How to Get Your Picture on Google Search Engine Result Page via Authorship Using Rich Snippets CONTACT SEO SERVICES

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How to Get Your Picture on Google Search Engine Result Page via Authorship Using Rich Snippets

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Here are the step-by-step instructions for 'How to Get Your Picture on Google.' Google is moving to 'social search,' and one of the most exciting new features is called authorship. In practical terms, this means when a user does a search, Google returns search results with pictures of the 'authors' of many of those web pages. This is cool for two reasons -
 1) Google results that have pictures have higher click throw rates than those without - meaning MORE      WEB LEADS for those of us who get our pictures to show
 2) your picture makes your personal 'brand' stronger, making you and your company MORE CREDIBLE.        But how do you get your picture to show on Google search results? Let's investigate

Contents:
  • Watch the Video
  • Examples of Rich Snippets / Authorship at Work on Google Search
    • - Step by Step Instructions -
    1. Google+ Set Up: Basics
    2. Link Your Site to Google+
    3. Test Your Work
    4. Get Circlers (Followers)!

Examples of Rich Snippets / Authorship at Work on Google Searches

Google officially calls this process authorship, and even has an official help file on it here. (Note: because of spam, I do NOT recommend using the email method!) Their instructions are a bit fuzzy, so I am going to help you understand the steps necessary to get your picture to show on Google search results (Google SERPS).
But first, what are we walking about? Let's look at some examples of others who have succeeded in getting their picture to show on Google search results.
Here are some search examples wherein you will see pictures of 'guru's' on Google +.
  • Facebook Timeline - notice the pictures of people that appear to the left of each result on the Google page!
  • Landing Page in Google Analytics - notice the picture of Jason McDonald (yours truly)
  • What does competition mean in Google AdWords - again, notice the picture of Jason McDonald (yours truly).
  • Math Tutors in Palo Alto - notice the picture of Cathy Umana (one of my clients), a top math tutoring center in Palo Alto / Menlo Park.
So our first take-away is that Google is moving towards social search, so you should try to get your picture to appear on Google search results. This will help you get more clicks and more followers on Google+, plus enhance your status as the coolest guru in your industry (whatever industry that may happen to be). Here are the steps to enable authorship / rich snippets.

Step ONE: Set up a Google+ Personal Account

First, you need a Google plus profile Here's the rub. Authorship only works on PERSONAL profiles on Google+, not CORPORATE profile. So having a corporate Google+ account does nothing for getting your picture to show, you must enable a PERSONAL Google+ account. So your substeps are -
  1. Identify a company spokesperson like the business owner or marketing manager.
  2. Set him or her up on Google+ with a personal account. Note the easiest thing to do is to first set him or her up with a Gmail account. Then at the top left of the screen (black bar) click on the +You link, which will ultimately become +Your Name, when you enable Google+.
  3. Then, optimize the Google+ personal account as follows.
Log in to your new Google+ personal account, and click on the PROFILE icon on the top left, then the ABOUT tab and then scroll down to -
  • STORY - optimize this section with relevant keywords in complete sentences. Don't over do it, but don't under do it either. You want the types of relevant keyword phrases that people search for you to be included here.
  • LINKS > CONTRIBUTOR TO - here, make sure you enter your Website or blog URL. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, as you MUST create a link FROM your Google+ personal count TO your blog or website!

Step TWO: Link your website back to your Google+ Personal page

Now you need to set up your website properly. Google has made this easier than ever. All you need to do is create a web link FROM your website page or blog post page TO your Google+ page with the appropriate profile ID and the all important attribute in the link of ?rel=author. Here's how -
  1. Identify your profile ID - Click on the PROFILE icon inside of your Google+ personal account. Copy the URL at appears at the TOP OF YOUR BROWSER (in the URL BOX), you'll get something like this -https://plus.google.com/u/0/104682685052057072673/posts
    I have outlined in red my profile ID; yours of course will be a different number!
  2. Replace my numeric ID and name with your own numeric ID and name into the following HTML code -Follow
    <a href="https://plus.google.com/104682685052057072673?rel=author">Jason McDonald</a> on Google+!
    which renders as
    Follow Jason McDonald on Google!
  3. ?REL=author - MUST be on the code. This is critical! You MUST append the phrase ?rel=authorafter your numeric ID!
  4. Paste that code onto each and every page of your website (including your home page) for which you want your picture to appear on Google searches! (Note: you can link to an image if you like, and that image or link can be anywhere on the page).

Step THREE: Test Your Work

At this point you have a) set up a Google+ personal profile, b) cross linked an individual web page (such as a blog post or your home page) to your Google+ personal profile with the ?rel=author HTML code, and c) updated / uploaded your webpages to the public Internet, so Google can 'see' that you have enabled authorship. It's time to test your work!
We'll do that using a sample page of mine, What is a 'landing page' in Google Analytics? ,  (You'll need to find your own sample page, and COPY the URL from the page!
  1. Locate the URL of the page you want to test! (Mine ishttp://contactseoservices.blogspot.in/).
  2. Go to the 'Structured Data Testing Tool' athttp://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets.
  3. Paste your URL into the tool, and click the RED BOX preview.
  4. If it works, you should see your picture plus some commentary that it worked by Google!
  5. If it did NOT work, then fix the errors by reviewing the steps above!

Step FOUR: Get People to CIRCLE (follow) You

At a technical level, you have now enabled 'authorship' on your website pages and/or blog posts. The technical aspects are ready, and you've tested via the 'Structured Data Testing Tool.' Your picture will only show if you have a sufficient number of followers (a.k.a., circlers) on Google+. So you need to GET FOLLOWERS.
How do you do this? ASK! and/or PROVIDE SOMETHING OF VALUE. You should follow me on Google+, for example, because I provide nifty tips and tricks about SEO, Social Media, and AdWords.
So imagine emailing your clients and customers, with an email that says -

For more information about this please visit this Site: Jason McDonald
 Greetings!
 
 I am really excited to join Google+!  I am going to be 
 sharing information on 
 {FILL IN THE BLANK WITH NIFTY THINGS THAT THEY CARE ABOUT},
 and would love for  you to 'circle me' on Google+.
 
 To do so, simply login to your own Google+ account, and click 
 on this URL, then click CIRCLE on the far right - 
 
 https://plus.google.com/104682685052057072673/posts
 
 Alternatively, first go to https://plus.google.com/ and 
 sign up for an account.
 
 I plan to share incredibly useful stuff on Google+, so it will 
 definitely be worth your while  to circle me!
 
 Sincerely,
 
 Your Friend and Guru
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