We are well and truly into the Google Plus fervor now, even more so since the realization that author rank will be playing a far stronger role in search.
Backlink gaming will become a dying art as shareable content and author-rank take hold of the interwebs. Which is how it should be.
I’m certainly not on the bleeding edge of technology, but I do pay attention to those who are and what they’re saying, and it seems that SEO rules will be forever impacted by this new introduction.
Michelle Macphearson wrote a piece giving good clarification on the impact to search results, you should definitely check it out here. Within that post is the link to Joost de Valks tutorial about how to add the rel=”me” link to enable the linking of your Google profile to your website.
I agree that this will become a major factor in getting your stuff seen….and lets face it, if you aint being seen then you may as well pack up your bat and ball and go home.
I personally have made the changes and linked my Google Plus profile to my website. The tutorial in itself (linked to above) was simple enough, but I could not, for the life of me get my account to verify through the rel=”me” link through the rich snippets tool.
I posted a short burst about this over on my google profile if you want to check it out. Lets just say it might pay you to check your plugins.
I haven’t spent oodles of time on Google Plus yet, but you don’t have to be blind freddy to see that there are some definite improvements in features to this social space.
Of course its early days, and nobody is saying abandon facebook, twitter or what ever the hell else is working for you, but you should read up and make up your own mind on the implications from your perspective. I for one will be watching very closely.
If you’re confused or having problems linking up your website, then by all means get in touch and I’ll see if I can help you out.
Oh and if you haven’t yet found your way into the googlesphere, email me and I will send you an invite. Alternatively you can hold off until the rumoured public launch of July 31st.
So I’d like to hear what you have to say about Google Plus?
Post Update: Since writing this post, I am trying the Authorsure WordPress Plugin to establish author linking, check out this post
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I agree with you Jackie. I haven’t joined yet as I am waiting for the business page and the reason is quite simply I have a brand name that is not my name.
It will be interesting to see how Google develops this and I am surprised that Facebook has not done anything except for the business education to counter Google. Have always liked blind freddy references except when people misunderstand and think I am referring to Freddy who happens to be blind.
Susan Oakes recently posted..The Marketing Assumption Guessing Game
There’s an aweful lot of business people out there just poking around and exploring the landscape, who will be keen to jump on the business side of things as and when it becomes available.
I’m keen to see what features are made available to the businesses and brands when google does eventually roll out its grand design.
As for facebook, I’ve no doubt there will be changes on that platform too. I’ve a sneaking suspicion that this may be the beginning of the whos the king of the sandheap game.
Time will reveal no doubt.
Jackie recently posted..Competition Will Suck You Dry
[...] Google Plus And Author Rank [...]
I just connected my Google Profile to my blog website. Thanks for this information! It would be really cool to “get credit” for the some 200 blog posts that I have written. Will be interesting to see when they implement this for all search results.
Hi Adam
I’ve been slowly seeing more rollouts of this on search…but I think that it will be some time before it becomes prolific.
The only thing we can do is keep plugging away producing great content and increasing your footprint wherever you can. As with all new things if Google decide to change tack, then we are at their mercy…..you need multiple strategies to ensure you continue to build your social profile.
Thanks for dropping by and glad you found the post useful.
This seems interesting. Agreed with your observation that – “Backlink gaming will become a dying art as shareable content and author-rank take hold of the interwebs. ” very well articulated.
Amit recently posted..5 Easy Ways To Get More Likes, More Comments On Your Facebook Fanpage!
Thanks for your comments Amit, I think the next few years will see great changes in the way that we treat web properties.
It’s a good thing to have those authors getting recognised as authors though I must say I am not at all keen on seeing peoples pics in search results.
I went to add my own to my main site that has my name in it but as I use a different domain as my main email address was unable to confirm to get it working.
I am sort of glad about that as seeing my face on my sites is bad enough so the idea of seeing more and more of such on Google in search results is just another thing I am going to have to get used to annoying me …..
I have quite a few sites to but will be sticking to making authorship known in other ways me thinks. Just to avoid those annoying vanity pics showing up in search results.
Hi Keith,
I think the vanity pic just adds to the recognition factor Keith, and don’t think its such a bad thing. We’re pretty visual creatures and it helps to build brand recognition.
Having said that, who’s to say what direction this will all take over the next few years…I say if it works for you then utilize it…if not, find the best ways that do.
Thanks for stopping by to comment, appreciate it.
Hi Jackie, everything you say is spot on but I can’t see your pic in the search results. Did you use the rich snippet testing tool to check your authorship is correctly connected?
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
I know myself I’ve often missed one of the steps and it hasn’t worked.
Give me a shout if you need a hand resolving this.
Regards
Dallas McMillan
Business SEO
Dallas recently posted..Mobile Web Strategy For Your Business
Hi Dallas,
Yep, all connected correctly according to the rich snippets tool. A few months back I even switched over to the authorsure plugin to see if this was able to get authorship showing in google results, and still no luck with that either. I’m actually in the process of doing some backend work on the site, and this little issue is one of the things on my list to look at again.
Thanks for the offer to help, appreciate it. I may just take you up on that if the frustration gets to much for me to bear
Amazing article Jackie, Google author rank can create an upside down effect in SEO industry. Author rank is going to be the most effective factor in 2013. Guest blogging and Google + sharing, they are very effective way to build author rank.
Thanks Chandler
I think the landscape will continue to grow and develop over the coming year, and market leadership will become vital in getting content seen.