If you’re an online content creator, rejoice. Google is offering you recognition at last through its Google author scheme. Sign up and when your content shows up in the SERPs, it’ll have your bio and a picture of your smiling face.
Google Authorship works by linking your published work with your Google+ profile through the use of rich snippets. In a sense, it’s like Google ranking for individual content providers, and offers some very worthwhile benefits.
The first is that it makes the identity of the author of the content very clear. Should an exact or thinly veiled clone of your text appear elsewhere, Google is in no doubt as to the identity of the rightful owner. Content drives the internet so it’s fitting that authors be recognised.
Secondly, it boosts the author’s online status and reputation. As pages have page rank based on their perceived value, authors soon will have author rank based on the quality of their content.
So how does Google know your content is worthwhile?
Google is getting increasingly adept as evaluating the quality of the written word. Their recent Hummingbird algorithm boosted the use of natural language queries in a move towards what many refer to as conversational search.
Then, there’s the increasing importance of social signals. One factor is how many comments your post gets. Plus, examining the various likes and thumbs up a post or article gains in the social media (especially +1s), gives Google some robust ways to determine the worth of your words.
I’ve saved the best for last. Google tends to rank content with author much higher than regular content. In the words of Google chairman Eric Schmidt, “Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”
So as an Australian SEO or content writing professional what’s your takeaway from all this?
You should waste no time in setting up Google Authorship. It’s very straightforward on both HTML and WordPress or other CMSs as you surely already have a Google Plus profile. You can either link directly from your content page or visit: http://plus.google.com/authorship and follow the instructions.
It’ll boost your online profile and work wonders for your reputation. Being the verified author of a fine piece of writing marks you down as an expert, and in time, an authority. If there’s one thing Google likes, it’s authority.
If you’re an expert and not telling the world about yourself, it’s a terrible waste. So don’t be one of the irrelevant ones Eric Schmidt talked about. Get started with Google Authorship today, start building your Author Rank, claim recognition for your work, and prepare to be recognised.
