Digital Marketing Deva

Persuasive Web Copywriting Designed to Sell

  • Home
  • Services
    • Website Copywriting
  • Work
    • TRI Resources – Website Copywriting
    • Herz Homes – About Page
    • Boulder Community Health – Copywriting
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Conversion Copywriting for Outdoor Businesses

You are here: Home / Content Marketing / My Google Authorship Photo Disappeared But I Got it Back

My Google Authorship Photo Disappeared But I Got it Back

February 26, 2014 by Mary Iannotti Leave a Comment

How I Got My Google Authorship Photo Back

In January I discovered my Google Authorship photo disappeared from my blog posts in search engine results. My byline appeared but the photo had vanished. After my initial shock, I dug in and figured out how to get my photo back.

The journey turned out to be better than I expected. Through the process I increased my commitment to my blog and received fantastic support from my social community. So if you’ve lost your Authorship photo, read on to learn one solution that may help you get it back. You may even improve your perspective along the way.

The Steps I Took to Get My Google Authorship Photo Back

First I checked the settings for the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin that was used on my website. At the time, rel=”author” was set up on all of my website pages. This caused Authorship to appear on web pages that weren’t written by one designated author.

Yoast-WordPress-Authorship

This violated Google’s Authorship guidelines which state, “The URL/page (should) consist primarily of content written by the author.” Sure enough, when I searched on Google my photo appeared next to every one of my web pages.

To remove this violation, in the Titles & Metas section of my settings, next to Authorship, I checked the Don’t Show rel=”author” box under Pages. This eliminated Authorship mark from all of my web pages.

Yoast-WordPress-SEO-Proper-Authorship-Settings

Well, my photo disappeared from my web pages listed in search engine results. But Google was not as quick to restore my photo next to my blog posts. This baffled me because when some people changed these settings, their photo quickly reappeared.

This led me to another theory. Perhaps my photo disappeared because the authority of my blog domain was weak. So I committed to increasing my publishing schedule. Low and behold, after I published a couple of blog posts, I noticed my photo appeared next to the new posts in search engine results. About a week later my photo was restored to all of my posts.

Mark Traphagen gave me some insight I didn’t realize at the beginning of this journey. Google had to revisit my site before the search giant would consider lifting my penalty. My new posts enticed the search spiders to return to my blog, and once they returned my penalty was lifted. So my domain authority wasn’t the reason my photo disappeared but I had to publish more posts to get Google’s attention.

Mark-Traphagen-Diagnosis-Authorship

Silver Lining to Getting My Authorship Photo Back

Did you ever dread embarking on a journey but the experience turned out to be rewarding? That’s exactly what happened to me on this project. Turning around the Google penalty was daunting in the beginning. However, I changed my priorities and my schedule to make more room for writing blog posts. As a result, my publishing schedule doubled and I’m getting more traffic from Google’s search engine.

I reached out to my social network and found some fantastic support I’d like to share with you. If this article doesn’t help you restore your Authorship photo, check out these resources:

  • Google Authorship & Author Rank Community – This Google+ community was created by Mark Traphagen and is moderated by a group of SEO superstars. The community offers plenty of resources that will help you set up Authorship and troubleshoot any problems you may have with the tool. Folks in the community are very responsive to questions posted by members.
  • rel=”author” frequently asked (advanced) questions – This blog post from Google lists guidelines you should follow to increase the likelihood that authorship will be shown in search engine results.
  • Google Plus Authorship: One Critical Thing You Need to Know –  This article by Samuel Scott tipped me off to the problems with my Yoast SEO Plugin settings.
  • Open Q&A on Authorship / AuthorRank – In this lively discussion, Eric Enge and Mark Traphagen talk about the future of AuthorRank and answer questions people have about Authorship. They have a knack of breaking down these ambiguous topics so they are much easier to understand.

If you lost your photo and you’re using the Yoast SEO plugin for your WordPress blog, review your settings. Check the box next to Don’t show rel=author for your Pages. Then publish some blog posts. This easy solution may restore your Authorship photo. If that doesn’t work, consult the resources I listed. Remain positive because you never know what gems you may discover along the journey.

Have you found a resource that helped you resolve issues you had with Authorship? Leave it in a comment and I’ll add it to the resource list along with recognition for your contribution.

Camera photo compliments of Nicola Perantoni.

Share this post:

TwitterFacebookGoogle+Linkedin

Filed Under: Content Marketing

About Mary Iannotti

I'm a digital marketing strategist who loves helping outdoor and SaaS companies make more money online. I specialize in writing persuasive copy, optimizing websites for more conversions and building sales funnels.


I've worn a lot of hats in the past 15 years including marketer, website designer, copywriter, search engine optimizer, and public relations gal. I share the best strategies I've learned on my blog.


Keep the conversation going by connecting with me on Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stuff I Write About

  • Content Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Local SEO
  • Portfolio
  • Social Media
  • Website Design
  • Website Marketing
  • WordPress

Blog

  • Image Optimization: A Non-Techie’s Way to a Faster Website And More Conversions
  • Gain Peace of Mind With These 6 WordPress Security Tips
  • Customer Testimonials – Social Proof for More Website Leads
  • Gain a Competitive Edge Through Brand Differentiation
  • Seven Effective Value Selling Techniques for Digital Marketers

Website Hosting Power You’ll Love

Good website hosts silently take care of your needs. They keep hackers at bay and power your website 24/7 without interruptions. On the occasions you do cross paths, they delightfully serve you.

Does this sound too good to be true? Well it’s not. That’s my experience with SiteGround Hosting. Check them out here.

Full disclosure - I'm an affiliate and a fan.

Check out SiteGround website hosting.

Can’t Find What You Need? Search the Website

Connect with Mary on Twitter.
Connect with Mary on LinkedIn.

© 2018 Digital Marketing Deva | 3981 Bosque Ct | Boulder, CO 80301