Ever since Google’s algorithms were tweaked to produce more relevant search engine results, authority has become the key factor to hitting higher search rankings.
Google Authorship offers you that valuable credibility, by establishing you as a thought-leader and trend-setter in your field.
Establishing identity around top and quality content is always crucial to a powerful online Melbourne FL SEO marketing strategy.
So, what is Google Authorship?
In short, Google Authorship allows you to claim ownership of the content or article you create online. Its just a way of raising your hand (digitally speaking) and expressing, “I wrote this.” It allows the users to connect a Google+ profile to the content published online by that user.
Not only does it minimize a website/page’s chance of averting Google Panda penalty by differentiating itself as genuine and quality, but it also improves the click-through rates of the post when it shows up in the search results by nearly 150%. The benefits of Google Authorship don’t stop here. It includes:
- Quicker indexing of content,
- Protects authors’ identity,
- Higher visibility within SERPs,
- Higher page views,
- Increases trust and credibility,
- Establishes authority,
- Combats plagiarism
Getting Started with Google Authorship
There are two ways of setting up Google Authorship for your blog or website. For both, you’ll need a Google+ profile. So, create a Google+ profile if you don’t have one.
1. Your e-mail@domain.com matches your site.
If the e-mail address you used to create your Google+ account has got the same domain name as the web site under which you are writing, then you just need to verify the account through Google Authorship. Quite Simple, Isn’t it?
2. Your e-mail@domain.com doesn’t match your site.
You’ll need to do a few more steps if your e-mail address doesn’t contain your site. If you have a very basic HTML knowledge, you’ll find the process easy.
Add your site URL to the ‘Contributor-To’ section in your Google+ account. When you click on ‘edit’ in the ‘Contributor-To’ section, you will be able to include the complete URL of your blog or site. This informs Google that you would like your name linked with your site.
Now you’ve to link your site to your name on the blog or website itself. On every webpage of your site where you’ve published content, you’ll need to include a link back to your own Google+ profile using a piece of HTML code tagged to that link. You need to add ‘?rel=author’ at the end of your Google+ URL, so now your URL will look more like this https://plus.google.com/116354534731892296233?rel=author. If you’ve a blog with several authors, you can therefore link each author’s Google+ profiles to their own content.
Top Practices to Take Advantage of Google Authorship
If you want to make the most out of Google Authorship, you should follow the below easy and best practices.
Use a Professional Profile Photo
Now, your Google+ profile picture is going to appear alongside your content, which means you need an attractive and professional picture as your profile picture.
Update Google+ ‘About’ Section
Maybe you’ve not visited Google+ since it started out nearly three years ago. Well, go back over there and then update your passions, interests, job credentials, motivations, and anything else relevant that will express you as an respected and authoritative thought-leader.
Become a Regular Google+’er
You’ve been looking over Google+ because a lot of people are still on Twitter and Facebook. But if you wish your name to have some value in Google’s Search results, Google would need to identify your Google+ profile serving as a solid contributor to its community. Start expressing and sharing those wonderful ideas and thoughts you’ve on Google+. Be a part of Google+ Communities. Be a valued member, and Google may pay you back with good SERP rankings.
Google Authorship is still in it’s beginning stage and you’ll be really ahead of the others by setting up Google Authorship now. If you have any queries, please reach us. The staff at Tight Line Productions will be more than happy to assist your SEO efforts.
