Establishing yourself as THE voice on a specific topic will cause your site to increasingly become known as an “authority” helping you to rank better in a wide variety of related keywords long-term.
What makes a site “authoritative?” It simply implies that your website and its authors are displaying current knowledge and skill in a particular area.
Being “trustworthy” in the eyes of Google means focusing on customer value and transparency with factual content from experienced professionals (experts).
Combine your your keyword research with and an understanding of your target audience to create high-quality content that speaks to your audience and that they want to share.
This is your simple roadmap to creating a solid authority score according to the search engines.
After consulting your keyword question and answer library, begin to identify which topics are most likely to warrant a frequently asked question segment and begin developing rich content around that specific keyword/phrase.
You will choose one main keyword or phrase per page with several supporting latent semantic terms. This is the Main Content (MC) for that particular page. Primarily focus on answering one question thoroughly.
Think long-tail and narrow down your niche to provide as much original and quality content as you can on one page.
“ High quality information pages should be factually accurate, clearly written, and comprehensive… and updated on a regular basis” - Google
Be sure to include supporting latent semantic text, video and graphics. Be sure your page text is a minimum of 300-500 words, but more effectively, target 2,000-3,000. You want to be sure to completely answer the question with supporting documentation and cite sources, if relevant, to enhance credibility.
Then simply duplicate this outline (but definitely not the content or tags) and create new pages or blog posts, with several text links throughout that content pointing towards other pages in your site, most effectively to the more popular (more authoritative) pages.
Always encourage engagement by eliciting comments on your blog posts and/or inviting them to participate in your Facebook Group.
Backlinks are another critical factor in your E-A-T score. Sites with many backlinks from a variety of credible sources are considered to have more authority. This is kind of a big deal, and a little bit complex, so I’ve dedicated an entire chapter to it, coming up next.
Focus on being an authority in one particular area. Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s important to provide a lot of narrative around your specific topic in order to become a trustworthy “expert” and have people link to your content.
Google factors in reviews and links from news and magazine articles, Wikipedia, other blog posts, forum discussions, and ratings from independent organizations.
Check your existing listings on review sites like TrustPilot, GoogleMyBusiness, Yelp and the Better Business Bureau to not only look for detrimental factors such as negative reviews, but to make sure your listing is current, accurate and links properly to your website.
Always encourage your customers to leave reviews and be sure to respond to both positive and negative comments quickly and professionally. Keeping the conversation alive is a sign of an active community and bodes well for your credibility.
Google factors in activity based around your topic and your website from social signals. This includes data from closed Facebook Groups. By cultivating an active group that is generating ideas, cross-promoting articles with your website and is in general, a hub of activity, your authority status will be greatly enhanced.
Building authority for a small or new website may seem daunting at first, but the more extremely authoritative content you create, the more attention you’ll attract, which will organically expand your reach and build upon itself over time.
Remember the goal from Chapter 1, consider how you can provide the information in a different or better way.
Authoritative sites demand a high degree of trust, so they generally need sufficient information about who is responsible for publishing the content. In addition, shopping sites need clear customer service options, location information and return policies.
If positioning yourself as an expert or authority in a field or topic, create a rich bio page that showcases your credentials, achievements, awards, experience, etc.