Some websites, like Wikipedia, always ranks on the first page in nearly every set of search results. That’s because the website has built an “authority” at the domain, site and page levels. Google recognises the value of Wikipedia’s authentic and reliable content that links out to well-documented sources. In this article, we’ll ask what is an authority website, and how can you create one for yourself?
What Is an Authority Site?
Keep in mind that Google does not use Moz’s domain authority to rank sites. However, site authority is important to Google. It has shown that quality content affects ranking. Google’s Hummingbird algorithm has been using semantics and AI to match search results to the intent of a query.
So, instead of depending on the keywords of a page, the search engine seeks to match a search query with the most relevant content. Google’s web crawlers consider both external and internal links. As it crawls a website for relevancy, it follows links on those pages, and If it finds related content, that helps the site rank better in search results.
To go further, what exactly is an authority website? An authority site is not always the top result in Google, and not always even found on the first page, depending upon the day and the latest algorithmic changes. An authority website is just like a person who can be trusted to provide you with what you’re looking for. Sometimes you find the first results true and reliable.
Building Website Authority for a New Website
If you have a new website, building site authority from scratch is going to take a lot of time and patience. But a lot of what goes into building that authority has to do with your content. Plan your content using the following steps to ensure that your website design is achieving the best ranking goals:
- Address User Intent – Make sure your content resonates with the intent behind the search term you are targeting. If, for example, your keyword is ‘making a paper boat’, most likely people want to know how to do it. Your website content should match that intent.
- Create Quality, Linkable Content – Creating high-quality content that users can rely on will keep them coming back for more. Content on making a paper boat should have step-by-step directions, helpful tips, and images. The more reliable the content, the more likely your users will enjoy it, increasing the chance other sites will link back to you.
- Link out to quality websites – Your content should include external links to authoritative websites. This proves to search engines and users that you’ve done your homework and you’re offering the most relevant and reliable content.
- Quality Backlinks – Invest in link building once you have some content up on your website. Reach out to similar websites that might be interested in linking to your content. Promote your content on social platforms to attract attention to yourself and increase your chances of getting links. You can also do guest posting, which is another way of garnering quality links. The more quality backlinks you have, the more search engines understand that your content is authoritative. Try to use relevant anchor text in your link as that provides additional relevancy.
- Remove Toxic Links – If you find random websites linking to your content, do your best to get rid of those backlinks. Websites with bad reputations will damage your reputation. If you can’t remove them, consider disowning those links.
- Create Relevant Internal Linking – Internal linking connects your one piece of content to another. That provides web crawlers with more to look at when they’re identifying whether or not your content answers a search query. It can also increase pages per session as visitors click from one page to another. Make sure to include appropriate anchor text for each link, since it’s good for both your audience and search engines.
Improving Website Authority for an Existing Site
If you already have quality content on your website, you can still use the steps above to improve your website authority. Focus on auditing your existing content, looking through each piece and checking your linking strategy. Run your content through an online analysis tool to determine if there are any gaps within each piece itself.
Any improvement in an article or blog is a good reason to reach out to gain additional authority backlinks. Once done, check your content holistically to see if there are any opportunities to create topic clusters. Combine pieces together by topic and create the main piece they can all link back to.
Website Authority – Increase Your Website Traffic and Sales
High authority websites need to feature content that can be verified elsewhere. Keep in mind that one great link is worth many lower-quality ones. Famous authority websites, like Wikipedia, have mastered the art of authority when it comes to search engines. You can do the same following the steps outlined in the article. Create relevant content pieces with strong internal and external linking, and you’ll be well on the way to better domain authority.
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