Is Google Authorship Important for a Church or Blog?
Have you noticed when you’re searching on google.com that some of the results at the top of the page have a picture of the author and the author’s name? That’s Google Authorship.
So, why would that be important for a church or Christian blogger you ask.
Let me relate a short story as an explanation. I’ve been blogging since we moved to Belize as missionaries. Recently, I inadvertently joined Google+. If you know me then you know once I do something, I’ll try to learn all I can about it. That lead me to Google Authorship. Once I learned about it, I linked my blog to my Google+ account.
After that I noticed a big spike in views. I also noticed that one of my most popular posts was a recipe for Escabeche. Being curious I went to Google.com and searched for “Escabche Belize”. Lo and behold my blog was the 2nd listing! No wonder I saw such a spike in viewers…adding Google Authorship moved my blog post to the top of search listings.
As a soul winning Christian my 1st thought was how can I use this to spread the gospel. I already had my testimony on my blog, but only in the top navigational menu. Once I noticed the spike, I added a link to my testimony in the sidebar with a catchy (well I hope it’s catchy) phrase – “From Atheist to Missionary – My Story” and at the bottom of my testimony I added a link to http://cfmmap.org/ titled “Click Here to Find a Church Near You”.
Will that bring someone to Christ? I don’t know, but I do know whoever reads my blog will have the opportunity to read about the life changing power of Jesus Christ and be able to find a bible believing church near them. I think it’s important as Christians we use every opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Will we disciple people online? No, that’s not likely and I understand that. But now your blog reader has a choice to make whether to pursue what they just heard (or read) and the opportunity to choose Christ just like the person who gets a flier has that opportunity.
Here’s a link if you want to learn how to connect your Google+ account to your church website or blog https://plus.google.com/authorship.
If you don’t have a website or blog feel free to contact me. I’d love to help you set one up. Or if you already have one, but don’t have the time to set up your Google+ page, I also provide help with that. Check out the About Me section for more information.
By Melissa Canonge
