Rel=author isn’t an entirely new addition to the ever-expanding features that Google is introducing to improve the results pulled down by their search engine. It was actually implemented a year ago, closely coinciding with the launch of the Google+ social networking site (although it didn’t get that much attention from online bloggers and authors). Now, if you haven’t started using this feature yet, I am encouraging you to try the rel=author markup for your websites because it has a lot of benefits for internet marketers. Although many will say that Google+ is a “dead” social networking site where you can’t even find any of your friends in Facebook, the fact that Google uses their own social networking site as a platform for integrating changes in their own search engine results should be enough reason for internet marketers to jump in on the bandwagon (even if you don’t like it, really.)
In simple words, the rel=author markup is just a way of saying to Google that you are the author of a certain article indexed within their search engine results. It is not a secret that copying, plagiarism and content theft happens frequently all over the web. Using the rel=author” markup is a way of verifying with Google the authenticity of your claim as the author of a certain content.
The rel=author markup does this by integrating the website where the content is located along with the author’s Google+ profile. This is achieved through the creation of an anchor text containing your name on it, with a link that points exactly to your Google+ profile.
This is how rel=author works
Using rel-”author” has several advantages for SEO, which is why I am encouraging you to do this if you haven’t done it already. By using rel=author, you are building a ‘trust’ rating with Google’s search engine, which is what every internet marketer should strive for. Aside from this, articles and content that are claimed by an author through this method are also given much weight and priority by Google over other similar articles.
So if ever someone copied your article without your permission and placed it in their website, Google will not give much weight to those copied articles because the rel=author link relationship already verifies that you are the one who created the content. (Actually, this might also work in reverse. In theory, if you have an author markup and you copied the article of another person without one, you might be gaining more weight and favor in the eyes of Google even if you were not the original author of the content. But that is just a theory though. Haven’t tested that yet. And that is stealing so don’t do that! LOL).
The Google Page Layout Algorithm? What’s that?
On January 19, 2012, the “Distinguished Engineer of Google” Matt Cutts, issued out a statement stating that webmasters should follow a new rule regarding their website’s page layout. That is, if the webmasters want to comply with Google’s “improved user experience” line of thought. (Who wouldn’t want to comply with Google anyway?) Ever since Google introduced their Panda Algorithm last year, a lot of webmasters are anxious to hear what Google’s engineers have in store for them especially these days when Google seems very inconsistent with their policies.
Now why am I ranting about this?
According to their engineers, the new “Google page layout algorithm” states that webmasters shouldn’t ruin the experience of the regular internet user by flooding their websites with too many ads “above the fold” (or above the actual page content). Now what this simply means is that the page layout of a website should not hinder the user’s experience by placing a lot of ads on the upper area (which makes it difficult for readers to locate the information that they are looking for.)
Now, I’ll let you in on an some examples to make Google’s statement clear.
This layout came from NichePursuits.com and it explains in detail what the new Google page layout algorithm is trying to avoid. This one is a very aggressive website layout that floods the top area of a website with too many ads which most often than not ruins user experience.
Now as you can clearly see here, the article content starts below the 2 large ad blocks. If you are a user looking to find some helpful information in the website above, you will realize that finding the actual content is difficult with all of these large ad blocks hanging around. Another ad block on the left is also located above the fold, so all-in-all there are three blocks of ad in this aggressive sample page layout that I have given.
I agree with Google when they say that they are looking to improve the experience of their users. If you ask me, I personally want to make sure that my site is navigable for readers (which is why I eliminated the use of standard category widgets in my sites…I will dig deep on it someday and explain to you why my site’s structure is like this). But that isn’t my point today. In the end, it is the internet users that are making Google billions of dollars every year and they should protect the experience of their users above all. 
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Just a year ago, it never even occurred to me that I will seriously consider making a living out of online freelancing and internet marketing.
Today, however, all of my time and resources are pointing out towards that single direction.
Filipinos, I believe, have a head start when it comes to the potential of making it big in internet marketing. I will not drop names here, but I know quite a lot of anonymous Filipino webmasters and freelancers that are raking in a handsome amount of money everyday doing business online. I myself have already started to make some nice cash setting up some personal websites along with doing freelancing jobs. I don’t think an average Filipino would find it difficult to make a decent amount of money online (whether doing internet marketing, online freelancing or both) with the proper instruction and information. If you are a college student looking for ways to make some extra income or someone who is finding it difficult to land a job, I strongly recommend you to consider entering this business if you have some free time to burn.
I will tell you in a moment why I think it is easier for a Filipino to penetrate online marketing and freelancing so sit back and relax as I get my cup of tea. =) (more…)
I am +Dino Royo+, an outsourcee who got my first writing gig at Odesk. Having studied Computer Science in college, I realized that Internet Marketing can give me the lifestyle that I want without having to resort to a 9-to-5 job. In exchange for your time, let me show you exactly how I make money online.
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