[Google Authorship Examples]
You may already be familiar with the Google Authorship program. Going for some time now, the program allows authors to sign up and link their Google profiles to content they create on the Web.
When the content comes up in a Google search, the author’s name, photo and a link to their Google profile appears next to the results.
The personal branding benefits are obvious. But now Google is making the authorship process more social too.
The company recently announced it would be integrating Google Plus with the Authorship Program. This means that future posts would be associated with an author’s Google Plus account, assuming they have one.
In a recent post on the official Goggle Plus Developers Blog, Seth Sternberg, Director of Product Management for Google Plus explains:
With this association in place, we can look for ways to surface your info when it’s most relevant. For example, today users may see your name, picture and/or a link to your Google+ profile when your content appears in Search, News and other Google products.
From Google’s perspective, the reason for the move is obvious. Creating links to authors’ Google Plus profile may encourage content creators who haven’t yet done so to create an account. It could also encourage those with a Google Plus account who haven’t yet participated in the Google Authorship program to do so.
Finally, integration will probably lead to greater engagement on Google Plus. This is because links in search results will encourage more readers to connect with their favorite authors socially and perhaps encourage more interaction over blog topics there.
Small business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers and other Google authors will benefit too. The integration will allow increased networking around content created on other sites whether that content has been shared socially or not.
To take advantage of the new integration, content creators will need to first create a Google Plus account, if you have not done so already.
Then visit the authorship signup page and either verify an email address from the domain where your content is being published or an alternate email address which will then be associated with your Google Plus account.
You must also make sure a high quality head shot is available on your Google Plus account, and that your byline on the account matches the byline used on your content elsewhere.
