It is common knowledge that quality signals have a significant effect on search engine rankings and click-through rate (CTR) is extremely important when it comes to PPC and SEO, but did you know that you can boost your CTR and incorporate user quality signals to every single content that you publish online? It is so simple that all you need is a nice photograph of yourself with a sincere smile.
Here’s how:
Increasing your Click-Through Rate with Google Authorship
There are a lot of uses for Google Authorship. For instance, placing it in your Social Network updates can be an effective Social Media Marketing method. You can use Google Authorship to promote your own blog, isn’t that amazing?
One of the hitches with Google is that it can be bothersome to verify the original author or source of content. The sheer number of spinners and content scrapers on the net makes it difficult to find unique quality content. With Google Authorship, you will have your picture showing up right next to every web page and blog entry you have ever made.
Using Google Authorship is a straightforward process. Here are the steps:
1. First, you need to create a Google or Google plus profile or Google +. In this day and age, chances are you already have one (or two for that matter)
2. Include the URL of your site in your Google profile links.
3. Upload a clear, presentable picture of your face. The quality of this image is VERY important, since Google uses facial recognition to automate the process.
4. Take note of your Profile number and link (e.g. https://plus.google.com/numbers)
5. Add this simple HTML code to the Bio and Articles in your site (replace the name and number with your own):
<a href=”https://plus.google.com/108012432342342344? rel=”author”>Erik Lensherr +</a>
Do not forget to include the ?rel=author parameter, and the + sign in the beginning or end of the anchor text. If either of these is lacking, Google will not associate your content with your Google profile (note that the + sign does not pertain to Google plus, so you don’t need a Google plus profile for this)
6. Lastly, you need to submit your authorship to Google through this:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHdCLVRwcTlvOWFKQXhNbEgtbE10QVE6MQ&ndplr=1
and VOILA! You’re done.