Facebook is at it again, this time with a new feature to help publishers make connections with their readers through something called the Facebook Author Meta Tag.
You have to implement the Facebook Author Meta Tag on your website, but once you do it makes it easy for people to follow an author on Facebook if they found a piece of content they liked on the Facebook platform.
In other words, it’s not only helping foster relationships and bring brands and readers together, but it makes the social network a great place to publish content (and thus helping to keep people on Facebook). The Facebook Author Meta Tag is easy to implement, so there isn’t any reason not to get involved if you have a Facebook account and are looking to grow your audience.
How the Facebook Author Meta Tag Works
According to the official Facebook announcement, this is a “web development tool that connects the byline in a story preview in the News Feed to the writer’s Page or Profile with Follow. Users won’t have to see the Author Tag when they’re simply scrolling through your News Feed, but if they do click on an article to read more they will then be prompted with an option to follow that author along with a story preview when you scroll through their News Feed for the next time. Below is a screenshot example:
In addition to seeing a Follow button, you’ll notice that there is also a Like button. This doesn’t necessarily mean someone likes the article, but it means they like the author, so they will start getting updates in their News Feed about that author.
How to Implement the Author Tag
All you need to get started with this tag is one small line of code in the header tag of your page. According to the announcement, you should visit here if you’re a developer to learn about adding the line of code. It only has to be done once, so it’s incredibly easy to use! It’s also worth noting, however, that if you manage a Facebook Profile (as opposed to Page), you have to make sure the Follow option is turned on, which you can learn more about here.
How to Use Author Tags to Your Advantage
It’s true that the Author Tag was really designed to help journalists, but brands can also benefit. Brands are not going to be able to use this feature as brands in general, however, because an entire brand doesn’t write an article. You can try and publish something that was written by your brand, but readers respond to real author much more frequently.
In other words, it’s important that you start building up the authority of your authors to help bring traffic to your site and spread awareness and visibility of your brand’s page. The more authoritative your authors can become on Facebook, the better chance they have of bringing their loyal readers to your website and earning opportunities online in your industry. If their writing is thriving, other websites are going to want to feature that writing. Because authority is becoming so important for SEO, starting with the authority of your authors is a great move.
What do you think about the new Author Tag button? Do you think brands and their authors can benefit, or do you think this is more for journalists? Let us know in the comments below.
Republished by permission. Original here.
Facebook Photo via Shutterstock
I’m glad Facebook is making these changes for the authors and their brands. In the last facebook update it was clear that brands have gotten less visibility on their fan’s feed. I think this will help the author’s and their brands requiring them to produce quality and interesting topics