19 Sep Establish Industry Authority With Google Authorship
You have a Problem: You write persuasive, consistent, potentially viral content but you are still getting beat by link-buying spammers. You’re leveraging SEO best practices and you have a robust social presence but you’re still not driving enough web traffic or enjoying the kind of authority you’re hoping for in your field of expertise.
Google+ has a Solution: Google Authorship is a tool for bloggers and online publishers to claim the content they produce for the web, and to drive traffic through personal recommendations on the social web.
Why Google Authorship?
When you connect your Google+ account to your website or blog, Google begins tracking engagement – likes, comments, tweets, pageviews, +1s… you name it, Google tracks it. The more engagement, the higher your rank in Google Authorship. The higher your rank, the higher your placement in the Google search engine results. And yes, the higher the rank, the more traffic you will glean and gain exposure to potential clients. Connect your Google+ profile to the word you write and get your face or brand in front of your audience.
Implementing Google Authorship
First, create a Google+ account. Build a solid bio with identifying expertise keywords. Creating an account will give you a Google ID, found in the web address of your Google+ profile. Highlighted in blue in the screenshot below is the Google ID of Ignite Social Media’s President Jim Tobin, from his Google+ profile:
To link your Google profile to your webpage, you need to plug this code into the page:
<a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>https://plus.google.com/u/0/101162188618858532662</a>
In WordPress, it is possible to plug in the Google ID directly into the content management system dashboard under the profile tab:
Or simply visit the user-friendly Google Authorship tutorial, which streamlines the process by verifying the email associated with the content creation. Once your Google Authorship is linked, keep producing captivating content and share that content on social platforms, especially Google+.
The Future of Google Authorship
The benefits of Google Authorship are vast. Beyond search engine results, Google Authorship also allows brands to protect content by attributing thought leadership content directly to the brand. And by showcasing the thought leadership in direct relationship to brand, any media associated with the brand will become more legitimate and trusted.
The best news is that while these results take time and consistency to build, the results are long-lasting.
