The internet has provided challenges that even the best journalist could have never anticipated just a few years ago. You research, you create and you produce content that is a stand-out in your industry. You put real effort into your content, with the goal of becoming an authority in your niche, and after publishing your blog, it’s out there in the open for anyone to use as their own.
In the past, copyright laws made it difficult to steal another person’s content, but in today’s world of internet-based content, it’s as simple as hitting “copy and paste,” and someone can use your words as their own. Even worse than the fact that your ideas are being credited to someone else, it can also mean that your content is pushed down in the SEO rankings, while the person doing the copying is awarded with higher rankings in the search engines.
There is good news for those content creators who focus on creativity and originality. Google is taking strides to prevent content theft from occurring with their Google Authorship program. Google Authorship is one of the search engine giant’s latest attempts to not only find, but also penalize low quality content, in order to make the search engine experience more positive and beneficial for users.
Essentially with Google authorship, after creating content, an author will then link the content to their Google+ account. In order to start using Google Authorship, a content creator has to simply create a Google+ account, and link it with an email address (typically a business email address). A photo should also be added to the account, and for the purpose of authorship, the more professional the photo the better. The user then submits a list of sites to which they contribute content. By setting up an authorship account, you’re giving your content a by-line.
The benefits of Google Authorship are immense, for both writers and users of the search engine. The idea is that by providing authorship credits, content is going to be from authenticated writers, and if a writer is willing to authenticate his or her content with a by-line and photo, it’s more likely to be high-quality content. This is a mechanism to help Google weed out the real authors, from the spammers and low-quality mass content producers.
Google is continually making efforts to discourage the publication of black hat content— with which we’re all probably familiar. For example, you come across an article claiming to be about sales techniques, and then all you seem to be reading is the same SEO phrase over and over again.
For content creators, using Google Authorship allows you the opportunity to build a real, established and credible reputation in your industry—if you’re continuously producing great content. It also reduces the risk that someone is going to steal and take credit for your work. Google has created even more incentive for authentic writers by rewarding work with Google Authorship credits with higher SEO rankings. Every time you publish your work using your Google+ byline, you’re placed higher in the rankings, and as your work and your brand grows, you have ample opportunities to build a real and impacting internet presence.
As Google continues to show with algorithm changes and attempts to weed out the spammers and content scrapers, SEO is no longer about who can use a keyword the most times in a piece of content. The hope is that through these efforts we’re not only going to have access to more relevant and informative content, but that writers are also going to have the chance to shine based on their merits, as opposed to inauthentic content creation.
Are you a content creator that has had your online content stolen and re-used or claimed by another as their own? Or, have you been lucky and have already setup your Google Authorship? Share your story with use below or at our Facebook page.
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