My CartDomain Authority
Domain Trust
Domain Authority
Domain Authority means that you are regarded as an authority in a specific niche or area. Links that come from websites that are regarded by search engines as a reputable, trustworthy site will have more value and weight when they link to your website. Websites that are new and up-coming have less authority and reputation due to the fact that their domain is young and is yet to earn the trust and reputation that the search engines require.
Sites like Yahoo, DMOZ, Wikipedia, *.gov, *.edu and all sites that have been online for a long time. If you have 4 or more links from trusted sites and your competitor has a 100 links from unaccredited sites, you would rank higher for the trust / authority part of Google's algorithm.
The Golden Rule behind being an Authority
Share Unique Quality Content - This is and will always be the key purpose behind the internet and behind search engine rankings. When in doubt, follow this rule and you'll create a strategy that will last longer than the next algorithm change.
Keep up to date with the latest in your niche
Just because you added a few pages of new content to the site, that doesn’t necessary increase search rankings. Content development needs to be long term, not a one and done tactic. Blogs, forums, discussion boards, whitepapers, social content sharing, are all great ways of generating new content on your site. Most important is that your content is newsworthy and interesting. If you just rewrite an article someone already wrote or write a piece of content just to try and get better rankings, you will not see the results you are hoping for. Fresh content needs to be interesting, create buzz, link worthy, and/or provides value to a certain industry or topic. This type of content is what search engines are looking for and will reward a site for producing this type of content.
Domain Authority: Strategies
The Winning Difference
The winning difference has been a critical concept way before the web came along. And it’s been called a lot of different things over time in various contexts: a unique selling proposition; your position in people’s minds; your purple cow… and on and on.
Don’t Sell… Teach
Many people think the main barrier to online marketing success is a lack of traffic. But it’s really a lack of trust. People love to buy stuff, but they hate to feel sold. So despite the fact that you’re building a website that will build your business, you need to concentrate on delivering value that builds authority. Selling is simply educating people about the benefits of doing business with you.
Cornerstone Content
A cornerstone is something that is basic, essential, indispensable, and the chief foundation upon which something is constructed or developed. Cornerstone content reveals what people need to know to make use of your site and do business with you. Think about it this way: Imagine your ideal customer or client calls you on the phone. She’s got money and a problem, and you’ve got the solution. What would you tell her?
Headlines and Hooks
The process of building authority involves a constant battle for attention. When you’re an unknown just starting out, it can be tough. But when you’re well established, you’re often competing even for the attention of the faithful. Let’s face it… it’s noisy out there. Your headline (or the title of your content) is what determines whether or not your effort even gets a chance. Think about this: On average, 8 out of 10 people will read the headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. Improve the odds with a killer headline.
Win Friends to Influence People
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the bestselling self-help books ever published, and for good reason. But as the web gets more social, winning friends alone can make you immensely influential. It all goes back to that basic truth about building authority: What others say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.
The Money’s in the List
“The money’s in the list” is an old saying from the direct mail industry. If the mailing list is dead on target, even uninspired copy sells. If you send a brilliant promotion to a bad list, it still bombs. The point is to get relevant visitors to your site to request updates every time you publish… whether by email, RSS, or carrier pigeon (okay, maybe not the pigeon). Getting people to opt-in and pay attention to you over time is the key to building authority… and to selling them something in the future.
SEO Matters
Search engine optimization is not that hard (at least in this context). In fact, I’m going to point you to free resources below that basically give away the farm when it comes to SEO for building an authority site. It’s not. In fact, everything in this report is exactly what Google wants you to do. And if you’re doing the stuff revealed in this report, Google wants you to rank well. But you won’t rank well if you ignore SEO, and some jerk with shoddy content and a basic understanding of SEO will. And we can’t have that, can we?
Code Google Loves
One thing some people who get basic SEO miss is the quality of website code. You can do everything else right, and still lose to other sites because of jumbled, poorly constructed HTML. You’ll hear time and again that WordPress is the best way to build a site (whether you call it a blog or not), and that it’s extremely SEO friendly. And that’s true (with a few tweaks). But many of the free themes (designs) for WordPress destroy that search-friendly start with sloppy code.
Design Makes the Site
They say “clothes make the man,” and that’s because human psychology favors and trusts pleasing packaging. The same applies to the way you dress up your content with site design. Don’t be sloppy.
Tend Your Tribe
When you become an authority figure, what you really become is a leader. And leadership involves great responsibility, because it involves great power. Remember: Authority is powerful stuff. Authority can be abused and it can definitely corrupt… but it can also build trust, admiration, and respect. Treat your tribe well, and authority will serve you well.
