Author Rank is on the horizon from Google. What is it? Why do you need it?
Author Rank is Google’s new way to prove page quality and authority.
In the world of SEO, it just seems that we’re constantly bombarded with updates and new technologies from the search engines. In fact, it’s reported that Google updates their algorithm nearly 500 times a year! With all of this, it is tough to know what’s what, how to do it, as well as when to start. All one can really do is stay diligent and read SEO blogs like this everyday to get a clearer picture of what’s coming.
Author Rank is indeed on its way, and if you want to stay relevant, you need to learn what it is, why you need it and how to prepare.
Google wants to leverage authors as a factor in ranking pages and sites so that the experience for users is easier to find the work of their favorite writers. Getting a head start in the Author Rank process and staying proactive, you will have a great opportunity to rank higher as author profiles are not being practiced very widely yet.
It is highly likely your competitors haven’t looked into Author Rank markup yet.
How Author Rank Works
In Google’s words (Author rank was originally Agent Rank)
The name of the writer can be used to influence the ranking of web search results by indicating the writer responsible for a particular content piece … Assuming that a given writer has a high reputational score, representing an established reputation for authoring valuable content, then additional content authored and signed by that writer will be promoted relative to unsigned content or content from less reputable writers in search results.
Here is a nice graphic from Mike Arnesen’s Author Rank post on SEOMOZ that paints a picture of the concept:
As you can see here, the left side is before and the right is after. What is happening in this example is the authors that have setup the Author Rich Snippets are being rewarded. They have author rich snippets integrated into their page or post and this allows them to show a photo, give the name of the author, how many people are following this author and more content from the author. Author Rank adds a lot of credibility to the content and Google will reward that.
Which ones in the example look like a credible source? Which would you choose to view?
How to prepare for Author Rank.
There’s only one way to make sure you’re ready, and I wrote about it in my post about author rich snippets as they help will help with Author Rank. Follow the steps in that post, and you will be ready!
As I mentioned above, SEO, search engines, content marketing is not the easiest subject to tackle. GuruBloggers is here to help you learn or assist! So subscribe to our blog and newsletters to stay on top of the trends or give us a call if you need our assistance with your business marketing needs. We are here to help you!