Google+

Since launching its social network Google+ earlier this year, and then unveiling brand pages for businesses this month, Google has made no secret of its plans to incorporate its new social side with the results of its popular search engine.

Now it appears that process is well underway. Over at SEO blog Search Engine Land, Matt McGee says that: “Google+ content is slowly – but very surely – expanding its footprint inside of Google.com’s main search results.”

The change McGee is referring to relates to the ‘rel=author’ html tag, which can be applied to any articles you create and distribute on the Internet, so that they are brought together in one place. That one place is, unsurprisingly, the user’s Google or Google+ profile. In effect, it puts the author’s picture and a link to their profile next to search results marked with tag.

Now, when either the author’s picture or name is clicked, it brings up a new search, with the author’s Google+ profile and some recent results from them at the very top. This feature, and others like it, appear to still be in the testing phases, but it is yet another clear indication of the direction Google is heading with its melding together of social and search.

Google+, the ‘author’ tag and content marketing

It is also a glimpse at the potential that is there for businesses trying to broaden their exposure and visibility, particularly in the area of content marketing.

For example, say you create some interesting and informative articles and guest posts relevant to your field, or you hire a copywriter to do it for you, and then distribute these across various websites and blogs. Where previously these would remain scattered and fragmented pieces of your web presence, with the author tag you can make it easy for people who like your articles to read more.

With these latest changes, they can also view more details about you, and interact with you directly and conveniently. It is also possible that in the future, web users may be able to opt to have a preference for results that come from their favoured authors whenever they are searching – potentially a very significant game-changer.

Very steadily, having a social presence is becoming intrinsically linked with an overall online presence, and savvy businesses will make the most of this trend now to fully capitalise on the ongoing and upcoming changes.