ranking algorithms still prioritize content that is informative, accurate, and trustworthy.
• Brand Identity and Authority: Google Authorship helped shift SEO towards the idea that brand identity and author authority matter. While you no longer see author photos in search results, building a strong online presence, creating content that aligns with your expertise, and engaging with your audience are still crucial for SEO success.

The Impact of Google’s Authorship Changes

Since the end of Google Authorship, there has been a greater focus on understanding the impact of content authority and the authenticity of sources in SEO. While Google no longer uses authorship photos or direct markup, it still evaluates content based on the authority of the website or the author behind it.

For businesses and individuals, the key takeaway is that creating authoritative, high-quality content remains crucial, even without the explicit recognition that Authorship provided. Establishing your brand’s credibility, publishing expert content, and earning backlinks from reputable sites will continue to be pivotal for SEO.

The rise and fall of Google Authorship mark an interesting chapter in the evolution of SEO. Initially seen as a way to humanize search results and connect content to real people, its decline showed that search engine algorithms are ever-evolving and that direct author associations may not always be necessary to achieve SEO success.

Although Google Authorship Markup is no longer used, its principles of content authority, quality, and trustworthiness live on in Google’s algorithms today. For Australian businesses and digital marketers, focusing on content quality and building authority through various online signals remains essential for maintaining high search engine rankings.

So, is implementing Google Authorship Markup worth it?

The authorship tag still matters for SEO. If you want to build up your brand’s reputation and increase content visibility in search results, you need to be connecting the dots between author and article. But your author rank is only one piece of the puzzle. You need to have a sharpshooting SEO strategy if you want to appear higher in SERPs and turn organic clicks into content conversions.

This is where an evidence-based SEO agency like OMG can help. Our expert Australian online digital marketing Gurus will help you connect the dots between rankings and revenue, and ensure you appear when your customers are searching for you online. You’ll get a full digital audit of your online channels, including SEO, PPC, and social media advertising, as well as a strategy session to help you crush your long-term goals.

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About the Author

Andrew Raso

Andrew Raso, Co-founder and Global CEO of Online Marketing Gurus, has been instrumental in transforming the agency from a start-up into a $15 million global powerhouse. Since co-founding OMG in 2012 with colleague Mehrdad Hedayati, Andrew has leveraged his deep expertise in SEO and digital marketing to drive OMG’s expansion across Australia, the US, and Singapore.