If you've followed SEO and Internet marketing news over the past year or so, you've no doubt come across the concept of AuthorRank, which AJ Kohn says "could be more disruptive than all of the Panda updates combined." Google has stated that "the identity of individual agents responsible for content can be used to influence search ratings." In other words, Google will begin (or has begun) to consider not only content quality as the basis of search results, but also their authors. Many believe that AuthorRank will be the definitive search engine ranking factor of the future. Steven Shattuck will get you up to speed on AuthorRank, and show you how to take advantage of the many benefits of Google Authorship. What's on the agenda? We'll keep the event to 90 minutes, focusing on providing attendees with opportunities to meet each other, as well as hear valuable insight from our guest speaker. Please note that doors open no earlier than 7:30am. 7:30 AM Arrival and networking 8:00 AM Announcements & introductions 8:10 AM Presentation by Steven Shattuck 9:00 AM We're done! On with your day... Who's Presenting? Steven Shattuck, VP of Marketing - Bloomerang Steven Shattuck (@StevenShattuck) is VP of Marketing at Bloomerang, which helps nonprofit organizations to reach, engage and retain the advocates they depend on to achieve their vision for a better world. As a HubSpot Certified inbound marketer, he is a contributor to Social Media Today, Search Engine Journal, The Build Network and Business2Community. Steven has spoken at national and local conferences, and is frequently interviewed by media outlets for his expertise in digital marketing. Recipient of the David Letterman Scholarship, he graduated with honors from Ball State University in 2006 with a degree in Telecommunications and Creative Writing.

1. Google Authorship,
AuthorRank and Google+
Demystified
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

2. AuthorRank
does not exist(yet)
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

3. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google Authorship
does exist(and it’s awesome)

4. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Understanding AuthorRank

5. HOW IS CONTENT RANKED?
• Links
• Social
• On-Page (Technical)
• On-Page (Content)
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

6. HOW IS CONTENT RANKED?
• Links
• Social
• On-Page (Technical)
• On-Page (Content)
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

7. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
How does Google know if
content is good?

8. “AGENT RANK” PATENT (2005)
“The identity of individual agents
responsible for content can be used to
influence search ratings.
Assuming that a given agent has a high reputational score,
representing an established reputation for authoring valuable
content, then additional content authored and signed by that
agent will be promoted relative to unsigned content or content
from less reputable agents in search results.”
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

9. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
“We know that great content
comes from great authors, and
we’re looking closely at ways
this markup could help us
highlight authors and rank
search results.”
- Othar Hansson (Software Engineer, Google)
“AGENT RANK” PATENT (2005)

10. DIGGING INTO AGENT RANK
Assuming that a given agent has a high reputational score,
representing an established reputation for authoring
valuable content, then additional content authored and
signed by that agent will be promoted relative to unsigned
content or content from less reputable agents in search
results.”
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
1. high reputational score (readers/followers/subscribers)
2. established reputation (non-anonymous)
3. valuable content (traffic/shares)

11. IN OTHER WORDS
Expert content,
written by non-anonymous authors
will rank higher than anonymous content.
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google: Agent Rank
Marketers: AuthorRank
(same thing, basically)

12. THINGS WE DON’T KNOW
• How significant of a ranking factor it will be
• How authors will be graded (PageRank? Klout?)
• If/when it will ever go live
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

13. GOOGLE WANTS IT
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
“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.”
- Eric Schmidt (Executive Chairman, Google)

14. How do you identify yourself
to Google?

15. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
rel=”author”
contributor to

16. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP 1/2
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
http://searchengineland.com/the-definitive-guide-to-google-authorship-markup-123218

17. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP 2/2
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Yoast SEO Plug-in
http://www.swellpath.com/2013/09/author-rich-snippets-tutorial-2013/

18. TESTING
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

19. AUTHORRANK PRE-REQ
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
“The identity of individual
agents responsible for content
can be used to
influence search ratings.”
Google Authorship (exists)
AuthorRank (does not exist)

20. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Benefits of Google Authorship

21. AUTHOR RICH SNIPPETS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

22. AUTHOR RICH SNIPPETS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google+ Profile
Author Photo
Other Posts

23. AUTHOR RICH SNIPPETS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Which would
you click first?
Which caught
your eye first?

24. NIELSEN'S F PATTERN
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Higher CTR?
Ranking not as important?
http://justinbriggs.org/how-does-google-authorship-impact-ctr

25. YOUR FACE MATTERS!
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
http://moz.com/blog/google-author-photos
35%
increase
in traffic!

26. TEST ≠ APPEARANCE
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

27. APPEARANCE FACTORS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
How authorship is set up
+
Frequency of page crawl (time)
+
Frequency of publishing
+
Google+ usage / profile robustness
+
Individual search settings

28. NOT JUST WEBPAGES
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

29. AUTHORSHIP STATS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

30. WHEN AUTHORSHIP IS BAD
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2286728/Can-Google-Authorship-Really-Cause-a-Huge-Traffic-Drop-Case-Study

31. AUTHORSHIP ADOPTION
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM

32. BRANDSTOO!
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
rel=”publisher”
verified URL

33. REL=”PUBLISHER”
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Publisher Rich Snippets!
Yoast SEO Plug-in
Google+

34. IDEAL BLOG POST
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
rel=”publisher” (Bloomerang)
rel=”author” (Steven Shattuck)

35. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
AuthorRank and
Google Authorship
will keep Google+ relevant
identity + authority

36. GOOGLE+: IDENTITY ENGINE
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google+
YouTube

37. GOOGLE+ PAGEVERIFICATION
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
https://support.google.com/plus/contact/page_verification
http://socialmediatoday.com/sashattuck/1181931/what-s-value-large-google-following
Verification

38. GOOGLE+:AUTHORITY ENGINE
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2013/06/27/ranking-factors-2013-google-usa/

39. GOOGLE+:AUTHORITY ENGINE
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
“After Page Authority, a URL's number of Google +1s is more highly correlated with search
rankings than any other factor. In fact, the correlation of Google +1s beat out other well known
metrics including linking root domains, Facebook shares, and even keyword usage.”
http://moz.com/blog/google-plus-correlations
http://www.stonetemple.com/measuring-google-plus-impact-on-search-rankings/

40. GOOGLE+ USAGE IS KEY
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google+ posts pass link equity!
3 follow links!

41. AGENT RANK BLUEPRINT
Assuming that a given agent has a high reputational score,
representing an established reputation for authoring
valuable content, then additional content authored and
signed by that agent will be promoted relative to unsigned
content or content from less reputable agents in search
results.”
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
1. high reputational score (readers/followers/subscribers)
2. established reputation (non-anonymous)
3. valuable content (traffic/shares)
Google Authorship
G+
Frequent Publishing

42. AUTHORRANK SUCCESS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Google Authorship + Frequent Publishing + Google+

43. AUTHORRANK SUCCESS
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
• Create author page and author bio
https://bloomerang.co/blog/author/steven/
• Establish Google Authorship (owned and earned blogs)
• Add Google+ badge to website
• Fill out Google+ profile completely
• Verify your name
• Publish frequently (focused area of expertise_
• Active use of social media - especially Google+
• +1 button on your blog posts

44. THINGSTO AVOID
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
• Brand as author (“by Bloomerang”)
• “by Guest Author”
• Guest posts attributed to in-house author
• *Ghost-written blog posts
• *Outsourced content
*be careful

45. FURTHER READING
@StevenShattuck | #IndySM
✤ http://raventools.com/blog/ultimate-list-of-relauthor-resources/
✤ http://moz.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-authorrank-and-get-the-jump-on-
google
✤ http://www.seobythesea.com/2011/11/agent-rank-or-google-plus-as-an-
identity-service-or-digital-signature/
✤ http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/author-rank

46. @StevenShattuck | #IndySM
Questions?
Slides: http://bit.ly/breakfastrank
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