You’ve probably seen it happening more and more over the last year or so; author’s faces appearing the SERPs alongside their article which is ranking. I covered HOW to get your picture on Google the other day, now let’s talk about the 3 reasons WHY you want your picture on Google Authorship and its SERPs alongside your content.

Google Authorship

Stand Out From the Crowd

First, it separates your listing in the SERPs from everyone else’s. This is no small thing because the more your page stands out and draws people’s attention, the more click throughs it will garner. The good news is that more webmasters outside of the online marketing field still don’t know or care to be able to do this, so you have the jump on them to give yourself an advantage in Google the sooner you implement the change yourself.

Trust and Authority

Secondly, it’s a sign of authority and trust when someone can connect a face with the person writing the article. Think about it: would you be more inclined to read an article from someone you know or one from a complete stranger? You’d likely choose to read and even believe something you read from someone you know over a stranger.

We as humans subconsciously make that connection when we see a picture of the author we have read. So while they’re still a stranger in the technical sense, seeing their picture and being able to connect a face with the article yields the effect of getting to know and trust that author a bit more so more often than not when given the choice someone will click the article featuring the author’s picture over the one without it.

Additionally, someone can even click on that author to find their bio and learn more about them. This brings in more traffic to your Google Plus profile and possibly your own site from there; so when you consider the added traffic and branding you get out of having your picture associated with your content, you could count that as five reasons you want to have your picture on Google.

Increased Exposure

… Of your posts. Also consider that when your picture appears in the SERPs, alongside it it will read “More By (Your Name)”. When someone clicks on this they will see a number of other posts you’ve written for your site which is more instant traffic right there for you. The more narrowed your site in focus, the more you’ll benefit from this because you’re more likely to have other posts which are related to what your targeted audience is specifically looking for.

Increased Ranking

Finally, getting your Google authorship status in the SERPs is a good part of the future of SEO. Google is all about supplying their users with the best content and user experience. People like to know the person behind the article as again this establishes a greater level of trust within the reader.

The first two points I made (separating your content from everyone else’s and exuding more trust) are to say that people will click through your site more versus everyone else’s even if they are listed higher than you in the SERPs. User metrics such as click through rate in the SERPs are one of Google’s ranking factors, so having your picture appear in the SERPs will yield more click throughs and in turn a better ranking which in itself will earn you more clicks.