Ranking above your competitors on any search engine result list is the primary goal if you’re online. If that search engine is Google, you’re likely paying attention to specific features. If you’re unfamiliar with Google Authorship, now is the perfect time to get caught up and gain a more enhanced listing.

Google Authorship is related to Google + and lets people cut through the din of information on the Web. It allows you to connect content with the Google + profile of its author. SEO efforts benefit through Authorship when quality content is written and proceeds to generate a fair amount of traffic. The author of that piece can boost his/her rank in Google Authorship.

Google has a newfound value placed on quality content, and Google Authorship is a way to increase the value of your content and generate more visibility in Google searches. A higher ranking will improve the click-through rate and help build trust in the services you provide.

Google Authorship hasn’t been around long, but authors with boosted ratings offer many benefits to the websites to which they contribute. This includes brand protection, increased followers, higher search visibility and organic traffic to the site.

Authorship markup has gotten a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. Pictures of authors are beginning to show up in Google searches. According to some studies, the personal touch that’s added with the small photo in the SERP can help boost interest in the author, which creates a higher click-through rate.

Setting up Google Authorship is easy. First, set up a Google + account. Use an email address that is associated with your blog. Always link to your content from the Google  + profile. Likewise, on your webpage, link to your Google + profile to gain greater visibility. When you’re writing a guest post, the blog must be written in the correct HTML. Then, add a direct link to your Google + profile and include “rel=author” within the link.

Google will go through a process to ensure that it can trust your published content. The search giant uses a few different measures to do this, including a three-link process that involves linking content pages to the author’s biography page. The biography page links to the author’s Google + profile, and the Google + profile links back to the author’s biography.

There is also an email verification process, which is useful for authors that don’t get to control their content. If this is the case with you, simply link your byline to an email address by using the content page’s domain name. At this point, the email address is verified in your Google profile.

Google Authorship has been around now for more than a year. If you’re creating online content, get involved now as you’re missing out on key opportunities. Users say they’re taking ownership of their content and their identity. Of particular interest is an enhanced visibility in SERPS, increased click-through rates and centralized content.

According to Google administrators, the “rel=author” approach will continue to be evaluated and improved upon as it can “help improve search quality.” If you’re looking to leverage that search quality for your own business, this is an opportunity to continue to explore.