Getting your Online Content Recognized With Keywords, High-Quality Content and Google Authorship – Part 2

In the first part of this article, I discussed how figuring out how to utilize the right keywords and creating high-quality content will drive your website to higher-traffic and authority online.  In part two, I’ll discuss how Google Authorship can increase your individual and website’s credibility and boost your rankings in search results, and also exactly how to boost your Google “Author Rank”.

Google Authorship is one of the newest ways to differentiate yourself online and link yourself to your content to make you appear higher in search queries and boost your online authority.  Simply put, implementing it will enable you to put a name and face to your website in your search results and allow you to appear higher in search rankings.

This new form online ranking has been sparked by the niche Google Plus has carved out in it’s own social media space to help protect authors’ work and built their online reputation.  The general idea is that bloggers can build their “Author Rank” based on the their content through activity on Google+.  Anyone with a Google+ profile can have their articles linked to their profile from any blog or website.  The infographic below shows you how to set up Google Authorship in just 6 steps.

Or, check out this step-by-step article on how to make this happen.

It’s a very simple concept:  When you become an authority of a certain subject on the web, you’re more trusted and your content reaches a new level of legitimacy.  If Bill Gates were to blog about your website or product, odds are, a lot of people would check out what you have, since Bill Gates has established himself as an expert in innovation and technology.

One important aspect of Google Authorship is your “Author Rank” – the score you are given that determines how influential you are on Google+.  This score is based on your participation, your audience size and your level in interaction with content on Google+.  It’s also determined by the average PageRank of your published content, the authority your content has across other social media platforms, and your mentions in top-level authority indicators, like the New York Times. 

Some factors that affect the level of your Author Rank include:

• Your level of engagement on Google+
• Inbound links to your content
• Shares and +1’s of your content posted on Google+
• External engagement
• Number of Google+ circles you’re in
• Your level of authority on other social platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook
• Your number of connections with other Google+ authors who are ranked high
• The number of comments you receive on content published on Google+
• Other authority signals, such as articles, citations and mentions from other news sources

One technique I have adopted is actively networking your content on Google+.  When I write an article that references another Google Author, I send them a message via Twitter or LinkedIN notifying them that I included their content in my article and suggest that they give it a quick read.  Once this has been done, I wait for a response and then immediately add them to one of my Google+ circles.  Majority of they time, they will add you back, and you will establish a connection with another high-ranked Author, thus increasing your Author Rank.

Search Engine Watch gives 6 different practices that will help you build your Author Rank:

1. Claim your Authorship:  This is the first, most basic step, and it involves linking your Google+ profile to your content.  This will give you visibility in search results as your content appears in a type of rich snippet, which increases click-rates.
2. Be Consistently Active on Google+:  Know how to properly format your posts and take into account the readability of each post.  The goal is to create Google+ posts that users want to click on.  You should also add a “+1 button” on your website where your articles are being posted.  Finally, consistently be active every day on Google+ and engage other authors.  The more determined you are to create connections on Google+, the faster it will happen.  Which brings me to number three:
3. Network on Google+:  Just as I have described in my networking strategy before, one of the factors of your Author Rank depends on how many high-rank connections you have.  Once these high-ranked authors are in your circles, your +1’s will increase along with your Author Rank.
4. Selective Guest Posting:  Posting content from other highly authoritative websites will help your Author Rank, just as back-linking does.  You don’t want to post low-quality links that have the credentials to back up their claimed reputability.  More high-quality website links = a higher level of credibility and trust.
5. Find your Niche:  You need to determine an area of interest that you’re equipped to write about, and you must not stray from it.  You’ll be much more likely to rank higher as an authority of one subject, rather than two.
6. Create Excellent Content:  This has already been covered, but it’s good to reiterate.  The content needs to be worth sharing, especially since the latest Panda update is centered around judging the quality of content and ranking it accordingly.

Why is Google Authorship Important?

Formerly, Google used to only rank websites and not individuals who wrote for the website.  Now, Google Authorship allows them to rank you as an individual, giving you your own personalized “Google Footprint” that tracks your authority in your industry.  This means that websites will be ranked by the authority of their authors, along with the authority of the site.  If you have a highly ranked authorship, you’ll naturally raise the authority of the website you write for.