Google+ is a social network owned by, you guessed it, Google. It’s also the basis of Authorship, which lets content authors connect their work to their Google+ profiles.
Authorship has been around since 2011, but a few years ago it became part of the search engine results page (SERP).
This means that people who search for topics online can see content created by an author they know and trust.
You could say that Authorship brings credibility to your work (and makes you more likely to be found in Google searches). But what happens when Google+ goes away? Will your blog posts still be credible?
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Google Authorship is no longer active, and content creators need to adapt to this change. |
| Author Rank and other methods are emerging as potential alternatives to Google Authorship. |
| The focus should shift towards producing high-quality, valuable content to improve search rankings. |
| Building a strong online presence and showcasing expertise can establish author credibility. |
| Understanding the evolution of authorship in SEO is crucial for staying competitive in the digital landscape. |
1. Get An Author Box
In the past, you could add the rel=”author” attribute to any page on your site that mentioned your name and link it to your Google+ profile. This allowed Google to identify which pages were related to you and display an author box in search results.
Nowadays, though, this is no longer necessary as every post or piece of content has its URL and thus its own unique identity regardless of whether or not it’s on a personal or business website.
However, if you want people to know who wrote something without having to click through several different links (or if you just want them to do so anyway), go ahead and put those quotes around the text!
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2. Create A Paragraph Bio With Links
To create a paragraph bio with links, use your name and a link to your website or social media profile.
Because this is what Google Authorship was all about, it’s important to make sure that you’re adding these kinds of details to everything you write. If you’re not doing so already, start by making sure that:
- Your name appears in the first sentence of every blog post (and article).
- The first sentence includes an active verb that describes what the reader will learn from reading more (e.g., how-to).
- The second sentence describes why readers should read more about what benefit they’ll get from doing so (e.g., tips for improving SEO).
3. Automate Your SEO Efforts With A Plugin
If you have a WordPress website, there’s no need to worry about manually adding your author bio to every post.
You can automate all of this with a plugin. A plugin is an add-on (or extension) for WordPress that makes it easy for you and others to add extra functionality without having to write code.
For example, the Yoast SEO plugin will automatically insert the title and URL of each page into its header so that Google knows what type of content each page is when crawling through your site.
The best plugins are ones made by reputable companies whose products have been tested over time by many people just like yourself. One such company is Yoast; their product has been around since 2008 when they launched as one of the first-ever SEO plugins for WordPress!
They offer multiple options including free versions with limited features as well as paid versions with more advanced capabilities such as analytics reports on how well your SEO efforts are working out across different platforms like Google+, Bing, or Yahoo!.
When installing a new plugin make sure there aren’t any conflicts between old code already present on pages where these new additions may appear (like javascript code).
If this happens then you may need some help from someone who knows how these things work before proceeding further down this path!
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4. Get To Know Your Audience And Write Content That Is Relevant To Them
One of the best ways to get to know your audience is by using Google Analytics. The tool allows you to see what content is most popular with your readers and which pages they spend the most time on.
This will help you figure out what types of articles or products people want or need, so you can write about them in future articles.
The only way we’ll ever be able to understand our client’s audiences is if we take some time out of our day, sit down at their computer, open up their website and start looking around! It sounds simple but it takes a lot more time than one might think.
You have no idea how many times I’ve found myself staring at an empty screen while trying to think up a solution for a client…and then all of a sudden something just comes together (it happens as if by magic).
It’s not like this every single time though; sometimes there are no answers but it still helps me get into my client’s shoes more easily when I’m looking through their analytics report while thinking “What would I do if I were trying to attract customers?”
5. Use Direct Speech In Headlines For Better Click
There are a few headline trends that you should avoid.
Don’t use “clickbait.” Clickbait is any headline designed to trick people into clicking it. It’s usually made up of something shocking, eye-catching, and attention-grabbing, like “How Your Android Phone Is a Spy Device.”
You can tell if you’re reading clickbait by looking at the first two words in the title: if they’re not related to what your post is about (like my example), then it qualifies as clickbait.
Don’t use vague generalizations or broad claims about yourself or others that leave readers wondering what you mean (e.g., “I am awesome”) unless your brand name itself already has universal appeal (e.g., Nike).
Instead, focus on specific benefits for specific groups of people who will benefit from them (e.g., “You’ll feel comfortable wearing our shoes when exercising”).
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6. Improve Your Social Media Sharing Game
Google Authorship was a tool that allowed you to associate an article with your website and make it easier for readers to find new content on your site.
Now that Google Authorship has been removed, it’s important to continue sharing the same type of content on social media as you did before to see results.
The first way this can be done is by ensuring you are posting relevant links regularly, making sure they’re within the bounds of what your audience would want to see and share themselves.
It doesn’t matter if you’re using Twitter or Facebook anyone can find value in what you have written and want others around them who care about similar topics as well so share away!
7. Keep Your Title Tags Short And Relevant
In the title tag, it’s important to keep things short and relevant. The title tag is what appears when someone searches for a keyword related to your content, so it needs to be descriptive, accurate, and informative.
A good rule of thumb is that the title tag should be able to act as a good summary of the content of your page. It also serves as a user experience practice because users will see this at the top of their browser window before they even click on your page link in Google search results.
Lastly, keeping your titles short promotes branding consistency across all pages on your site so that users can identify which piece they’re looking at without having to read any further down into each article (or blog post).
8. Use Outbound Links To Enhance Trust, Credibility, And Engagement
Outbound links are important for SEO. They help you get more inbound links, which is one of the most important things to do when trying to improve your search rankings.
Outbound links can be used to improve trust, credibility, and engagement. By providing additional information about a topic or product, you’re giving readers what they want: more information!
This will help build trust between you and your audience by showing that you care about their needs and wants; this also makes them feel like they can engage with you on a personal level since they now know so much about who/what you are as an individual(s).
Outbound links can be used to show related topics or products if there’s something else out there that might interest someone reading your article (or blog post).
These types of outbound links bring another layer of value to an article because it shows potential customers that there’s more than just one way (or place) where they could find what they’re looking for online.
This means less time wasted searching through irrelevant results while scrolling through Google pages until finding something relevant!
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9. Use Internal Links To Increase Page Views, Traffic, And Time On-Site
Internal links are the easiest way to get people to one of your other pages, which is why you should use them. As you know from the last section, Google uses data from your site (like traffic, time on site, and social signals) to determine its rankings in the search results.
Internal linking helps with that because it tells Google that visitors spend more time on your site if they can see lots of different pages.
This is good news for all websites, not just eCommerce sites because it means that Google will rank you higher than if you only have one page with no internal link structure!
10. Make Sure You Have A Clear Call To Action On All Posts
Your call to action is the most important part of your post, so make sure you include it in every post you publish. It should be clear, relevant, visible, and not too pushy or vague.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that only posts with links will have calls to action; think about what your audience wants and where they are in their buying cycle when deciding what sort of call to action makes sense for each piece of content that you create.
For example, if I was writing an article about how SEO has changed over the past few years then my call to action might be “Get in touch if you want some help with SEO!” (Note: This isn’t something I recommend doing.)
11. Embrace Coming At Content From Different Angles And Perspectives
Write about a topic from different angles and perspectives.
If you were to write an article on the subject of SEO, you could approach it from several different perspectives.
For example, you could address how SEO can help businesses grow; how SEO can lower your budget and increase traffic; or how you’ve managed to reach page one with minimal effort in only two months!
Make sure all your content is written in Google’s voice. If this sounds like a difficult task, don’t worry it’s not!
Simply copy and paste any information found directly on Google’s website into your work (we recommend starting with our whitepaper “How To Get Started With Search Engine Optimization”).
This will give readers an authentic feel for what Google wants them to know about their products and services (like Google+) Authorship Is Dead And What You Should Do About It).
12. Max Out On Lists Posts Because They Are Proven To Work Well
You don’t have to be a professional writer or have any experience with SEO to write a list post. Lists are proven to work well, and they are easy to create. Your readers will love them because they can easily scan the list and find what they need.
Because of this, lists will help you build your brand authority online by reinforcing your expertise through high-quality content that helps people solve problems.
Lists also perform well on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which makes them an excellent way to build traffic over time without having to spend money on ads.
Or other methods of promotion right away (though I strongly recommend adding links once you start getting traffic).
In addition, when someone shares a link on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter using something like BufferApp (which lets people schedule posts in advance), it often shows up as “via” in front of whatever source they use.
So if someone retweets one of my posts from here at HubSpot where it says “via HubSpot” before showing their name; this increases my Google+ profile’s popularity even further!
13. Write Titles Around The Concept That “You Can’t Buy This
If you’re the type of person who likes to buy things, this is a big deal.
The answer to the question “can’t buy this” is a benefit that your potential customer could be looking for whether it’s easier to get through online purchase or something else entirely.
The trick here is that you need to make sure that whatever you’re offering isn’t available in some other format (such as a physical product). If it is, then there’s no point in writing an article because why would someone read yours when they can just go buy something?
This also means finding out what kind of content people seek out when searching for answers about certain topics and then making sure yours fits within those parameters.
While SEO is undoubtedly important, getting too wrapped up in it can sometimes be counterproductive. Learn from one writer’s experience and find out why sometimes it’s best to stop caring about SEO and focus on creating quality content that resonates with your audience.
Conclusion
As Google pulls back more and more from authorship markup in the search results, the opportunities for marketers to stand out become fewer and farther between. So it’s time to step up your game if you want to take advantage of the few that remain.
If you’re not building a solid foundation with content creation and promotion, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to get your site in front of potential customers.
If you want even more insight into what Google is currently doing (and planning) with authorship markup, check out our interview with Google senior webmaster trends analyst Gary Illyes at Pubcon 2014.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources you may find helpful to gain a deeper understanding of the topic:
The Official End of Google Authorship: Delve into the details surrounding the demise of Google Authorship and its implications on content creators and the SEO landscape.
Google Authorship: Dead or Transformed?: Explore the transformation of Google Authorship and the concept of Author Rank in the context of SEO and content creation.
The Evolution Beyond Google Authorship: Discover the post-Google Authorship landscape and the emergence of Author Rank as a potential successor.
FAQs
What was the purpose of Google Authorship?
Google Authorship aimed to attribute content to specific authors, enhancing search results with author information and images.
Why did Google Authorship come to an end?
Google officially discontinued Authorship due to issues with low adoption rates and challenges in verifying authorship.
What is Author Rank?
Author Rank refers to the perceived authority and expertise of an author in a particular subject, potentially influencing search engine rankings.
How does the death of Google Authorship impact content creators?
The end of Google Authorship shifts the focus to other factors like content quality, relevance, and backlinks in determining search rankings.
Are there alternatives to Google Authorship for establishing author credibility?
Yes, building a strong online presence through quality content, social media engagement, and expert contributions can establish author credibility without relying on Google Authorship.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.