Basically these rel=”me” , rel=”author” are among Rich snippets including microdata, microformats, and RDFa. Some of these are intended for targeted website niche. Previously, we wrote about Dublin Core, you might be interested to read that article as well. rel=”author” and rel=”me” rich snippets now being implemented by Google in conjunction with your Google Plus profile to present the most useful and informative search results.
Who will use rel=”author” and rel=”me”
Anyone who writes original content or sells a product wants to brand it, might use rel=”author” and rel=”me” microdata or other additional tags. Other than probable good ranking in SERP, rel author and rel me with original content, it can provide a branding with profile picture beside the search result.
What is the problem with rel=”author” and rel=”me” implementation in WordPress ?
The major problem, as pointed out by Joost de Valk of Yoast is that, WordPress will not allow to put these rel=”author” and rel=”me” data in meta in header directly. You can read Joost’s fantastic article on how to add them using his filters and functions in functions.php file and author.php file.
The major problem with Joost’s first method is, it is quite difficult for a novice users to use rel=”author” and rel=”me” in that way.
He, however has mentioned the easy way as an update of his article on rel=”author” and rel=”me”, which we will modify a bit using a fantastic plugin created by John. You can read his blog post here.
Everybody already said everything, then what you will say new!
True. We will help you to implement these rel=”author” and rel=”me” in the easiest way possible.
Firstly, unlike usual meta, these rel=”author” and rel=”me” can be added anywhere within the post or page within the body.
Now, you need an Google Plus Profile (if you do not have use our Contact Us form to get invited). Install John’s Plugin. The reason we need this plugin is, WordPress strips the out link parts.
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Now, go to Users > You Profile in WordPress Admin panel. Now, the think is that, you have to add these rel=”author” and rel=”me” in some way using your Author Bio box.
Edit it in the way, so that your bio becomes like me. Like me means, the way I have added the rel=”author” and rel=”me” in my bio. How?
The HTML code for my bio (I have stripped out unnecessary parts) is :
…is Dr.<a href=”https://plus.google.com/103599283279782477391/posts” rel=”me”>Abhishek Ghosh</a>…. and <a href=”https://plus.google.com/103599283279782477391?rel=author”>Google+</a>.
Change the red number of my Google Plus profile to yours.
Save it. Clear the cache (if any). Now test from this webpage of Google ; if its correct, it will show like mine:
Additional note on rel=”author” and rel=”me”
rel=”author” and rel=”me” will not show up in home page if you are using a custom homepage in WordPress or using excerpts. So, you have to add it some where in the homepage except the footer or sidebar (otherwise it will be get duplicated in post pages). For multi authored blog, rel=”author” and rel=”me” might not be useful or relevant. Add them manually. Do not forget to link your blog from your G+ profile.
