Do you know who the author of your blog is? Well, it's mostly likely  you (or a team of handsome ghostwriters cleverly disguised as you), and if you are truly invested in a successful SEO strategy, you're blogging every single day, and even the occasional wild and crazy night. It's easy to get caught up in the flashy blogger lifestyle; the fast women, the loose cars, it all comes with the territory. Sometimes though, you have to slow it down a bit. You have to stop and ask yourself, "As an author, am I getting all  the credit I deserve?" Let us here at Wikimotive, your friendly and affordable SEO company, help you answer that.

Can you see what I'm setting up here? We're going to talk about Google authorship. It's becoming an important part of both SEO and click-through rates, so you best be on point. The easiest way to claim authorship is through the beautiful union of Google and Google+ (almost like they designed it that way to bolster a failing social network or something). When you verify your authorship with Google, you'll increase your rankings with the ever more valuable "author authority" and you'll be given a headshot next to your pieces (articles, blogs, etc) that show up in search results. Having your (adjective) face beaming up from amongst the other, authorless pieces will make you stand out, and that's something you can take right to the bank.

Did I sell you on authorship? Are you ready to move from a lowly author to a proud Google endorsed "AUTHOR"!? If not, may God have mercy on your soul.

Here's how you set it up:

1. Create a Google+ account (or just login if you already have one, it's not rocket science) and make sure your profile picture is a great shot of that smiling face. Select a picture that says, "I'm an authority on the topic at hand, but I know how to have fun too! Let's hang out, maybe read a few blogs, get a bottle of wine and just see where the night takes us..."

2. Adjust your blog settings so that it's displaying a byline under all of your pieces. In case you haven't heard that term, a byline is just the little bit where it says "By Max Power" or whatever your name is.

2.5. Ensure your byline and Google+ name are an EXACT MATCH! This is very important. If your byline is "Max Power" but your Google+ account is "Maxwell J. Power" then you'll gum up the works and Google may not be able to figure out  you're the author.

3.  Once you finish the steps above, all that's left to do is tell Google you’re the author. You can find the link to the page here. If for whatever reason you can’t get an email from your own domain (you really should!) you can find alternate instructions here!

Once this is all set up, you may have to wait a day or two to see the effects. Before long though, you'll be seeing yourself pop up as the author in search results, complete with headshot.

You're pretty much internet-famous now, so don't freak out when you get recognized on the street and people want you to sign the printout of your "100 Best TPS Reports" article. Just be sure to always have a felt-tipped pen handy, smile big in the photo, and don't let the paparazzi catch you shoplifting felt-tipped pens.

You'll do just fine.

Original post about Google authorship can be found on Wikimotive's blog titled, "Be an Internet Celebrity;  Claim Your Google Authorship" by Daniel Hinds.