When examining your options for online marketing in San Jose, one angle to consider is Google Authorship. This is a relatively recent innovation launched by Google that allows writers to have their content linked to their Google profile, making their content more visible on the search engine as well as increasing their visibility.

It is simple to get started with Google Authorship. Make sure you have a Google+ account, including at least a basic profile with a photo of you, preferably a simple headshot. If you have a Google login for any of Google’s services, including Gmail, it is likely that a preliminary Google+ account has already been set up for you by default, and you only need to fill in details.

Use your name, as it appears on your Google+ account, as the byline for any pages of content that you write. Be sure you have an email address on your domain, or use an alternate method to link your content to your Google+ profile. Having your content linked to Google+ is how Google Authorship recognizes your content.

Google Authorship benefits both authors and readers.

Author benefits include having their work appear distinguished and validated, allowing their content to be more easily found wherever it is on the web. Google has analytics available to help authors see who is reading their content and some demographics about the readers. It can lead to a greater following on Google+, as well. Other benefits for an author include making it obvious when someone tries to plagiarize your content, showing that you have expertise in your niche, and building trust. When your name – and picture – become more well-known thanks to Google Authorship, it protects your work and it protects you from others exploiting your name for lesser quality work.

Reader benefits include the ability to more easily find higher quality content, and the ability to follow and possibly even contact their favorite authors.

The ranking algorithm for Google Authorship has not yet been analyzed enough to result in concrete methods for making the most of it, but that is surely in progress. Some of the things that are known to contribute to Author Rank include the page rank of each article by an author, comments on these articles, connections to other authors, quantity of Google+ Circles in which an author is, and being recognized as knowledgeable on other social media platforms (including likes and shares). Nominations, commendations, citations, and mentions in general news resources, among others, will also add to an author’s rank. Additionally, the more you actually use Google+ to connect with others, the more it will affect your Author Rank.

In short, Google Authorship can be a great help to your online marketing plan in San Jose if you understand how to use it properly.