The Increasing Importance of Google+ Authorship

Anonymity is currently a huge issue, with anyone being able to post anything about anyone, so Google’s focus on Google+ Authorship is welcome and will hopefully lessen the extent that anonymous, false or scam content can receive a high ranking for an individual’s name.

Authorship is all about Google+. You’ll need a Google+ account to get it set up and this can be done in conjunction with creating a GMAIL account.

If you’re a WordPress user, Google’s new partnership has made it incredibly easy to set up Google+ Authorship.

For self-hosted blogs, use the Sharing settings section of your WordPress.com account. Visit the Settings>Sharing area in your administration area, and connect up your Google+ Account.

Once that is complete, you’re set up and ready to go for Google Authorship. The plugin automatically adds all the information you need to each post.

Starting from scratch? Here’s our step by step guide to setting up Authorship.

1. Set up a Google+ profile – watch the Google+ video to see how. Make sure your Google+ profile is fully completed.

2. In terms of Google Authorship you’ll need to complete the following:

• Ensure that you select an image and that it is a photo of you, not a caricature.
• Verify your email on your Google+ profile.
• Sign up for Google Authorship. Enter your email address on the Authorship signup page.
• Link to your Google+ Profile. You need to officially associate your content with your Google+ profile – add a link to your Google+ profile with “?rel=author” added to the end. Always try to have a bio at the end of your blog post. You can add something like “Connect with me on Google+,” with a link that goes to your own profile.
• Link to your content from your Google+ profile. Now that you’ve linked to your Google+ profile from your content, it’s time to link to your content from your profile to complete the circle. Go to the ‘About’ page of your profile, and click the ‘Edit’ link at the bottom of the ‘Links’ section of your profile. Find the ‘Contributor to’ subsection, and click ‘Add custom link.’ From here you can enter the URL, the title of the blog, and whether you contributed content to it either in the past or are currently doing so.
• Keep your Google+ profile current and ensure that you’re “adding” to your Google+ circles.

By following the above, you should be able to get both a Google+ profile ranking for your name, along with pieces of content.

Download our free ebook – A Guide to Managing Your Personal Information Online – for more information.