Rel Author Definition

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What is the Rel="Author" Tag?

The Rel=”author” tag tells Google that you are the author of the content on the webpage. Google allows you to connect your Google+ page to the content that you create so that when you post quality content around the web, whether on your website or on other publishers, blogs, articles or others, that you receive credit for that post. It also helps to increase the perceived authority of the content writer which can lend credibility to the author when others considered being authoritative in the same subject matter copy or link to your content.

Why is the Rel="Author" Tag Important?

Many suspect that Google is creating an algorithm that ranks people in part based on their level of authority in their target subject matter. This algorithm and ranking structure commonly referred to as “Authority Rank” has been denied by Google with only comments stating that it may become a reality in the future. Many SEOs believe that Google is currently implementing some form of Authority ranking in their current ranking algorithm.

How Can You Optimize Your Website's Authority:

Without a specific Authority Rank being publically implemented and tracked it is difficult to define what will be specifically valued by Google. It is logical to deduce however that the more authority one has is determined in the same manner as Google determines value based on relevance, backlinks and citations. Relevance in content is determined by usage of the terms and phrases that are most related to the topic while with backlinks it matters how relevant the page and website linking to the content are and the terms used in the linktext.

In citations it is important how many speak about the topic with the author’s name in close or direct proximity to those terms. This means that if you are attempting to build authority then you should create content which shows a strong knowledge of the topic and connect with others who write about the topic so that they can cite your work and link to it from their very relevant content.

The usage of your name as the author in relationship to the topic by those who are themselves considered authoritative in that topic increases your authority. It is a increase by association and usage.

So it’s best to create informative and authoritative content and to share it with others who are related to that topic or considered authorities themselves..