SEO and Google Authorship Explained

With social media being at the forefront of mainstream acceptability and awareness, many niche bloggers and website owners are quick to adopt a variety of such platforms. Utilising social media networks and applications can certainly help grow connections and engagement. However, the average content creator is frequently found to be uneducated with knowledge of additional strategies. Whilst a wealth of Content Management Systems contain plugins to increase SERP rankings, there is a whole universe of untapped resources at your fingertips.

In order to gain a wider online presence, it is valuable to become educated in the world of digital marketing. Within itself, digital marketing has many fields and subfields, each comprising of dedicated, specialised knowledge and skills. One such field is Search Engine Optimization. The world of SEO is vast, sprawling plain that encompasses a multitude of techniques and methods. Many individuals who are serious about their blogging often employ the services of an SEO agency. However, if you feel this is a step too far right now, there are plenty of SEO-based practices that beginners can undertake. One such tool that every blogger and website owner should utilise is Google Authorship. Please note that this article does not detail the steps needed to take in order to setup Google Authorship.

Rich Snippets

The most aesthetic of the SEO differences when utilising Authorship is the appearance of the rich snippet. For those in the dark, rich snippets are an advanced version of the description found underneath hyperlinks in a search engine results page. Whilst there are many forms of rich snippets, such as stars for reviews or calendar dates for events, Authorship employs its version. By connecting to your Google+ profile, Authorship utilises your profile name, photo and number of circles you are in amongst the rich snippet. It has been found that the mere appearance of a rich snippet can increase your click through rate dramatically, setting it apart from other standard results. Let’s say that a translations and voice over agency has a low CTR on organic search results: a surefire way to improve click through rate would be to add the author attribute or a rich snippet with reviews from clients.

Plagiarism

As the title suggests, any content you create is attributes you as the author. This greatly impairs chances of your work being plagiarised. Additionally, if your work is plagiarised, Google recognises that you are the creator and thus ranks your page higher than those who have copied you. Also, Google can impose penalties and decrease traffic to duplicate sites.

Indexing

As you post content, your associated social media profiles are updated in real time. However, indexing doesn't work in such a timely manner. The best way to quicken this process is to utilise Authorship. By having your content indexed quicker, you allow for the chance of higher rankings due to a stronger SEO effort.

AuthorRank

Despite not being officially confirmed as to directly affect higher search rankings, AuthorRank is generally seen as to play a large role in future SEO practices. Verified Authorship profiles have been officially noted to directly affect posts to rank higher. However, AuthorRank is more of an enigma. Based around the singular, AuthorRank essentially provides a ranking to an individual. Whilst it isn't entirely known what metrics are at play, it has been seen that the more circles you are in, number of +1s, shares and comments, level of interactivity and communities you follow seemingly impact AuthorRank. Those with a higher AuthorRank are deemed to have a stronger authoritative role, thus increasing their posts attached to Authorship in search engine results rankings.

It has been mentioned and debated by Mozblog that besides Page Authority, Google +1's are potentially correlated to higher search rankings. Whilst this topic is still controversial, having someone +1 your post frequently means that is also shared amongst Google+. Such actions are seen to definitely impact your SEO as shared links are backlinks, essentially producing organic link building.