Any reason not to use rel=author?
-
Hi
Like everyone I've read a lot about rel=author but is there a reason not to use it?
For instance, if you're running the content, as I am, for a travel company, we have individual writers writing the content and guides to cities/hotels/tours etc, but none of our competitors are using rel=auithor, so we certainly do stand out. But does the "personal" touch of rel=author dilute trust in some cases?
For instance, if you're booking a specific hotel in London and you type in the hotel name looking for the best rate, do you really want to see a face you don't know beside a "corporate result"?
Is anyone in an industry where rel=author is being used in conjunction with products/product reviews. It will work for Gary V and wine, but will it work everywhere? Rel=author is touted everywhere as a sure fire bet... but are there times to back off from using it?
-
I don't know if you should back off on it. I found this post on google webmaster tools about it and it says for it to work you have to have a valid google+ acct... ?
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1408986
But I do know that in one of the latest ProWebinars Rhea Drysdale talked about how some authors are taking advantage of the rel=author tag to help their rankings and she flashed a few success stories up too.
http://www.seomoz.org/webinars/online-reputation-management-branding-for-serp-domination
About 30minutes in she talks about some of the strategies and I think rel=author tags was one.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Using PPC in informational searches
What is your take on using PPC to be the "first" result in an informational search when your goal is truly to deliver information, educate, and affect public opinion? I'm following a large bureaucratic non-governmental organization who has a mission to get accurate information to the public -- they have nothing to literally sell, not even donations -- they're a membership NGO, and this is part of their charity mission. They have sat at about 6th place in the organic rankings for years, while other non-profits and for-profit companies on the other side of the issue (that do have something to literally sell to the traffic they generate off this search) rank in the number 2 and 4 spot. Wikipedia ranks number 1. An About.com site generally ranks #3. On related long tail keywords the bureaucratic NGO often doesn't even rank at all in the organic searches -- it's all the opposing non-profits and for-profits dominating those long tail informational searches. Now I'm seeing the bureaucratic NGO is doing PPC to be the first result on the main search and a bunch of long tails. I am seeing some changes in their website, too, to make it less bureaucratic, more user-friendly, less technical and boring, and more visual and interesting. I'm not privy to what they're doing internally, and I'm not sure if they are doing link-building for climbing in the organic rankings. I'm a newbie to SEO - most of my understanding is based on Moz Beginner's Guide, Moz Link guide, discussions on here, and what I find from googling about SEO concepts. I gather from the google searches that I've done that you don't normally try to use PPC to buy first place in informational searches -- that with informational searches, you should be emphasizing quality link building. I'm also not sure how sustainable it would be to stay at the top position by buying the top position through PPC -- although its conceivable to me that this organization could do that indefinitely, because they're not trying to make a profit off these searches, and they're big and got the bucks. Any insights on PPC in purely informational campaigns?
Branding | | scienceisrad0 -
Viral Video :Best use - What to do with it?
So I was told that I have video that should be the next "viral video" in a particular vertical market. (It is an animal) Anyway I have 4 offers from different companies now that want to market it for me. Junkin Media, Rumble.com, Newsflare and Storyful. Junkin wants ownership in perpetuity the other groups want for 1 year to market to news agencies. They are offering 60/40 revenue split with me getting 60. plus an extra $1 per thousand hits on the video. Supposedly they will market it to for me to news agencies etc. Anyway I was wondering if it would work best for me to market it myself and embed my business website link in the video for link juice on my home page. Then I can post the video in various places and the link strength might help my domain or page authority. Any suggestions about viral video use? Boo
Branding | | Boodreaux0 -
A 2014 perspective on using Awards/Badges for backlinks?
Hi all, Just wanted to get a modern-day perspective on this tactic as a method of obtaining back links. We've recently (legitimately) polled our customer base both on social media and through our email database (40,000+ people) to rank a bunch of different locations / attractions and put together Top 10 lists based on the results. I was intending to put together "awards" badges and provide them to the operators who won along with a back link from the badge to the main article page with the finalists. I thought I'd ask here though to see what public opinion is on this as a link building tactic in 2014 as all the resources I could find were a couple of years old. Bear in mind we aren't paying them anything at all, but it is still an obvious attempt to both give them their recognition as well as add to our link profile. Do you think in this day and age that this kind of action would invoke any Google penalties? And if not, is there any indication why they wouldn't pass as much juice as regular text links? Thanks for any and all feedback.
Branding | | ExperienceOz1 -
What EMD Meta Title should we use?
Situation: Recently I encountered a Meta Title issue for my company websites.
Branding | | TT_Vakantiehuizen
This Dutch company has four websites on one server. Three closely related EMD(Exact Match Domain) websites and one overarching website. (Holiday homes rental websites) Vakantiehuizen-Verhuur.nl (overarching)
Vakantiehuizen-Frankrijk.nl (EMD in EN: holidayrentals-France.nl)
Vakantiehuizen-Italie.nl (EMD in EN: Holidayrentals-Italy.nl)
Vakantiehuizen-Spanje.nl (EMD in EN: Holidayrentals-Spain.nl) Question:
What would be a preferable Meta Title for the EMD websites (homepage/subpages)? Keep in mind that the domains are EMD. The homepage will target the most important keywords and should not compete with subpages. Options for the homepage (translated from Dutch to English):
1. Holiday Rentals France | All holiday home rentals in France in a row!
2. Holiday Rentals France | Holidayrentals-France.nl powered by Holiday-Rentals.nl
3. Suggestions? Options for the subpages:
1. Holiday Rentals Normandy | Holidayrentals France
2. Holiday Rentals Normandy | Holidayrentals-France.nl
3. Suggestions? And concerning the keywords in the beginning; is it wise to use both plural and singular terms in the meta title? For Example:
Hotel New York. Best hotels in New York | Company Name0 -
What do you guys use to answer questions?
I am looking for a tool that will find people on twitter/facebook or forums and blogs who have a question about seo/link building. I have seen tools like Buzzbundle but can anyone make some good reccomendations? Problem with Buzzbundle is a lot of the results are from people who sell seo/link building
Branding | | GrowFuse0 -
Track twitter HashTag uses
Greetings Mozers! I'm looking for a specific Twitter tool. Here's what I want the tool to do : Save a list of hashtags I want to keep up with. Keep me updated twice a day (or more) on the popularity of those tags. That's really all I need. Do you know any tools that can perform this? I was unable to find out. Thanks!
Branding | | Akeif0 -
Should I create a Google + account for the brand for Rel=Author
Hi, What I meant is should I use the above mentioned account as rel=author for category pages etc? It seems to me improper to use my account (with my picture) in a category page and to show my face in the SERPS for searches like "Toshiba Laptops". On the other hand, if in the SERPS it will show our Logo it might increase CTR... Any thoughts? Thanks
Branding | | BeytzNet0 -
What tools do you use to submit a site to local yellowpages?
Hey all, two part question for you. Do you use any tools to automatically submit websites to local yellowpages (example: http://business.intuit.com/directory/marketing/100_syndication_sites.jsp)? and if so, what one and why? Are there any dangers to doing it this way? It seems that this might save a lot of time and be incredibly helpful to manage your brand profile pages in a centralized location. Also some tools that I am seeing incorporate brand monitoring (which you can do through a variety of tools I know). Anyways, thoughts? comments? tips?
Branding | | prima-2535090