In this article, we explain why author information (writer profile information) is important, what to include as author information, and how to display author information on Shopify.
If you haven't yet written a blog post on Shopify, we recommend reading the article below first.
Benefits of publishing author information
Can have a positive effect on SEO
In SEO, a criterion called "E-E-A-T" is considered important.
E-E-A-T stands for the following:
- Expertise
- Experience
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
Author information can show that a blog post was written by an expert with authority and experience, and that the post delivers trustworthy information, which is thought to work in your favor for SEO.
The blog post below explains the benefits of SEO and the SEO measures you can take on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
Increases the likelihood of leading to a purchase (behavior change)
It has become possible to buy all kinds of goods and services online, but buyers are becoming more cautious about online purchases, since incorrect information about things like medicines and health foods can have a negative effect on the body, and high-priced items such as home appliances or brand-name goods can result in significant financial loss if the purchase turns out to be a mistake.
"Who is recommending it" and "whose information it is" have become important deciding factors in online purchases, and there are increasing cases where, for example, purchase decisions for medicines are based on information from experts such as doctors and pharmacists, while decisions for home appliances or brand-name goods are based on information from influential people such as influencers.
What to write as author information
Many people may not be sure exactly what kind of information to include as author information.
First, you'll want to include information about who the author is, such as their "affiliated company/organization," "position/title," and "career background."
Next, information showing what achievements the author has and what they publish helps demonstrate their expertise and authority.
We also think it's desirable to include the following information as much as possible.
Information you should include
- Author name
- Affiliated company/organization
- Position/title
- Qualifications
- Career background
Information that's nice to have
- Track record in the genre they write about
- History of talks/speaking engagements
- Publication history
- Business partner information
- Awards
- URLs showing personal activity, such as social media
4 ways to display author information on Shopify
Select an author using the blog feature
Shopify's blog feature has a built-in ability to set author information.
While this makes it easy to display author information, it has two drawbacks.
Only the author's name can be displayed
As mentioned above, it's preferable to include a variety of author information, so being able to display only the author's name falls short as a feature.
Only staff registered on Shopify can be selected
Depending on your plan, you can increase the number of staff you can register on Shopify, but since that number is still limited, if you have many people helping write articles, you may not be able to display author information for all of them.
Customize the theme template for each author
This method uses Shopify's design theme customization feature to create a design theme for each author's blog posts.
As shown in the image below, you can display different author information (beyond just the author's name) for each blog.
If the number of authors is within the number of staff you can register on Shopify, this is the easiest method and it costs nothing.
However, since it's essentially just making good use of the design theme's default parts, its drawback is that it can't support the author information markup (structured data) that Google recommends.
Quote: Example of author markup Google Search Central
Customize the source code
By customizing the source code directly, you can display additional information beyond just the author's name for an author set via the blog feature, and by combining this with things like Metafields, you can also display information for authors who are not registered on Shopify.
This method offers the greatest flexibility and can resolve all of the drawbacks mentioned above, namely "amount of author information," "number of staff," and "markup."
However, its drawback is that it's not easy to implement, since it requires programming knowledge such as HTML and CSS.
Install an app that customizes author information
Installing a Shopify app is a way to resolve all of the drawbacks mentioned in the three methods above: "amount of author information," "number of staff," "markup," and "programming knowledge."
However, Shopify apps typically cost a monthly fee starting at a few dollars, so you should consider whether displaying author information is worth the cost.
5 recommended apps for displaying author information on Shopify
Here are some recommended Shopify apps for displaying author information.
- RuffRuff Author Profiles
- Multi Custom Authors
- LFS Author Signature
- Guest Writer: Managing Authors
- Custom Authors
Let's go through each one in detail.
RuffRuff Author Profiles
"RuffRuff Author Profiles" is a Shopify app you can use for free. Its main features include:
- Free to use
- Fully supports Japanese
- Displays not just the author's name but also the author's (writer's) profile information
- Can be installed with no code (no programming knowledge required)
- Fully customizable design
- Register an unlimited number of authors (beyond the number of Shopify staff)
- Live preview feature lets you check changes in real time
RuffRuff Author Profiles pricing plans
| Plan | Free Plan | Light Plan | Regular Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $4.99 / month | $9.99 / month |
|
Create author profiles (number that can be registered) |
5 people | 15 people | Unlimited |
|
Change author profile design |
◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Live preview | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
|
Hide branding (RuffRuff App by Tsun) |
✕ | ◯ | ◯ |
| Show specific links | ✕ | ◯ | ◯ |
|
Display author info on blog posts |
◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
|
Display author info on pages |
✕ | ✕ | ◯ |
|
Display author info on products |
✕ | ✕ | ◯ |
Multi Custom Authors
This app is feature-rich, but registering an unlimited number of authors, or adding a short writer bio and photo for each author, requires the PRO plan ($9/month).
Plans
BASIC $4.99/month, PRO $9.99/month
※ 7-day free trial
LFS Author Signature
This app offers as many as 13 design themes, lets you change 10 different design elements, and provides 9 types of social icons.
The plan structure is simple, with just one plan ($4.99/month), which also lets you register the author's career background and profile photo.
Plan
$4.99/month
※10-day free trial
Guest Writer: Managing Authors
Compared to "Multi Custom Authors" and "LFS Author Signature," this app has fewer features and the admin screen feels a bit cheap, yet it costs a bit more at $8/month. We personally can't really recommend it.
Plan
UNLIMITED PLAN $8/month
※ 7-day free trial
Custom Authors
Compared to "Multi Custom Authors" and "LFS Author Signature," this app also has fewer features and costs a bit more at $7.99/month. We personally can't really recommend this one either.
Plan
UNLIMITED $7.99/month
※No trial period
Tips on author information for Shopify
I want to hide the author information
There are two ways to hide it on Shopify:
① Hide it from the theme editor
Depending on the theme you're using, you may be able to hide author information directly from the theme editor.
First, check whether your Shopify theme supports this.
② Hide it via the source code
① If the theme editor itself doesn't support hiding it, you'll need to customize the source code.
The help page below should be a useful reference, so please take a look.
Remove the author's name｜Shopify Help Center
I want to change the author name from "given name → family name" to "family name → given name"
Background
・A blog post's author information (article.author) is stored as a String-type text value.
・If you access the Shopify blog editor with your language set to "English," the author information is displayed as "given name → family name."
Why the author name ends up as "given name → family name"
Given the above, if you select and save author information that's displayed as "given name → family name" in the blog editor, the blog post's author information gets saved as text in that "given name → family name" order.
Solution
If you want a given blog post to show "family name → given name," change your personal Shopify account's language setting to "Japanese," access the blog editor, reselect the author information that's now shown as "family name given name," and save. This resolves the issue.
Also, if you want to fix the author information on past blog posts all at once, you can do so using "Matrixify," an app for importing and exporting Shopify data.
In closing
In the blog post below, besides Shopify apps for adding author information, we introduce various other recommended apps by category, such as for "attracting customers," "increasing sales," and "expanding blog functionality." Please use it as a reference.
