Are you creating an online reputation for your site’s author(s)? Your brand can often be synonymous with your authors. How would you like to increase your brand recognition while increasing the traffic you get from Google?
Author Rank can help you with that.
You’ve probably already run across this while searching in Google. In fact, it would almost be impossible for you to miss the effects of author rank while using Google in the past 12 months or more. It’s staring you in the face on nearly every search in every niche.
It looks like this.
Look at all those smiling faces!
Author rank is a chance for you to get your authors image next to a search result in Google. These listings have shown to get more clicks than your average listing.
How To Put It To Work For You
Step #1 – Get a Google + Account
Good move Google. That’ll get ‘em using + Jokes aside you’ve got to have one of these accounts to get this thing to work. Grab one if you haven’t. It’s free.
Step #2 – Setup Your Google + Profile
Now that you’re all set with a profile do the following
Verify your email. Duh.
Add a nice picture of your smiling face. Hey… people are going to see this thing. Might want to make yourself presentable (you or your pseudonym)
Add your blog the the “Contributor To” section of the “About” page
Step #3 – Utilize the rel=”author” Meta Data
There are a few ways to do this. Basically you’re linking your Google + profile to the content you write. This way search engines will be able to identify you as the author and display your picture next to the content in the SERPs.
Pretty cool stuff really.
Here are Google’s instructions on implementing this.
If messing around with html is your worst nightmare you can do it another way. You simply make sure that your name (as it is on Google +) appears in your content along with a mail to link (“mailto: your email address”). Google “should” recognize this and make the connection. Should being the operative word here.
Personally I recommend you follow their instructions on how to use the meta data. It’s not too tough.
Affiliates that have permanent presence in a niche should be all over this tactic. It’s here to stay and it’s only becoming more prevalent in the SERPs. Besides it gets your content more clicks and improves your credibility.
What’s not to like?
