Google Authorship and PR Professionals
Google first introduced authorship as a way of connecting Web content to the talented authors behind it three years ago. Using it in combination with algorithmic shifts designed to produce improved semantic results, Google’s intent was to place increased importance on the ‘who’ behind indexed Web content. This document will give you a better understanding of Google authorship and PR Professionals.
Author Images
Originally providing authors, brands and publishers the opportunity to colour search engine results pages with author head shots, which also improved content click-through rates for many, Google decided to announce the elimination of these recognisable faces from search results in June 2014.
Authorship Overhaul
This move resulted in great concern, varying elaborate conspiracy theories and a great deal of confusion. Marketers’ fears that this could be signalling the end of Google Authorship were alleviated by the company’s spokesman, John Miller. According to his statement, removing author photos was simply part of an overhaul in design aimed particularly at improving mobile users’ experience and necessary because these images allegedly took up excessive amounts of space. Apparently, Google Authorship is far from being dead – and still of great importance to PR professionals.
PR Professionals and Authorship
Building solid online reputations is vital for PR professionals. Aiming to provide attraction, awareness and trust building content for clients, a major goal for PR professionals is to have the ability to demonstrate that created content can be found and consumed easily by target audiences. By verifying that content was created by real people and linking to their online information, Google Authorship improves the search engine rankings of professionals’ content and increases their/ their clients’ footprints online.
Demonstrating Authority
As the lines between content and journalism; PR and SEO continue to blur, the importance of demonstrating authority through Google Authorship increases. Still displaying author/ brand by-lines on search result pages and showing authors’ images in personal (appearing when logged into Google+ accounts) search results, authorship still plays an important role in Google search algorithms.
Capitalising on Authority
An author’s perceived authority on any give searched for subject ultimately determines where they will show up on search engine results. Understanding that people tend to trust individuals well before trusting Websites or brands, Google uses authorship to provide professionals with an opportunity to demonstrate their authority on a subject. Capitalising on this ability to demonstrate authority is subsequently without a shadow of doubt of great benefit for content marketing, PR and SEO professionals and the clients they work for.
