We've tackled many dimensions of blogging as it exists in the web 2.0 environment--particularly how its power as a content creation tool can give companies of all kinds a unique way to climb Google's page results and grab valuable visibility. In an effort to fix the growing problem of lifted content, Google has given more weight to authorship online.
By putting greater importance on who is writing what, Google is attempting to allow thought leaders to ascend past the throngs of copycats and curators who freely grab others' content for themselves and give them the search visibility they deserve. With no viable means of protecting others from stealing your content, the idea behind authorship is to naturally allow legitimate content creators and widely known industry leaders an easier way to step onto the soapbox and deliver their message.
How can business owners leverage authorship for their company blogs?
The underlying goal of giving authors more power over content thieves is to give good ideas a more direct path to curious search engine users. As such, good ideas aren't limited topically or categorically. Professionals in a wide variety of industries can establish themselves as thought leaders given they have something to say and a space to get their ideas out onto the web.
For companies who have already become a widely recognized name within their industry, building on your authority as a content generator is a relatively simple task: start blogging as much as possible.
A large component of judging authority is measuring how often and how much you publish. If you have yet to start blogging, there are a number of platforms you can integrate onto your easily integrate onto your website. Once the infrastructure is in place, establish a posting schedule you can adhere to and get to writing.
For professionals and small business owners still trying to make a name for themselves within their market, establishing authority is a steeper hill to climb, however the benefits are immeasurably more rewarding. Particularly useful to entrepreneurs with ideas to share, building your reputation as a thought leader can be helpful if the business side of your projects are running into obstacles or not quite getting of the ground as quickly as you hoped.
Simply put, authorship rankings give anyone with good ideas and a knack for writing and sharing the ability to get their name or brand out to new consumers.
AuthorRank and a renewed importance in guest blogging
With "author authority" becoming more important within the blogging world, guest posts are now more important than ever. AuthorRank, like PageRank, is an automated measurement tool, and thus can't objectively assess your content for the quality of the writing. Instead, it measures your blog's popularity relative to how others are interacting with your content. The more readers and other bloggers engage with your content through linking and sharing, the more valuable your content appears to Google.
As a result, the process of blogging is becoming inherently more social. The underlying goal with socializing your blog is getting as many references from high authority authors as possible in order to lend greater credibility to your content and similarly, your name as an author.
This process gives lesser known writers a great way to boost their own reputation and improve their rankings.
How to start building authority
Google+ Identity and Network Building
A key element to being recognized by Google is to utilize their identity platforms to brand your name to your content. If you've been waiting for some reason to start using Google+, here's your opportunity. With a G+ account, bloggers can officially claim authorship and enrich their result listings as attractive snippets rather than standard Google search result listings.
Taking Google+ integration a step further, you can start growing a Google-specific network of other bloggers also using the same platform to quickly grow your social circles and improve your overall author ranking.
Smart Guest Posting
Not all blogs are judged equally by Google so you should practice some quality control standards when participating with other blogs. While it's not clear whether guest blogging on "poor quality" blogs actually hurts your ranking, it's certainly not improving your reputation by contributing to lesser blogs.
Do some vetting before accepting a guest blogging offer and make sure to take advantage of backlinks to make certain your efforts aren't going unnoticed by Google.
Stay within your realm of expertise
Since you're catering to an automated measuring tool, stay within the relative boundaries of your area of knowledge. While specifics about the categorical and topical measurement metrics used by AuthorRank aren't clear, you won't score better by writing on unrelated issues.