Google has recently made a number of changes to increase author visibility. The search results page now displays the name and image of the author along with the content. Writers can easily set up authorship using their email address.
The author information displayed on search results page allows users to find out more about the content creator and enables them to connect with the writer directly.
The information offered on search results page also includes the Google+ circle count of the author, apart from name and image. Users have two options for engaging with writers. They can either comment on the content or add them to their circles from the results page itself. The changes are applicable to Google News as well.
If journalists link their Google profiles to their articles, along with the content the news results page will also feature author name and picture as well as the number of users having the writer in their Google+ circles.
Recently Google also introduced ‘Author Stats’ in Webmaster Tools. The tool enables content creators to find out how frequently their articles are appearing on the search results page. For instance, SEO experts creating informative content on the subject can find out the number of clicks and impressions that their articles attracted using the new ‘Author Stats’ tool.
In order to find out how often users are viewing their content, writers just need to connect their articles with their Google profiles through a simple link or e-mail verification.