If you follow my writing here, on various other blogs, and on Google+, you know that I am a big fan of Google’s Authorship project, and that I do a great deal of thinking and research about it. But when you’ve got your nose deep into something, it’s easy to slip into jargon and forget that others may not have any idea what you’re talking about.
This was brought home to me this morning in a comment on a recent post on this blog. The commenter had asked a question about linking her YouTube channel to her Google Plus profile, and in my response I went on and on about how it might be related to “Authorship” and therefore might help her “Author Rank.” Bamm – question answered. Thank you folks, and don’t forget to tip your servers.
But some time after she replied with another question: “You keep on talking about “Authorship” and “Author Rank,” but what’s the difference? Are the two synonymous?”
Ouch. I realized that I had stumbled down deep into the jargon well, and had probably left a number of other readers in the dark as well. It’s like when I’m at a get together and I mention that I’m into SM…and when I see the looks on peoples’ faces, I quickly have to explain that I mean “Social Media,” not “Sado Masochism.”
So here is the answer I gave to her question. I post it here in hopes that it will help others understand these topics. Of course, there is much more to this than I explain here. If you want to dig deeper, check the related posts down below.
Maybe the simplest way to answer your first question is to say that Google Authorship is the tool, and Author Rank is the (potential) thing built with the tool. Now let me expand that.
What are Authorship and Author Rank? ……..read the rest of the article here - http://www.virante.org/blog/2012/08/30/what-is-the-difference-between-google-authorship-and-author-rank/
Here are Google staffers Othar Hansson and Matt Cutts introducing Google Authorship back in August of 2011
Author: Mark Watts – SEO Manchester
Google
About Mark WattsHi, my name is Mark and I'm the owner of SEO Manchester.
I started in SEO in 2009 and have gradually built up my business solely from organic traffic generated via high search engine rankings (mainly Google).
I love building highly optimised WordPress websites and optimising Google Places listings. I am also constantly building on my knowledge of the uses of all forms of social media for marketing effectiveness, particularly Google+.
When not helping clients improve their online presence I enjoy walking the dog around the hills where we live, reading, real ale and (surprise) spending more time on the web.
Nice post Mark, thank you very much for making us aware of the new and vibrant factor Author Rank. I think it is going to be a major factor in SEO.