I am sure that by now you have noticed all the faces staring back at you from the search results in Google. If you’re not sure what I am talking about, here is an example of the first 4 results on the first page of Google for a search I did:

You might be asking, ‘what is the benefit of this?’…

To get a really good understanding of the benefits and value of having your face appear next to everything you publish online, let’s first evaluate Google’s business objective.

Their number one priority (as far as search goes anyway) is to provide the most up-to-date, relevant content for the searches you perform on their search engine. They want you to find what you are looking for as easily and quickly as possible. They want to deliver the best results on the first page in high priority. Ultimately, they want you to have a positive, successful experience every time you use their “tool” (which is really their business). Essentially they want you to be a happy customer every time you use their search engine!

As you may know, Google made several changes in February 2012 to their search algorithm and many of those changes incorporated Google+ (that’s their social platform). The changes increased the “importance” and “relevance” of the social platform Google+, which was obviously struggling to gain ground in the social world, but by adding it’s features to the SERPS (search engine results page’s) it has now become even more important for online publishers and businesses to use the previously “failed” social platform Google+.

In 2011, Facebook started making waves in that they were taking millions of daily searches away from the Google search engine. This was a new kind of competition. The difficult thing (until now) about finding reliable content through the search engines was how do you know who is a credible source and which result to click on? Pick one of the top and expect that because their in that position they are qualified, or start click until you find something credible. Because Facebook is a network of “friends” and “connections”, you’re able to see content based on “credible” or “trusted” sources. The people you “Friend” or “Like” on Facebook are the people you tend to follow or trust. Therefore, when your Facebook “Friend” says this is a really good article, book, video, etc… you probably check it out. In a Google search (until now) you were not able to make those connections from the SERPS.

By integrating the Google+ features into search, Google is making your search results, more PERSONAL! They are making it easier for you to find the content you really want, from the people you want it from!

As a side note, if you’re not currently using Google+ you need to be! It is going to become more and more important to the mission and purpose of Google’s business!

What is the benefit?

Hopefully by now you’ve figured it out, but just incase you’re still unclear…

When people who know you, or that have any type of connection with you at all, whether they saw a Facebook “Friend” share something you posted, or have read your blog, visited your website, whatever it is, they are going to be more likely to click on the SERP with your face next to it. Google, with the power of Google+, has found a way to get you connected to the people you know, like, and trust ultimately so that they can deliver a better customer experience (getting you the info you want, from a credible source you already know, like, and trust)!

How do you get your face next to your SERPS?

Just use the tutorial I used to get this to work for me! I learned from Brian Gardner, founder of StudioPress.

There is some additional reading on this at Google’s Support site. I suggest you learn all you can and identify how you can position your brand to further benefit from your face .

If you have any questions, or need additional ideas on how this can benefit you and/or your business, use the comments below!

If you’re currently benefiting from this technique, I’d love to hear your experiences, tell your story in the comments below!