We posted a great little tidbit the other day regarding the authorship service available to Google+ Profile owners and how it can help increase traffic to your site.
By following Google's instructions for verifying authorship of content on a website, search results will display your Google+ Profile headshot and a link to other content you've written, increasing the likelihood that your link will get clicked:
We followed the instructions provided by Google for our own blog and can report back the following:
- Structured Data Testing Tool available in Webmaster Tools was invaluable: When following Google's instructions, we relied heavily on this tool to ensure we were setting things up properly. Without it, we would have been flying blind.
- Two weeks between confirmed setup and change in Google search results: Once we confirmed through the Structured Data Testing Tool that we had the setup right, it took about two weeks to see our Google search results change.
- Google search results update gradually: Once the change became effective, it was for our latest blog posts with older content not including our authorship information. We expect older content to update as Google spiders crawl it.
- Email from Google confirming verified authorship: A couple days after first noticing the change in some of our Google search results, we got email confirmation from Google which included information on reporting of clicks and impressions for authors.
The process took a bit of work and patience but it should prove well-worth it if it helps us get the most out of organic search traffic. Now we'll be anxious to track the actual results.
Have you setup authorship using your Google+ Profile? What has your experience been in doing so and what results have you seen, if any, in terms of click throughs from organic search traffic?
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