According to the G+ site it "aims to make sharing on the web more like sharing in real life". Since drawings are not "real" perhaps they are ranked differently. Take @Gordi 's advice and see if it makes a difference.

Try adding your real picture and see if you go back to Pg 1

Thanks for this info!

Ken

Yup. Google only "recognises" genuine face shots, not icons, logos, or "caricatures". Sorry! :) Rich.

I'm afraid you might be penalized. I use a caricature on my blog and an SEO acquaintance advised me against if for G authorship.

Here's an interesting article that answers your question and is a good read too:

http://www.fresheggdigital.com.au/blog/social-media/google-social-media/changing-profile-picture-manipulate-google-authorship

~Jude

I guess it could not be the reason for your site going invisible..happened with one of my posts recently..it went out of ranking totally from 1 and now again its back...

Everybody is in a hurry these days. Too much of a hurry in my opinion. Very few people will have the time or take the time to read a long post. Even with a 400-500 word post, people still skim.

Break your great posts up into 2 or 3 posts.

People have limited time in a day. Often, when I see an article that is too long, and I know I don't have time, I just pass over the long articles. There isn't enough time to read everything that everybody writes. If you write but nobody reads what you write, you have wasted your time which otherwise could have been used productively. Leave the people wanting more, not wanting less. You cant make people read what you write. You have to figure out (asking God's help) how to get people to want to read your work.
I recommend this. If you have too much to say, and you think it's important to say it all, divide it into two or three articles, and put them in different places, like your blog, your Squido lens, a website page, a hub, etc. In each article, make the readers hungry to know more, and finish by saying, "...for more information on this topic, CLICK HERE. And put in a link to another article where the discussion is continued. An article of 10 words that is read accomplishes more than an article of 10,000 words that is passed over because it is just too long.
Finally, make the people glad that they took time to read your work. There might be a busy mom out there with five small children who lots to do and not too much extra time. But if she thinks that you added something to her day, like, for example, showing her (without taking too much of her time) where to get a good deal and save some money (which she probably doesn't have much of to spare), she will be back for more

Agreed.

400-500 is plenty...leave something for the next post is my humble opinion.

Hi there you have already received great advise here --good job---I would make three out of it.

I think most things can be conveyed in 400 to 500 words. I usually won't read anything much longer because I get bored with it or it is too detailed.

I think if I had so much to write about, I'd probably split it up......maybe part A and part B, or something like that.
I thought Kyle suggest in the range of 400-500 words

I agree with Rich and I think 400 - 500 is plenty. I look at lots of articles and many would be better for some drastic editing. 1500 is long and the numbers you have looking at that amount are likely to be small indeed especially as only 16% of readers look at an entire page!

Hi there - my longest post to date was about 900 words but, coincidence or not, I moved up the Google rankings the day after. It is I think, as Rich says, a balance of keeping your content valuable and interesting, adding some relevant images and bullet points along the way, so that your reader stays with you and doesn't drop off to sleep :0)

You'll find that currently search engines favour a minimum of 400 words. I stick to around 400-500 words, unless it's something like a tutorial, as I feel most visitors will "skim" anything longer. However, that can also work in your favour, if you've used plenty of relevant headings and bullet points so they can easily find the information they're looking for in a long post with a quick glance. :) Rich.

Hi Al,

Matt Cutts answers this on a YouTube video. The question supposedly came from a blind 5 year old and he answers it unwittingly using the word 'see" several times, but, oh, well.

http://youtu.be/T2_7PTio3Qc

Dash all the way!!!

Yep I like the dash ------------------- Lol

You got your answer already.

Kyle suggested -

I agree with Kyle's suggestion that - is better than | because for me it is visually more naturally readable.

Here's Kyle's tutorial video link, below. Start at the 8:20 (8 minute, 20 second) part. It's Kyle's personal preference to change to the dash and also mine but Kyle states that it isn't necessary.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/setting-up-your-wordpress-site-at-wealthy-affiliate

It is just a personal prference, but the symbol is not a letter "I" however I guess you could use that. The symbol on my keyboard is with the \ (backslash) key.

that depends upon you..there is no big difference, choose the one that suits your eyes

There was a tutorial somewhere on that. Kyle suggested changing I to -

The use of keywords are the same for Pages and Posts. You use keywords on anything with actual content. However when your Home page is set up as your blog roll, you will not need a specific keyword for that page because it doesn't contain content, it only contains a listing of all of your blogs.