Author profiles allow audiences to learn more about an author, as well as see all of the stories from an account in one place. They’re beneficial because they help build audience trust, improve discoverability of content, and boost overall site performance in search. They are always linked to an existing account, and managers can add a photo, bio, and title, as well as contact information.
Some of the information displayed comes from the contributor's user profile, while some is created specifically for the author profile. Typically, the user profile is meant to display information for any kind of user (including audience members), whereas author profiles are specifically meant for editorial contributors.
In this example from Vox, you can see Julia Belluz’s profile image, title, and bio—all of which are set in the author profile. Her contact information for Twitter and Facebook were set in her own user profile, which she can update directly.
Create an author profile
- Make sure the contributor has a Chorus account with author or freelance permissions, and the First and Last name fields filled out.
- From your dashboard, select Admin > Legacy Chorus, then Create search-optimized author profiles.
- Select Create Author Profile.
- Choose the account in the User dropdown. If you cannot find the account, you may need to create one first.
- Select Save.
- Add a profile image. We recommend using a square image that’s at least 400px wide, with the subject centered.
- Add the contributor’s title and bio. You can include HTML in the bio field for links (e.g., video series, podcasts, books, or major stories on other sites).
- By default, the path for the author profile is /authors/firstname-lastname. You can customize it in the Profile URL Slug field.
- Select Save again when you’re finished. Author profiles are cached, so it may take a few minutes for them to update.
On Vox and The Verge, a Short Bio and headshot can also be included. This is a shorter version that displays on all of the author's bylined stories. The short bio will automatically begin with the author's name, linked to their author profile. Aim for 150-200 characters here.
Optimizing author profiles
Author profiles are helpful for audiences and crucial for improving search results. Studies have shown that Google uses pages like these as a means of evaluating authority. We recommend making the information on author profiles as complete as possible.
Bios should include the following information to maximize optimization:
- Topics or beats the author covers
- Credentials such as education, job titles, and companies they’ve worked for
- Llinks to any public appearances
- Links to any especially popular features they have done
This variety of information tells Google that they should be trusted as a subject matter expert, and helps improve discoverability for content.
How author profiles work
When you create an author profile for an account, this will replace the public user profile as the landing page for their byline. The author profile will show all the content they have ever had a byline on. It will also show the author profile photo, bio, title, and any additional social media and contact information pulled from the associated account.
Author profiles on Eater will display stories from all communities in the Eater network. Otherwise, author profiles display stories from a single community.
Your organization has the option to take author profile information to generate a landing page, which can show your information as well as any published content that you have a byline for. Because the author profile is always linked to an account, there’s also an option to pull in that associated information (such as social media or contact links).