Comments on: Dispelling the Myth of Authorship Impact on CTR

By: nguyentoloan

nguyentoloan — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:56:00 +0000

Wow, photos great. I like it.
http://www.minmaxtravel.com

By: SEONashville

SEONashville — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:49:00 +0000

I have one site I am testing the author code on, my image shows up in search below the listing. I haven’t seen an increase. I love the concept of your article because we sure should have some real data behind all the bla bla bla. I actually think the authorship code is a way for google to track your influence so they can guide it how they may. OOps he runs too many sites and has too much influence bam seccond page.

By: Andrea Pernici

Andrea Pernici — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:58:00 +0000

Yes and that is the point.

The SEO field is full and crowded of Rich and Authored Snippet so probably a better face can make you stand out, but in all the analysis I saw there are too many factors not taken into account and I explained here way.

That is the point and in a clean serp like mine the results are clear…so the CTR is only a simple way to convince people to use it, but it’s the wrong way to do.

By: Optimiser Prime

Optimiser Prime — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 04:08:00 +0000

But if the image has no impact on CTR then it doesn’t matter how ugly the photo is.

By: Andrea Pernici

Andrea Pernici — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:03:00 +0000

The Cyrus Shepard post show a very ugly starting image. It’s a little bit different, but the point is not there in my opinion.

By: Optimiser Prime

Optimiser Prime — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:54:00 +0000

The way to test this is by implementing the authorship on an article, then changing the image around testing if different images have different CTR. If there is no difference in results then your point is valid. However if there is a difference in CTR and the only thing that is changing is the image then there is your evidence.

Cyrus Shepard wrote an article about these tests on SEOmoz. seomoz.org/blog/google-author-photos

By: Raymond

Raymond — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:41:00 +0000

I have a travel blog where the writer is actually a pretty blond girl with a nice figure. I asked if I could use a headshot of her and she agreed. It was perfect, blond, smile, bright red dress showing ample assets. Couldn’t have faked it better. Implemented rel=author and got the image showing almost immediately Guess what. ZERO CTR impact. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

By: Mark @ Make Them Click

Mark @ Make Them Click — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:23:00 +0000

I guess, but I’d never approached it from that angle. I look at it from the larger perspective of “structured data” and the benefits that that brings.

I think the CTR angle is a bit of red herring, and if people are selling it on that basis then that’s very misguided. As the article points out, authorship needs to be a strategic approach.

By: Dejan SEO

Dejan SEO — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:07:00 +0000

That’s interesting, but it would greatly depend on the type of search. (e.g. “I’m bored” vs “human rights in china”)

By: Dejan SEO

Dejan SEO — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:05:00 +0000

It’s one of those logical things, even those who don’t have it implemented think that those who did, get the advantage as people click more on “authored” results.