Google Authorship: Make a Name for Yourself
It seems like every day there is some new Google program out there that you should have been using from the get-go yet somehow escaped your sight. Google Authorship is one of those. What is it?
Have you ever run a Google search and noticed little profile pictures next to a result? That's Google Authorship.
Essentially, it's a way of syncing up your content with your Google+ profile (or just your Google account). There are quite a few benefits of such a relationship. Let's look in-depth.
1. Increase conversions
The first best thing about Google Authorship is that people get to see your face. We all know that personal connections drive conversions, especially online. People prefer to work with other people. They want to know you on a personal level. This is part of why the Blog Tyrant made $5,000 in one Skype call. People love people.
When readers have the opportunity to pick from 10 search results and only one of those comes with a smiling face, you know where they're going to click.
That little profile icon connects you to the author directly.
2. Create notoriety
Not only do people want to work with other people, but they want to work with people they know. If you've started to make a name for yourself out there by showing that you're an authoritative expert on a matter, people will prefer your content over others. You've already proven to them that you're a good guy, and they'll go back to that relationship time and time again.
If you run a search for blogging tips or something of the like and see the mug of Darren Rowse smiling at you, you will click. He's an expert, hands down, and his word is THE word. You've got a face (doesn't matter if it's a good one or not). Share it on all of your posts, and people will begin to recognize you. Google Authorship helps make this happen.
3. Google is a narcissist.
One of the best and worst aspects of Google (according to other bloggers) is that it feeds on itself. I suppose I could have called it a cannibal, but that's a lot creepier than being a narcissist. It sees its content as better than anyone else's, which is good for us.
Although it is still too early on for this to make much of an impact, many sources say that Google is going to start giving extra weight to authors with recognizable authority and success elsewhere. The more influential you are as a blogger, the more juice it'll give you in it's magical potions lab (that's what they call it back there, right?). In the future, this weight given to authors might even begin to rival SEO, but that's quite a ways away.
Want to get started? It's easiest if you have a Google+ account. Doesn't have to be fancy, but it has to be.
P.S. It can take a few days for the algorithm to include you in search results, so be patient.