Paul Rone-Clarke SEO Expert is happy to share the following.

There are any number of things a personal blogger can get wrong, but being shy of expressing an opinion is a cardinal error. After all, what is the value of a personal blog if it’s not personal? If you don;t introduce ideas and concepts, add editorial or opinion then you might as well introduce a topic, then link straight to the WIKI page on the subject and sign off.

Well, that’s probably the most navel gazing opening paragraph I’ve written for a long time but here’s why. I’m taking a quick squint at..

Google+ (or Google Plus). After Authorship

So we know that until the middle of 2014, those of us who logged into Google – or used the “rel=author tag” on our posts were sometimes given an author photo, and possibly even a small bio shout out next to posts in Google’s index.

In June 2014 the image aspect was removed, followed a few weeks later by Google announcing the end of Authorship. But are you confused about the difference between AuthorRank and Authorship? They aren’t the same you know

Game over man – game over.

(I’m Hudson, he’s Hicks)

But Hold On. Authorship Dead – Author Rank Alive And Well WTF!

Authorship is alive and well. Let me explain.

Google still look for, understand and attribute authors with their work. They have also stated that they use this information to decide what articles, posts or info pages to rank highly…

In Information Niches

Did I explain what an information niche was? Yeah sure I did. Right here. It’s pretty self explanatory though right? Ideas, knowledge, complex issues, news. Anything that requires explanation in detail or is subjective in detail is probably an information niche.

Selling simple pre-packaged products from “Acme Co” to a customer base that already knows exactly what it wants, and is just looking for the best deal. Not an information niche.

In other words if you want to “win” in SERPs in a niche where information plays an important part of your onsite strategy (content heavy in other words) then you would still benefit big time,  in the long run, by using Google authorship.

You As A Brand

Ah, that “brand” word again. Yeah. sorry, but stop thinking about marketing, logo’s and all that jazz. Just start thinking about your own (or your site’s) long term visibility on the internet. The amount of content you post, your readership and its growth over time. That’s brand. You are “brand”

As soon as Google recognises you or your site as a brand in a particular field then you go into the mix as a potential “authorship expert” – and that means potential benefit.

A Couple Of Simple Benefits

Firstly, Get indexed. OK, you right a great 2,000 word piece, post it and then what? Well, in a “worst case scenario” situation. It’s stolen within minutes, posted by someone else, indexed on another site first and the search engines consider that you are the copyright infringer. Argghh!

So take the precaution of posting a link to it on Google direct through your Google+ page. The second after you post your content, cross post a link to it to Google. Maybe go into your profile and paste the URL into the list of “Contributor to” URL’s (plus.google.com under your author name or ID – which still exists)

Secondly. traffic building. If you are in an information niche in Google Plus, there is a very high chance that their is at least one active community there. Getting involved here can both keep you up to date with news and give you a ready made audience for your best work. A quick word of warning. Google+ is a pretty serious place to chew the cud. Only actively push to communities if its work you are really actually proud of.

More Info?

I could waffle on here for hours on why authorship has benefits outside of the obvious. Instead allow me to introduce marketing expert (and all round very fine fellow) Mark Traphagen

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