WordPress SEO Author Profile Setup (E-E-A-T)

Google's E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals are strengthened by properly configured author profiles. Set this up before publishing blog content.

Author Profile Fields to Complete

In WordPress Admin > Users > Edit Profile:

| Field | What to Enter | |-------|--------------| | First/Last Name | Real full name | | Display Name | Matches name used on content | | Biographical Info | 3-5 sentences: expertise, location, credentials | | Website | Author's personal site or LinkedIn | | Social links | Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Google Scholar (if applicable) |

Rank Math Author Schema

Rank Math automatically generates Person schema from the user profile. For it to be valid:

1. Navigate to Rank Math > Titles & Meta > Authors
2. Enable author archive pages if using them
3. Set "Author Archive Title" pattern
4. Verify social profiles are listed (they populate sameAs in schema)

Author Bio Widget on Blog Posts

Add an author bio box below post content using this pattern in functions.php:

function add_author_bio_box($content) {
    if (is_single() && is_main_query()) {
        $author_id   = get_the_author_meta('ID');
        $author_name = get_the_author_meta('display_name');
        $author_bio  = get_the_author_meta('description');
        $author_url  = get_the_author_meta('user_url');
        $avatar      = get_avatar($author_id, 96);

        $bio_box = '<div class="author-bio-box">';
        $bio_box .= $avatar;
        $bio_box .= '<h3>' . esc_html($author_name) . '</h3>';
        $bio_box .= '<p>' . esc_html($author_bio) . '</p>';
        if ($author_url) {
            $bio_box .= '<a href="' . esc_url($author_url) . '">Website</a>';
        }
        $bio_box .= '</div>';

        $content .= $bio_box;
    }
    return $content;
}
add_filter('the_content', 'add_author_bio_box');

Blog Post Publishing Pre-Publish Checklist

• [ ] Author assigned (not "admin")
• [ ] Author profile bio filled in (3+ sentences)
• [ ] Featured image set with keyword-rich alt text
• [ ] Internal links: 1 to a service page, 1 to a related blog post
• [ ] Rank Math score: 80+ (green)
• [ ] Category and tags assigned
• [ ] Canonical URL set (self-referential)
• [ ] Schema type: BlogPosting (set in Rank Math)