The dentists I work with were excited to see their logo or image next to search engine results when Google Authorship rolled out in 2011. As with most Google products, however, Authorship is changing. authorshipNo longer will you see the thumbnail image of your smiling, welcoming face next to your blog posts in search results. Google claims that this change will not affect click through rates, though some SEOs balk at that statement.

While the days of Authorship images in search engine results pages are over, Google Authorship is not dead. If your Authorship is hooked up properly between your Google+ profile and your blog, your G+ byline will still show up in search results. If a searcher is logged into G+ and you are already in his/her Circles, your image will also appear. This kind of defeats the purpose for dentists. The initial excitement about Authorship was over their photo appearing to potential patients, not current G+ followers who already know them.

Even so, while some experts believe Google+ is hacking up a lung and probably won’t be capable of sustaining life much longer, Google is still King of Search. As such, dentists need to play the Google game, as I like to say. Authorship is still available, and dentists who have a blog should take advantage of the free tool.

Setting Up Google+ Authorship

  1. You need a Google+ profile (not a business page).
  2. In the Contributor To area, enter your website, blog, and sites to which you contribute.
  3. There are three ways to hook up authorship: rel=author tag in the code, email verification, or a plugin in your WordPress site.

Note: If you plan on making videos at any time in the future, set up YouTube at the same time you create your G+ profile.

Dentist SEO and Blogging

Do you need a professional website, blog, and social media profiles? Are you short on time, but you know that you need to do something to attract new patients? Identiwrite Creative has the solution. Call Shauna Duty at 940-395-5115 today to discuss your online marketing plan.

 

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