Author Toys

Getting your head shot to show on search results
by Margo Moon

As indie and small press authors, it's often up to us to machete our own way through the thickets of Web marketing. And because we're writing and marketing at a time when indies are gaining such prominence and legitimacy, I think it's important for us to share with one another as we learn the ropes.

So in that spirit, I want to share with all of you the tips I'm able to pick up, and I hope you'll spread your little tricks around, too.  Well, that didn't come out the way I meant it, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, this week I learned how to get my profile pic and author website to show up at the top of my search results. Search results that display like this definitely give your author image a professional boost. 

These search results are called "rich snippets."  The instructions I followed to achieve the results pictured above came from the article Google Authorship Markup: How to get your picture in search results, by Andy Crestodina.  He does a good job of keeping it short and sweet. 

If this is an effect you'd like to add to your author image, I hope this is helpful.  And if you're an indie who has discovered a neat tool or resource that might be of interest to the rest of us, please think about sharing.  I envision all of us working together to help elevate the entire indie movement.  Happy marketing!