As everyone knows, Search Engine Optimization is a moving target. The trends, algorithms, and standards of the search engines are constantly changing. One of the most notable changes within the last couple months has been the rollout of “Google Authorship”.
Google Authorship is a simple, yet highly effective tool. It easily and instantly links the unique content you create, whether in blogs or articles, to your Google+ profile. The primary benefit being that the SERP (search engine results page) results now have the ability to display your Google+ picture next to your content literally putting a face to a name.
Statistics have shown that these images in the SERPs drive readers to click the associated links, which could in turn drive more traffic to your article or website. In addition, Google views those pages with authorship as credible sources and distinguishes them from those that do not have an official author.
Google Authorship can be set up in a few simple steps. First, you need to create a Google+ profile. Once your profile is created, edit your “About” tab, and under “Contributor to”, add the URLs and websites where you are a contributing author.
If you do not own the website or have access to the backend code, in your byline or author bio you must add a link to your Google+ profile and add the markup “rel=author” to the link, i.e. <a rel= "author" href="https://plus.google.com/PROFILEID rel=author"> . If you cannot add these links on your end, be sure to give the owner of the site the proper URL structure.
If you have a WordPress site, create a new user profile or access your current profile and fill out your Google+ information. Select your profile as author on the pages and posts that you have created.
You can test your authorship HERE.
Comments