If you’re blogging for business, you want to see results in the form of click-throughs to your website from the search engine. More specifically, you want to increase traffic coming to you from Google, because it is the premier search engine used today.
Have you ever entered search term into Google and noticed that a few of the search results included a small profile image next to the listing? If you look closely, you’ll see a profile image, a list of how many Google-Plus circles that person is in and a link to more content by that person.
When you see a page of search results before you, the ones with an image are going to grab your notice, and potentially attract more clicks. That’s why we recommend becoming a Google verified author, so you can take advantage of this tool too.
How it works
In order to gain Google authorship, you’ll need to build a Google-Plus page and add a rel=”author” link to your website. This also requires building an author page on your website, where the link will go (an about page works for this). Here are step-by-step instructions. If you have the Joost WordPress SEO plugin, the process can be even easier. Here are their directions.
The author link is how you assign authorship to the content you’ve published online. Then, when someone does a search, they’ll be able to see who published the entry right there on the results page.
Why it’s helpful
Become a Google author is helpful for a number of reasons:
- Your picture displays next to your content, grabbing searchers’ attention and potentially driving more clicks to your site
- Searchers will see how many other people are following you on Google-Plus, allowing you to leverage your networking there
- Searchers can see how many other articles you’ve written, and can easily click-through to that content, as well
- This display will help you stand out from other bloggers, and give you the appearance of being an expert in your field
That’s quite a few benefits for just a few steps, so get started and watch your content stand out above the rest on search result pages.
