Why Google authorship is more important than you might think?

If you are a Google+ user you will probably know about Google authorship. It is the ability to add your Google+ account, and thus your name and profile image, next to online articles which you have written to give them more legitimacy. Any website which has been designed to work with Google+ will allow this, and it’s becoming an ever more popular trend with blog sites. Your Google+ account profile will also list the articles you have written. Here are the reasons why you should use Google authorship – it may be more important than you first thought.

Wider readership

As your Google+ account profile lists the articles you have written, you get a wider readership than relying solely on those who already know about your website or use a search engine to find your website. It works two ways: you will get more views to your articles, while your readers are able to search your Google+ account for more articles you have written, both on your blog and elsewhere under your name.

This ability is great to get people to notice your guest posts on other blogs, which will increase the traffic of people who view your articles. If you host a blog with guest posts you might be more inclined to accept those who use Google+, as there will be another avenue from which you can get readers. The aim, as always, is that those who click on the link will become returning visitors to your website. Remember that the more popular your blog is, the higher your search engine ranking will be.

Google love Google+

Of course, they do! If your blog uses Google+ it’s much more likely to display on the main results page of a Google search request. Much in the same way that YouTube videos are listed on the main results page, Google+ blogs are becoming increasingly common due to the fact that Google wants to consolidate its social media network over rivals such as Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s never going to hurt to massage Google’s ego a little bit by using Google+ on your blog.

It shows you have worthwhile content

One thing that many small blogs struggle with is breaking through into the bigger blog market to gain readers. A Google+ enhanced blog will help to offer your website some legitimacy; it’s much more professional to display your name and image next to your website’s search engine result, and so you will imply to your reader that your content is worthwhile. Google is constantly trying to crush websites that are “content mills” – that is, website that offers no real content but has the sole aim of advancing their own search engine position. If you have a good quality blog, a Google+ link will help your ranking exponentially.

It will help with SEO

As with everyone that webmasters do, Google+ will help with your SEO ranking. SEO is Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of making your website more appealing to search engines with the hope that they will rank you highly on results pages. There are lots of ways that you can ensure your website is optimized, but one such way is through a Google+ account link on your blog.

Using your Google+ account to increase SEO is one of the easiest forms of SEO. All you have to do is write well-written content with your regular keyword and Meta tag structure, and you will find yourself boosted up the rankings overnight. The more articles you have with Google+, the higher you will be ranked above your competitors. The reason for this is that one of the things Google assesses is your social media interaction and the reputation that it brings. By ensuring your blog is linked to Google+, you show that you have a higher reputation and are savvy about social media.

It’s worth noting that the additional backlinks your website receives from your Google+ link will also help. The more websites that you guest write on using Google+, the better your blog ranking will be. In fact, if your Google+ account is associated Google with good content, even if you write on a lower-ranked website that particular article will rank highly.

Google+ punishes poor and copied content

You should think of Google+ as a safeguard against websites that have poor or copied content. The process of penalizing those who use poor or copied content is much faster with Google+, whereas with websites that are not linked it can take many months to get any action out of Google. If you want to ensure that your website is protected to its fullest, a Google+ account link is a way forward. In a sense, a Google+ link will push you to the front of the queue when it comes to complaints – that’s never a bad thing!

Kate Funk is an expert in online tutoring. She coaches individuals in SEO and business networking skills.