Google Authorship
At heart, Google tries its best to find really great content on the Internet for you to read. This isn't always so easy, though. Thanks to marketers and SEO hacks, really bad content can be designed to look like excellent content. The more Google tries to make sure content is authentic, the more marketers attempt to trick Google into thinking that bad content is great.
It's a vicious circle. Right now, though, Google is (once again) attempting to showcase amazing content by creating something called ‘Google Authorship' Or: those author photos you see next to various article posts when you conduct a Google search.
Here's how to set up Google Authorship.
Become An Authority
It's a simple enough concept, really. The more you write on the web, the more Google will consider you to be an authority. To have your face show up next to an article or two, though, you have to apply for Google Authorship. To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to this link: https://plus.google.com/authorship
- Enter your email address
- Gain Google approval
Now, Google will consider you an author. But, there are a few more steps to do.
Gain High Rank
It's not enough to be a Google author. You also have to gain a high Google Author rank.To do this, interact as much as possible on Google Plus. The more people talk about you, the more that you will gain credibility. Next, post on sites that are reputable – not spammy.
It's also important to have an author bio whenever you post something to a website. If someone wants you to ghostwrite, jack up your rates, writers. Otherwise, make sure that your bio is linked to everything that you write.
But, there's a catch. You have to have an email on the same domain as your content. In other words: you have to make sure that you have a harriette@ name of company here_email address. Not so simple.
Luckily, there's a way around this.
Google Authorship: The Other Way
Place a link to your Google+ profile in every author bio that's created for you. This will tell Google to link your content back to you. You must add this line of code to your Google+ profile link: rel=author
This tells Google that you are an author, so don't skip that code! Now, you have to list all of the sites that you contribute to as part of your Google Plus profile page. Once that's done, your photo will start showing up next to content that you create.
Why does any of this matter if you're running a hosting business?
For Any Business Building Content
Any business should work on building up content. This includes writing articles and posting those articles all over the web. So, you see, it does matter. People read articles with Google Authorship more than other search hits, and you want your photo to show up.
It's all very simple when you think about it, right? So, follow the steps above to make sure that your Google Plus profile links to your content, and that you set up your Google Authorship!
