Have you ever noticed the people with pictures in Google search results? Wondered how to do that? You first need a Google account but that isn’t hard to do. You can then go to Google.com to learn about this program by clicking on this link. The Google Authorship program ties your content to yourself. Very nice.
It’s easy to set up if you own or control a domain with a matching e-mail account. In my case I do not have that. I have the domain thomasfarleyblog.com but my e-mail address is thomasfarley@yahoo.com. In that case, Google’s program makes it somewhat complicated for you to claim authorship privileges.
Fortunately for WordPress users, you can go to your Dashboard, click on “Settings” and investigate the “Sharing” settings. You’ll want to investigate the “Publicize” and “Google+Profile” areas. Do both. Check out, too, in this section, the many other ways that you can extend the reach of your WP blog. LinkedIn and Facebook are just two of the options you can plug into your blog. BTW, thanks much to the great support staff at WP for helping me figure this out.
May 15, 2014 update: While I think the link with Google is working, it still is not putting my photo with my search results. I will continue to investigate.
August 6, 2014 update: Google did indeed put up my photo with results. But this link suggests that Google is revising everything in this regard. (external link)
August 30, 2014 update: Google ends the program. (external link)
August 12, 2016 update: The program must be continuing. This search result shows a post that’s less than a month old:
