Search is increasingly social, with Google +1 buttons appearing on websites, search results, and ads. A key development was Verified Authorship in Google search results, enhancing credibility with author photos and names.
Important Update (Aug 28, 2014): Google discontinued Authorship. Search results no longer display author names or photos.
Previously, sites like WPBeginner showcased founder Syed Balkhi's image in search results, as shown below:
Reports suggested improved click-through rates and rankings. Here's how to implement Google Verified Authorship on your WordPress blog—purely for historical reference.
Add this code to your theme's header.php file (replace with your Google+ profile URL):
<link rel="author" href="https://plus.google.com/YOUR_PROFILE_URL/" />
For theme frameworks, add to your theme's functions.php file:
function add_google_rel_author() {
echo '<link rel="author" href="https://plus.google.com/YOUR_PROFILE_URL/" />';
}
add_action('wp_head', 'add_google_rel_author');Next, link your website in the Contributors section of your Google+ profile:
Ensure your +1s are public on Google+.
Wait for Google to recrawl. Verify with Google's Webmaster Tools Rich Snippets Testing Tool:
For multi-author blogs, add a custom Google+ field per user profile. Use conditionals in the header or the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin, which supported this natively.