by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A Google knowledge panel is a box that comes up in the sidebar when you search for your name or your book’s name. Mine looks like this:
First off, if you don’t see a knowledge panel in the sidebar when you Google your name, take a look at this post John Doppler wrote for the Alliance of Independent Authors. I wrote a similar post on getting knowledge panels for our books.
Having one of these panels makes you stand out a bit more from everyone else online who shares your name. It gives you a little more visibility on a very important search engine.
What I didn’t realize until a couple of months ago was there was a place to claim your knowledge panel. You can see it at the very bottom of the image above.
Why claim it? When you click “claim this knowledge panel,” Google pitches it to you:
In case you can’t read it, it states: “Make sure your audience sees the most accurate, authoritative, and engaging information about you. You can suggest changes to info that shows up on search, including images, stats, or other facts.”
When you click “get verified” in the top-right of the image above, they send you here:
After clicking that I was a person with a panel, other things came up:
I was a little confused by the “share button” thing that Google referred to in the first box. That’s because I was looking for a button, not a symbol. It’s really just that share symbol (sort of a ‘less than’ symbol from math classes of long ago):
Then the next section, fairly self-explanatory:
And then it gets into proving who you are:
Finally, the biggest proof of all…you, holding your ID. I made sure to scrub out any personal information using the free Microsoft Paint program on my laptop (because….this is Google). Directions on doing so are here.
This all sounds as if it took longer than it did. I think it took me 10 minutes from start to finish. Then I hit submit and was informed that Google would review the information and get back to me.
For more information (from Google), follow this link.
Do you have a knowledge panel? Do you have any other tips for visibility?
Claiming Your Knowledge Panel on Google: Share on X
Hi Elizabeth – I can only say how interesting … I’ve noted – and seen you on Wiki … fascinating to be told about the knowledge panel – thank you … all the best – Hilary
It’s a pretty neat feature and who knew? Hope you have a happy week, Hilary!
I didn’t know you could claim it either. Good to know!
It’s cool because then we can manipulate what we want it to show…covers, bio info, etc. :)
What an interesting idea, Elizabeth. Anything that offers a chance to remind readers of our work can be helpful. I like it, too, that this is subtle and low-key, so you don’t feel like you’re bashing readers over the head with sales pitches. Also, it looks straightforward to do, which is always good.
Exactly…it would only show up to someone Googling us…and then I’ll come up, instead of the other Elizabeth Craigs because I’ve taken the time and trouble. :) Not sure what the John Smiths do, though, ha.
I guess I need to do that. Thanks for breaking down all the steps so we can go in prepared.
You’re welcome. :) It’s pretty easy…longest parts are uploading a selfie with an ID, the social media proof, etc.
Wonderful information. I had no idea that existed. Great feature and your guide/how too is perfect too!
So glad it’s useful! Thanks so much for coming by, Yolanda!
Wow! So very cool. I didn’t know any of that. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for coming by, Jemi!
Time is running short today, but I’m coming back here tomorrow for directions and hopefully get this done. Thanks!
Hope it helps, Carol!
Thanks so much, Elizabeth! That was super-easy! Since I switched from my pen name Gillian Doyle to my legal name, I’ve been trying to find ways to stand out from other writers with the same name. This helped a lot!
I’m so glad it helped! It was easy, wasn’t it? That sounds like a great way to stand out from the pack. :)