Have you noticed that in some search results, Google is now showing a photo of the author next to the information? Google is piloting the display of author information for posts and pages in its search results to “help users discover great content”.
Examples of this in action, and the information on how to take advantage of this are available on Google’s Author information in search results page.
In a nutshell, in a bid to boost the results of content written by real people rather than the plethora of spammy directories and link farms, if you can show your information is written by a “real’ person, which is done via your Google(+) Profile, it gets a boost in Google search results.
There are currently 2 methods you can choose from to implement this, both of which require you to have a Google profile with a real photo of you (a head shot), to which you add the website(s) you contribute to in a new “Contributes to” section.
The benefits of making use of Google Authorship include:
- It makes your content stand out. It’s a really simple way to get a big boost in search rankings.
- It provides more exposure. The addition of a photo, how many Google+ circles you belong to, and a link to more content by you helps people find you and your content. I personally think this has tremendous potential for giving Rotary a higher profile and show the more human side of Rotary if you make use of this on Rotary websites.
- More metrics in Webmaster Tools. If you don’t use Google Webmaster Tools yet, I encourage you to do so – there is a wealth of information in there which can help you see what people are interested in.
What do you think? Will you be implementing this in your sites?
