There has been a continuous effort by Google to ensure that only good quality, authoritative and relevant content rises to the top pages of the search engine and feathery and ornamental, keyword stuffed ones do not fool the search engine to get to the top ranks.
Google rolled out AgentRank way back in 2005 to weed out low quality and spammy content by using digital signatures. In 2011, it introduced Google+ followed by Google Authorship that allows linking the content that you produce to your Google+ profile. Google authorship has put the search engine giat closer to ensuring the trustworthiness and reliability of the results that appear on its top pages.
Google AuthorRank: A Better Way To Achieve A Higher Ranking In Search Engine
At the time of the launch of Google+ social network, most of the users of social networks were skeptical of its success and about its success in combating established networks like Facebook and Twitter. However, after a considerable time of its launch, we realize that it has started to carve out a niche for itself in social media circles.
One unique feature of Google+ is its system of authorship and ranking. An author can build a trust and rank for him/her. This rank is called Google Author Rank. Google already has a lot of ways to rate your content and it is continuously devising ways and means to better it. With the advent of Google+, the more +1s for your content send a strong signal that your content is of high quality, authoritative and that you deserve a better rank.
To get a better Author Rank, first thing that you will need to do is claim the authorship of your content. You can do this by linking all your content to your Google+ profile. If you have a Google+ profile, you can get the articles attributed to your name from any blog or website. Once you have set up Google Authorship correctly, you stand a bright chance of receiving benefits in the search engines results. Google rates articles with authorship markup better than ones without it and assigns a better rank to the author.
How will authors be ranked?
Google will have a system of various metrics in place to adjudge the quality and relevance of your website to the users. Since Page Rank techniques do remain valid, your basic SEO tools, targeting keywords and link creation remain as important. However, it is social media that will have a huge role to play in deciding the authority and significance of the author to his or her audience.
Here are a few parameters that will dictate your Google Author Rank:
1. Social activity and authority:
Your Google Author rank is dictated by all the +1s of Google+ content. Similarly, all that you do on other social networks also has a bearing on your Google Author Rank. It must be noted that both positive and negative comments have an effect on your rank.
2. Authoritative websites:
The more the number of authoritative websites that have your mention, the better it is for your Google Author Rankings. This has been so for long and is expected to remain the same in future.
3. Links:
Quality links to your site from legitimate and authoritative websites have a huge role to play in boosting your rank. The volume, consistency and the quality of inbound links to the author’s content will also be a major factor influencing rank.
4. PageRank:
Your Google Author Rank is also influenced by having your content on a website with higher page rank.
How Can Google Authorship Help Your Business?
The more authority you have on the internet, all the things associated with you will appear more legitimate. Say for example, Bill Gates authority on the internet is well known and if he blogs about your business or services, then its positive effects on your reputation need no elaboration. With better Google Author Rank, you raise the level of authority in your niche. With this, Google also starts considering you more relevant and legitimate thereby returning your reference in its search results, hence profiting your business.
As author of content on the internet, you need to be prepared for the considerable change that will be brought about by Google Author Rank. It will become imperative to have a team of right authors who can create captivating content in order to build a good rank rather than relying on Page Rank entirely.
Author Bio: Jason Smith is an online manager for Victorpest – Rat Repellents. He likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC & Lead generation.