Google+ Author Information In Search Results

You might have noticed some author information appearing in Google search results recently. Usually this takes the form of a picture of the author, their name (hyperlinked to their Google+ profile). Additionally if you’re signed in to Google+ an option to ‘Add to Circles’ which is the equivalent of following someone on Google+ . If you’ve not come across this then try doing a search for “Matt Cutts” (head of Google’s web spam team).

Linking your Google+ Profile to content you author online has a number of benefits:

• It makes your online content stand out – having your picture appear next to the search result makes it more attractive in a sea of blue and green links and adds a personal touch.
• Add social weight to your articles – if you have hundreds of followers why not show that off?
• If you’re connected to the searcher then your article can appear higher up the results.
• If someone reads something useful with your name and profile associated with it they’re more likely to read something else you’ve written if they can identify you as the author
• You can generate more Google+ connections within your Circles.
• Give searchers the option to search for all content authored by you.

There are two ways to link your personal account to content you author. Both of them require you to add the URL of the web site you’re writing for to the ‘Contributor to’ list on the right hand side of your Google+ profile (click the edit button at the top of the About section of your profile to add this information). So that should be the first step, then you have 2 options:

1. Add your name and email to your content

For this step you also need to add your email address to your personal Google+ profile. Go to your Profile and click the edit button at the top. Ensure that your email address is listed under your work contact information (you may need to verify your address after doing this).

Then all you need do is ensure that your name and (ideally) the email address you just added to your Google+ profile appear in any articles you write.

2. Add a link from your content to your Google+ profile

If you would prefer not to make your email public you need to add a link from the content you’re writing, to your Google+ profile with the “rel=author” tag. The simplest way to do this is to add a Google Profile button using the handy tool www.google.com/webmasters/profilebutton/ . Then all you need to do is copy the sequence of numbers in the URL of your Google+ profile and paste it after the “https://profiles.google.com/” in the first box. For example:

https://profiles.google.com/109360272710917403261

Then choose how big you would like the Google button to be on your web site and copy the code generated at the bottom and paste that into your site. If you would prefer not to have the logo then you can also do this with a text link by following the following pattern:

<a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>[link text]</a>

Here at digital marketing agency Intergage, we continually monitor and advice on new features and functions related to Google+ and other social media platforms. For more details why book a place at one of our many training workshops, or as an Intergage client please contact your Account Manager on 0845 456 1022.

Posted February 21st, 2012