How to Improve CTR Rank with Author Images on Google +

Did you Google it? Have you seen all your searches on Google have returned the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) results mingled with images, videos, profile pictures and few website results?

Ranking #1, years ago brought ~40% of the traffic to a particular query results page. Today, that figure is less than 20%. Meanwhile, rankings in lower positions have gained some of those clicks. Here are a few reasons why:

 

In order to see an author image appear in Google search, you need to have “authorship.” Here’s how to do it:

1.       Make sure your Google+ profile page has a profile photo that is a recognizable headshot.

2.       Make sure you have an email address (for example, name@company.com) on the same domain as your content (company.com). If you don’t have an email address on the same domain, Google has an alternative method for linking your content to your Google+ profile.

3.       In the “About” section of your Google+ profile, add that email address so it’s easier for Google to associate your Google+ account with your domain.

4.       In addition, make sure each article you publish on that domain has a clear byline identifying you as the author (for example, “By John Doe” or “Author: John Doe”).

5.       Furthermore, make sure that byline name matches the name on your Google+ profile. Visit Google’s Authorship page, and submit your email address to Google. Regardless of the number of articles you publish on this domain, you’ll only need to go through this process once.

6.       In the “About” section of your Google+ profile, make sure the profile discovery box, “Help others discover my profile in search,” is checked.

7.       Once Google approves your authorship request, your Google+ profile will update with the domain on which you’re a content contributor in the “Contributor to” section of your Google+ profile. By default, it will also automatically make your email address visible to the public. If you want to keep your email address private on your page, you can change its visibility here.

You may also receive an email confirmation from Google once your request for Authorship has been approved.