What do startups need to know about Facebook Authorship?
Marketing managers for startups and small businesses might immediately grimace at this idea because they remember the difficulty in setting up Google authorship. Facebook is different…stay with me.
As Google discontinues their authorship functions, Facebook sees the opportunity to extend it’s focus on providing quality news content through existing, content-generating users. Think about it…
Many people log into Facebook several times per day, and some never log out. We interact online in many ways via Facebook, and referral traffic from Facebook to other websites is most always top of the analytics charts.
Facebook loves when people spend time there, as this helps them grow, and surfaces more opportunity for them. If people are reading and interacting on Facebook, their online experience is influenced by Facebook. But the big blue understands it must be a win/win, and has:
- Given users fun apps, games & news feed features.
- Provided marketers with Pages & the advertising program.
- Offered Facebook Groups for people of like interest.
Chances are, if you are reading this, you are blogging and sharing your content on Facebook with a low (or non-existent) Facebook Ads budget. Your Facebook Page is not getting much engagement to showcase your content unless you sponsor posts, so you may have been giving Facebook less priority in your social media strategy in favor of other platforms. You may have even been sad when Google retired their authorship program.
Am I right?
This guide will help you learn:
- What Facebook Authorship is
- How to set up Facebook Authorship
- The relationship between Facebook Authorship and privacy settings
- New opportunities using Facebook Authorship
Relax, it really is easier than it sounds! :)
What Is Facebook Authorship?
Facebook Authorship is simply enabling the Facebook author tag. {{ click to tweet }}
In Facebook’s words:
“People use Facebook every day to discover what’s going on in the world. The Author Tag helps connect those people to the stories and journalists that best inform and entertain them.”
Yes, Facebook wins by keeping people on their site.
However, once the Facebook Author tag is activated, blog posts and online articles allow readers to connect with authors of material they favor, and for the author to connect with their most interested audience. In turn, this option should allow for bloggers and journalists to grow their audience through Facebook.
Facebook authorship is all about the blogger, or journalist.
It is most advantageous for the online journalist to enable the Facebook author tag with their personal Facebook profile. This provides a more personal connection with readers. Additionally, it hurdles the challenge of Facebook Pages not reaching their audience in the Facebook news feed – Facebook favors the individual user, personal Facebook profiles.
How To Set Up Facebook Authorship
This looks and sounds daunting, but is much easier than what you may remember from setting up Google authorship!
First, make your Facebook Profile public to accept followers on Facebook.
This is similar to having followers on Twitter, but on the social network you are most comfortable and familiar with. :) Followers see only posts you make visible to the public. They do not see posts you make visible only to Friends or specific Facebook lists.
1. Go to your Facebook profile, and access your personal settings
Click the arrow in the upper right, and move your cursor down your list of choices to “settings,” and click. This will lead you to a new screen where you will have new choices.
2. Choose to accept followers
On the left side bar of this new screen, you will see a list of General Account Settings. Toward the middle will be the option “Followers.” Click that word to land on another new settings page.
3. Adjust your Follower Settings
Who Can Follow Me – This needs to be set to “Everybody” to allow for Facebook authorship to work. The activation of the Facebook Author Tag will not connect if you choose to set it at “Friends” – Your other option.
You can make the choice to limit who can comment on your posts, but it is to your advantage to allow for everyone if you are indeed trying to grow your connections and readership. The same with Follower Notifications.
Located on this screen is also the code to put a Facebook Follow Button on your blog. A great feature that lets readers another option to connect with you, the author and publisher of your written work. The code is easily handed off to your web developer, or copy and pasted into your website side bar.
Your settings are saved as you arranged them when you leave this screen, and you can now accept Facebook followers. The public will now see a new Facebook Follow button on your cover image, and a green follow button will also be available to those that view your personal profile.
4. Remember your options
You can choose to post Facebook updates to specific audiences. Be sure to share your blog content and published articles to the public so you get the most possible views and can grow your readership.
Second, enable to Facebook author tag.
A large number of startups and small businesses use WordPress for their website and blog. A good option for optimizing for SEO is the Yoast WordPress Plugin, which has the components for Facebook set-up already included. We’ll go step-by-step through this popular method below.
1. Enable Facebook Authorship
For established bloggers or those that allowed Facebook followers before now, some of this may already be set up.
For others, this may be the trickiest part – It’s just inserting your meta data. Done easily by your webmaster.
Alternately, you can insert the article:author code into your Meta Tag functionality. You should place this in your website header or default CSS:
<meta property=”article:author” content=”https://www.facebook.com/YourFacebookUserID” />
The full URL above is the skeleton – Your code should be populated with your user ID in the web address field.
It is best to set this up as your default so it automatically generates for your existing content, as well as your new content going forward.
2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard with Yoast already downloaded
This will be your main screen that you see each time you log in.
3. Navigate down your left sidebar to “SEO”
Under that main heading you will see the option for “Social.” Click it. There, you will click the box in the box to “Add Open Graph Meta Data.” (the box should be checked; Be sure changes are saved)
4. Designate your user profile
A few options above SEO on your left side bar will be the Users option. Navigate there, and click to go to that new screen.
Where you see “Facebook profile URL” and a blank field, copy and paste your personal Facebook profile address here, as shown in the example. Save these changes before exiting this area.
At this point, you may want to clear your cache to be sure going forward you will not be working with an old saved copy of web pages.
Third – Appreciate, test, debug
If you handed this task off to your webmaster, you are home free and can enjoy the benefits of Facebook authorship and growing your network.
If you are using the DIY approach, you may run into a few pitfalls that are easily fixed.
Mike Allton, of The Social Media Hat, offers a great resource for testing your work, as well as Facebook Authorship set-up instructions for websites designed in formats other than WordPress.
Your Facebook Authorship And New Opportunities
Until now, when you posted your startup’s content on Facebook, there really was no spotlight on the author, and no real way to connect with them unless they clicked through to the article or blog post.
Facebook Authorship changes that.
A look at a post from someone you already follow with Facebook Authorship enabled:
An example of a Facebook Post from someone you do not follow that has enabled Facebook Authorship:
From here forward, when Facebook Authorship is enabled, a Facebook Follow Button is clearly visible. Plus the reader can plainly see who the author is, and there is a hyper link, that when clicked, takes the reader to learn more about the author.
Sharing is caring, right?
The real power of Facebook Authorship occurs when an article is re-shared. The same Facebook Follow Button and connectivity hyperlink appear on shared posts, extending the reach and potential for connections even further.
So, Startups, creating shareable content becomes ever more important and advantageous!
Online Journalists Empowered
In the past, most of Facebook’s developments favored the personal user or the business brand.
Finally, Facebook has released something that favors small businesses and startups, and the individuals that drive their online marketing efforts. Just a few quick steps, and bloggers and journalists can begin attracting people to their purpose!
Your Turn
What questions do you have?
Will you enable Facebook Authorship?
How do you think this tool will change your approach?
Please share your thoughts in the comment box below! :)
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