Blogging | Technology Bloggers

Technology Bloggers adopts post authorship

7th May 2012 3 Replies Christopher Roberts

Until recently I haven’t been as aware as I probably should have been of the Google update, which allows authors to claim authorship of their posts in the SERPs.

I was recently talking about the blog in the (Google) Webmaster Central Help Forum, when someone suggested that we should use Google Authorship. I had heard of it before, but wasn’t 100% sure what it meant, or why we should take the time to adopt it.

So after a little research, I am here to present my findings to you 🙂

What is Google Authorship?

Google Authorship is a relatively new part of search results, whereby Google shows the (Google+ profile) avatar of a person next to articles they have written in the SERPs. This means that people know who wrote something, even before they visit the page.

Google will not only give an avatar which it fetches from the writers Google+ profile, but it will also link to that persons profile. It might also provide additional information like how many circles the person is in. See the image below for more of an idea of how it looks.

How Can I Claim My Posts?

If you run your own blog, and you are the only person who ever writes on it, it is dead easy. Just add a link to your Google profile page with ?rel=author after it, and with the text being the same name as your Google profile, to your profile, or just every page of the blog.

The code would look something like this:

<a href="https://plus.google.com/114686389155717038852?rel=author" rel="author" title="Christopher Roberts on Google+">Christopher Roberts</a>

What if I Run or Am Part of a Multi-Author Blog?

If you are part of a blog with multiple authors, it can get a bit more complicated. Basically, the admin needs to make sure that there is no sitewide Google+ profile link, as that could mess things up. Each individual author will need to either link to their Google+ profile with the tag rel=”author” on every post they write, or link to their profile page on every page they write with the tag rel=”author” and then on their profile page link to their Google+ profile with rel=”me”.

It may sound a bit complicated, but it does make sense. If you don’t own a site, don’t worry about it. If you do and need some help, ask me in the comments, or send me a message 🙂

How Do I Claim Authorship of My Posts on Technology Bloggers?

Recently I have been very busy tweaking bits of WordPress’s code, in order to make it as easy as possible for you to claim authorship of the posts you write on Technology Bloggers.

There are three really simple tasks you need to complete. The first is to go to your Google+ profile ‘About’ page and under ‘Contributes to’ add Technology Bloggers – https://www.technologybloggers.org. The second step is to copy your Google+ profile URL and paste it into the ‘Google+ Profile URL’ box on your WordPress admin profile page. Finally in the box below (‘Google+ Name’) add your name as it appears on your Google+ profile. That is it! The blog does the rest of the work for you, and adds a link to your Google+ profile to your writer profile page.

A screenshot of the data you need to fill in on your profile, in order to claim authorship of your posts on Technology Bloggers.

If you don’t have a Google+ profile page, your link will just direct to your WordPress profile page. Not sure what I mean? Don’t worry, if you don’t have one, nothing bad will happen!

I have updated the post guidelines to include a section about how to link to your profile, however this article probably has a more detailed explanation!

A Final Word About rel=”author” and rel=”me”

If you are still confused about rel=”author” and rel=”me”, look at it this way: rel=”author” lets search engines know that the URL with that tag in is pointing to your author profile, be that WordPress, Google+, about.me or another; rel=”me” lets search engines that the URL with that tag in is another website/profile/blog etc. that is yours.

To see the Google Authorship in action you will have to wait a while for Google to index the pages and register the authorship. To check that your code is working okay and that Google can find your authorship, try using Google’s Rich Snippets Testing Tool.

For more information on Google Authorship, please check out Google’s help article on it.

Gravatar – are you making use of it?

30th April 2012 20 Replies Christopher Roberts

I don’t think enough people know about Gravatar and the what it does, so as a result I have chosen to write an article about it, to help you get more out of the web.

What is Gravatar?

The best way to describe what Gravatar is is the same way that it is described on Gravatar.com: A Globally Recognized Avatar. But what does that mean?

“Your Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?” – Gravatar.com

How better can I explain that? A Gravatar is an image that you can be associated with across the web. Any Gravatar compatible site – like most WordPress blogs, and many other forums, blogs and websites across the net – that you put your email into will display your unique image, whenever you write a post or leave a comment.

When you finish reading this article, cast your eye at my avatar, you can see it on the left of the writer bio box.

Until recently I had been using the Technology Bloggers logo as my avatar, however I have chosen to change to using my own website logo – the iconic blue ‘C’.

When you sign up for Gravatar, you also get your very own profile page. Here you can link to your website and write a short bi-line for the world to see. Everyone has a custom URL, and until today I didn’t realise that mine was actually my name! Okay, by default it is, but I was the first person with my name to register with Gravatar, which means that I must have had one for a pretty long time!

To check out my profile, please go to https://en.gravatar.com/ChristopherRoberts.

How Can You Make the Most Out of Gravatar?

If you scroll down the ‘our writers‘ page you will see that some of our writers have chosen to add a Gravatar to their email address, so that when they post, their customised image comes up. I then take this image and post it next to their profile on the our writers page. Some people don’t send us an avatar, and don’t have one linked to their email, so they have a randomly generated image associated with them.

The default image if you do not have a Gravatar - the Gravatar logo

If you look down the list you will see some of each. Which do you think looks better? Personally I believe that having an image of your choosing that follows you everywhere on the web is a great idea.

How to Get a Gravatar Avatar

Linking your email(s) to your chosen image(s) really could not be easier.

Step 1: Go the the Gravatar website.

Step 2: Click ‘Sign Up’ – this can be found on the top bar

Step 3: Enter your email address

Step 4: Check your emails and click the confirm link

Step 5: Upload the image you want to follow you everywhere on the web

Step 6: Voila! Any time you comment on Technology Bloggers of any of the other ‘kajillion’ blogs, websites or services that support Gravatar, your image will be associated with you

You can add more email addresses if you use different ones for different sites, and can even add more pictures, so you can comment on one site with one picture and on another site you have a different one!

Once you have an account you can also set up your Gravatar profile page, where you can tell the world about yourself, and link to sites you love.

Gravatar makes you identifiable across the web as a unique individual, not just another faceless/anonymous name.

Innovative ideas to spice up your blog posts

3rd April 2012 5 Replies Jenny Simpson

Change is inevitable, latest technologies, trends; methods are being introduced in blogging every day. Everyone has their own small tips and tricks to make the blogging experience more enjoyable and successful also. There is a lot of competition in blogging, to match that bloggers need to make more innovative posts, promote them and do many such other thing to be in top in the race.

But there are few things are which are evergreen i.e. fool proof methods to get success in blogging. Here are a few techniques that I believe are evergreen blog posts ideas which never fail:

Spice It Up – Add Some Controversy

Give your readers what they want; yes everyone wants some spice added to their life. So if you are looking for a good response then controversy is the answer. Write an article about hot topics, which people are opinionated about, therefore are likely to get drawn in, read your article, and then comment, hopefully with a fiery response!

Furthermore, if you post something which everyone likes then they are likely to share it with their friends, on their social network profiles. But being a professional blogger one need to know where to draw the line, do not post anything which hurts someones emotions and sentiments.

Be controversial, challenge beliefs and ways of doing things, but do your best not to offend anyone. A good way to do this is to stress that your view, or the perspective you are writing from, is just one view.

Be Honest – Tell a Story With a Moral

If it is a personal blog, share some of your life experiences, good or bad and let your readers know what you have learned from them. Everybody loves to listen to real stories, so your post will engage your readers and also encourage some to share similar life experiences in their comment.

Share Good Resources

Once in a while you can share a list of articles about popular subjects. You do not necessarily need to go in depth; just post a clean list, which will help your readers to find great resources that you too find valuable. In this you will please your visitors, and will surely find many coming back to your site in search of more useful content.

Talk About Others Also

Share with your readers what interest you. Share with them those interesting sites and blogs which you follow or read regularly. This post of your make them appreciate you more. This way you can ask for link back from the sites you have mentioned in your post.

Use Mix of Text, Images and Videos

It’s not advisable only to make text only post on your blog that tends to get boring at sometime. So add interactive images, even videos to make your post interesting. You can also record a video of the topic you want to share with your readers and use as your blog post. Saying your thing personally with your readers adds that personal touch to your post and builds more personal connection between you and your readers.

Happy Blogging!

Technology Bloggers

Championing responsible innovation in partnership with the Bassetti Foundation