Why Google Authorship Matters

Before we get all settled in here, let me tell you something I have learned in just a few days. Writing in a strict format of 'who, what, when, where, how and why' sections is just too difficult for me. In case you don't know, I'm a bit of a free spirit. So I'm going to change things up a bit and write more like I talk. I hope it works better for all of us.

Have You Ever Wondered? 

Why do some search results have people's pictures in them? Well, thats because they are using something that Google calls 'authorship tags'. Those tags are actually a little piece of code that tells your browser where to get the picture from. I don't know whether it's a 'written in stone' requirement that the information come from a Google(or Gmail) account. But I do know it's a lot easier if you use Google.

Why is this important? 

Because research shows that there is an increase of clicks on those images of 150%. That's right. If there are two search results, the one with a picture will be clicked on 150 times for each click of the one with no picture.

Is it hard to do? 

Not if you know how. I wrote a column about it a while back that you can find here http://goo.gl/Vd2Mb. If you can follow those instructions, you will be well on your way to getting your picture up there with some pretty influential people.

You don't want to do that yourself? 

If you're one of my monthly VMP level customers, you already get some coding time under our agreement. Just hit reply to this email and say 'hey, get my picture up there please'. That will get the ball rolling and it probably won't cost you anymore than your current investment. That's one of the reasons for the Five Fifteen. I want to make sure that I help you take advantage of all the services that I offer.

What if I'm not a VMP customer? 

Then contact me here let me look at the stuff that you're using on your website. I can tell you that it usually doesn't take more than an hour to do this. So that's the quick answer for you. I hope it helps. Pay It Forward! The more connections you have, the larger your database of human knowledge you can call on. This newsletter can help you do that. If you are a subscriber, and you have a technical question, just hit reply and it will go directly to me. I will try to answer it via a Five - Fifteen within a week.
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