Perfect Market chief revenue officer Tim Ruder has helped writers at media companies around the country create a stronger online footprint. At the AllFacebook Marketing Conference this week, he shared a crucial piece of intelligence for writers: your Google+ profile can help your online writings get noticed.
Google can connect stories you have published online with your Google+ profile, attaching your name, profile and picture to search results for your writing. Ruder explained: “Social brings a level of trust to results that is really powerful … Trust is shifting from publisher to little face–the picture of someone beside an article. That is a pretty indelible stamp of trust.”
With the new system, readers can click on your picture and see other articles you have written–straight from Google search results. Below, we’ve outlined the steps you need to take to connect your Google+ profile with your Google search results.
How To Connect Your Google+ Account To Your Online Writings
To make use of Google’s pilot “Author information in search results” program, you first need to create a Google+ profile. Then make sure you have an email address associated with your website (like jason [at] mediabistro [dot] com).
Here’s more from Google: “Make sure that each article or post you publish on that domain has a clear byline identifying you as the author (for example, “By Steven Levy” or “Author: Steven Levy”). Visit the Authorship page and submit your email address to Google. No matter how many articles or posts you publish on this domain, you only need to do this process once. Your email will appear in the Contributor to section of your Google+ profile. If you want to keep your email private, change the visibility of your link.”
If you don’t have an email address connected to your site, follow this link and read about “Option 2” for an alternative method.
Here is what the final result will look like when someone searches for a story you wrote:
In addition, you should avoid these five common problems in your Google+ profile…
5 Google+ Profile Mistakes to Fix
1. Personal tagline too long: Google gives you a short tagline spot under your name to fill with a concise description of yourself. If your tagline is too long, it will trail off in ellipses, confusing the first time reader. Keep it short and sweet so the whole tagline fit
2. No link to your personal site in your profile: Google offers you the great opportunity to include hyperlinks in your “About” section. Add a few quick links connecting to your personal site and other places people can find you online.
3. No picture in your profile: People are looking for your profile, not a box with a shadow in the middle. Show us what you look like.
4. No location data in your profile: Google+ has all sorts of useful features tied to your location. In addition, a simple city and state listing helps people identify with you as well.
5. Profile not visible in Google search: At the bottom of your “About” page, check the “Profile discovery” section. Make sure it reads: “Profile visible in search.” This is the only way people will find you and your work online–a valuable way to make sure your name and work get recognized by the massive search engine.