Google plus authorship

1. 72

   Abbyfitzposted 11 years ago

   Hello,
   I have tried several times to put the google plus into my settings so it sets authorship. I've followed the instructions that several hubbers have written in hubs, and I've still been unsuccessful. Can someone post a Google Plus Authorship for dummies please? lol

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   1. 94

      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I wrote a detailed explanation in a hub. Look for it in my profile (can't list the link here since it's against policy) and scroll down to the section on doing it for HubPages. There you will find quick and easy steps to follow.

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   2. 82

      Simone Smithposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I know a bunch of Hubbers have guides to doing this, but we also have both a FAQ entry on the process and instructions in our guide to Google+. Is there something about our instructions that is not working? If so, I want to make sure we fix them.
      http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/a-Hu … oogle-Plus
      http://hubpages.com/faq/#google-authorship

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      1. 94

         Susana Sposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think there's anything wrong with the instructions, but in my experience claiming authorship isn't necessarily instant (as I and most people expect it to be). About a month ago I got an email from Google to say that my authorship had been approved! That was at least 3 months after I set it up.
         
         I'd wondered why my photo never showed up as I expected even though it "worked" when tested in the authorship tool.

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         1. 82

            Simone Smithposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Ah, that's good to know! I'll add notes indicating that it might not happen instantaneously. Thanks for bringing that up!

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         2. 94

            Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Susana - I have news for you. Your image is indeed appearing in search results. I just searched for one of your hubs.

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            1. 94

               Susana Sposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I know it does now Glen, but it didn't for months - not until after I got the approval email from Google.

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            2. 77

               TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Glenn Stok:  Well, after spending countless hours for months now trying to figure out how to get Goolde + authorships, YOU are the one person who helped me to succeed!  I could just KISS YOU!  I have tried and failed sooo many times, but your article got the job done.  I tried to leave a comment but something went wrong, so let me say it here...for anybody trying to figure this out, Glen has the correct answer.  He made this so easy that I couldn't believe it.  Thank you so much Glen.  You have done a very good thing here and I truly appreciate your help.  If HP would let me comment, vote, share, etc. I would...but for some reason, I cannot.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

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               1. 0

                  summerberrieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I used Glenn Stok's hub on claiming google+ authorship, too. It is the go to place I'd recommend and have recommended. He has GREAT customer service, too. Often than not he'll double check for you to make sure you are up and running correctly!
                  
                  P.S. I'm sure greekgeek's is good too.

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                  1. 94

                     Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     summerberrie - Thank you, Terrie, for your thoughtful feedback on my efforts. And, yes, Greekgeek indeed has written a great Hub on the topic (as all her Hubs are).

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               2. 94

                  Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  TIMETRAVELER2 - I know you were going through a lot of headaches Sondra. I am glad my Hub helped you get it right. But there is one thing I'd like to point out that needs your attention. You have two reciprocal link URL's back to HubPages in your Google profile. The second one is correct and that is why your authorship is working now. But the first one goes to HubPages' home page. When you are logged in it looks like it is working for you to return to YOU.  But if anyone else clicks it, they get to their own account (assuming they are logged in). 
                  
                  I hope I didn't confuse you more, but all you need to do is remove that first link that does not point to your specific HP profile.  Leave the good one.

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         3. 72

            Abbyfitzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Maybe that is my problem. I don't know. I fiddled with it about a month and a half ago and nothing has happened. I'll redo everything to be sure I'm doing it right. But three months, wow

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            1. 94

               Susana Sposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I think it could be Abby. Someone from Google has to physically look at the image you've provided to make sure it fits their guidelines and also check that you've given your full name, so I imagine that as more and more people sign up the longer that process might take.

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               1. 71

                  Horatio Plotposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  It's true, I read it in the news. Google have a team of people who check your photo. If you don't look nice or your tie doesn't match your shirt then they send you off to Bing.

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         4. 94

            Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Susana - I just tried to go to your Google Profile and discovered that the link you put into your HP profile is wrong. It does not go to your Google profile. You have extra characters at the end of the URL that need to be removed. Just use https://plus.google.com/xxxxxxxx  where xxxxxxxx is your Google ID. When I changed it myself I got to your Google profile. I even added you to my circle.

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      2. 72

         Abbyfitzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I just used the snipped thingy and it shows my picture next to my article. But if I do a search on google for my article, it only lists the article name and not my picture. Why?

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      3. 77

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Simone: I followed your directions exactly, but although I was able to get a Google + account,  I was unable to link it to HP.  I believe the reason is that my handle on HP differs from the name I use for my Google Account.  They will not accept a pen name and I do not believe they will link without this.  If you have a way around this, please let me know.  I would like to claim authorship but I believe the name thing will be a problem.  If you have any advice here, I'm open!

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   3. 81

      brianrockposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It looks like you've set things up correctly, so far. If you use the Google Structured Data Testing Tool, it confirms that you've successfully linked your Hub to your Google Profile.
      
      However, I just searched for one of your hubs, and I don't see your thumbnail next to the hub when it comes up. My best guess is that it's because you currently have what amounts to an empty Google Plus profile - one person in your circles, and no one has you in their circles (at least that's what I see on your profile).
      
      As I understand it, Google only shows author thumbnails for what they consider "trusted" profiles. I don't have any hard evidence on what exactly that means, but a simple suggestion would be to add some friends to your own circles and have you add them back. I would guess that once you're connected to some other people, your thumbnail will start showing up properly.

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      1. 94

         Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Brian, Circles are not necessary. For that matter, you don't even need to upgrade to Google Plus. A regular Google Profile is acceptable for claiming Authorship, and even to get the image included.

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         1. 81

            brianrockposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I remember reading that somewhere, but could just be hearsay... I just found and read through this guide from seomoz.
            
            They couldn't find any clearcut reasons for why an image wouldn't appear, but they did suggest that if an image didn't appear next to your Google profile in the search results, then it wasn't going to appear next to any of your results. Searching for the OP ("abby fitz google plus") shows her Google Plus page in the results with no thumbnail.
            
            That suggests that there's some kind of problem with the profile. What it is, who knows...

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            1. 94

               Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               If the image doesn't appear, it does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with the profile. I read in several places that Google may not use the image even though authorship is verified. As long as the Rich Snippets test (now called "Structured Data Testing Tool") shows that one is verified, then all is well.
               
               Another thing I noticed is that if several hubs come up from the same author in a search, then only the first one has the image in the listing. And another thing I discovered is that we don't always see our own image if we search for our own hubs if we are logged into our Google account.

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2. 80

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   That was the instruction hub I used, and it worked perfectly.

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   1. 94

      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'm glad my instructions helped you.Thanks for the feedback.

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3. 87

   Marketing Meritposted 11 years ago

   Yes, it's frustrating, especially as the photo is intended to entice clicks! My photo doesn't always appear, but if you read through the Google info, I believe that it does say that this might happen.

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4. 72

   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   Some articles have my image while others don't. I noticed it yesterday. I am trying to put my name in all articles with copyright notice.

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   1. 77

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't apply for Google authorship because they insist that I provide my real name and photo, which I refuse to supply because of potential fraud and other similar issues.  So, I do without and have lower numbers.

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      1. 87

         Marketing Meritposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         To be perfectly honest, I feel uncomfortable about it also. It would appear that Google doesn't understand the concept of pen names. Personally, I think the requirement is more to do with their desire to push Google+ as a rival for Facebook, hence the 'real' name criteria.
         
         It's also a nuisance when you use different pen names for different niches but can only have one account.
         
         As an aside, and I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but I've noticed that when I'm outranked by another Google plus author, he/she usually has larger 'circle' numbers than I do (not hard to achieve admittedly!). However, I have wondered if this is another little bit of Google nepotism creeping into their algorithm!

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5. 72

   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   Congrats. It is great to succeed at Google authorship. Glenn and a few others have written good articles and then helped with tips  Greekgeek is another helpful person.

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6. 59

   imsefposted 11 years ago

   I tried following the guidelines on hubpages  FAQ on how to add authorship markup into my hubpages profile and it did work just fine. ^.^ it should happen to you as well.

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7. 80

   PaoloJpmposted 11 years ago

   I think you should try doing it again from the beginning. Just ensure you followed every step. Hope you'll be successful in the next one.

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