If you haven’t seen it already, you may notice small pictures next to results in the SERPs when searching Google. I wrote about this a few months back in an article on advanced SEO tips, but since I’ve been using this technique for a while and noticed a huge jump in click through rates I wanted to share with you how you can set this up for your website.
Here’s an example of how the new image displays next to the description in Google’s search result pages:
How To Show Images In Your Search Results
This new capability is actually part of a new Google tool called “Authorship”, and allows content publishers to declare an author for a particular piece of content.
As a side note, I’m already thinking of cool photo ideas to maximize the benefits of being able to include an image with your search result. This is so powerful because not many others are currently taking advantage of this feature and the public isn’t burned out on it so it has great enhancement potential.
Here are a few benefits as highlighted on their site which explain why you may want to setup Authorship.
- New! See analytics for your content in search.
- Distinguish and validate your content in search results.
- Get more followers on Google+.
- Help readers discover your other content on the web.
It’s actually pretty simple to set this up. First, you’ll need to create a Google+ Profile, then just verify your email and link up your content. Google will take care of the rest. There are full instructions on the Google Authorship site (see below).
Here’s what I’d said about this feature in my previous article. “Though this doesn’t appear to be a contributing signal in ranking at this moment, it is being used as a way for Google to identify “and credit” quality articles and their authors, and they basically say they consider that a useful metric in search ranking qualification.
As an SEO practice, I’d suggest looking into implementing this in your campaigns sooner rather than later.”
As the web grows and more spam and low quality content proliferate online servers, it’s interesting to watch Google’s new features, such as Authorship and +1, and how they continue to shape the way we create and syndicate online content.
Learn more about Google Authorship here: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/authorship.html and let me know if you saw an increase in click-through rates with putting pictures in your search results.
Thanks for the awesome tips Shaun, I’ll definitely be getting this done ASAP, thanks.
You’re welcome Tyronne.
Nice article shaun will try this out today itself.