“Authority” is the new buzzword in online marketing and even though it has always been important it seems that everyone is now paying more attention to it. When Google announced that they would no longer be updating the page rank toolbar everyone turned to Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) as the new metric to swear by.
Why?
Because authority matters. The name alone draws people to it. The metric itself is useless. It can be manipulated with a couple Fiverr spam blasts. Fancy SEO companies with hipsters and tech nerds working (playing ping pong I mean) are now throwing the term out. They tell clients they are building authority.. not building links. Are they right? Technically they are.. because when you build links your website authority increases.. and when you build your authority online it impacts your SEO. Terminology sells stuff!
This is how it really works. If you get exposure online it is going to have a positive impact on the SERPs.. and that is how the BIG G wants it.
Before only real companies were using this to their advantage.. niche sites and IM people just fired off links and hoped to rank.. ride the wave until it crashes and burns.. then start over. It doesn’t have to be this way. You have to diversify your sources of income as well as your strategies.
Do I love rank and bank/churn and burn? YES! and that is what Speed Rank is for.. I have my own sites I maintain.. and I go in knowing they are going to stop making money and will have to be replaced. I also have sites (that promote the same offers.. CPA.. affiliate, etc) but use a different SEO approach. They are clean and look like real businesses! This way I have income even if rank/bank goes away tomorrow. Or, if some crazy updates gets messed up and just spam ranks on top. No matter what happens I am still in the game and I have sales/conversions coming in.
For this post I’m going to focus on authority building for a site you are doing the right way. A high quality SEO service and this approach will really help push your site up the way the BIG G likes.
Automate Your Social Media Marketing – 24/7 – Never Break
Do we know if social signals help? They tell BIG G that your website and content is popular so common sense says that it is a good idea to do anything you can to get your content shared, tweeted, retweeted, etc. Social media is huge so if a website isn’t getting any social attention that is a huge red flag. Why would a website that has no social signals attached to it be ranking on top? No social signals = it isn’t popular. If it isn’t popular then the search engine isn’t going to consider it to be good info.
Just automate your social media to share your content over and over.. use Hootsuite or Sprout Social.. or any other option to automate everything. You can spend 1 hour and schedule automated posts for all sites for the week then you never have to worry about it. Mix it up.. send out your content and also send out some posts with popular hashtags to attract new followers. I see my social media pulls in some traffic to my websites and more importantly it generates real social shares.
Guest Blog On Real Websites
WTF another guest post tip? Yeah yeah.. but the term “guest post” is not understood around here at times. There are a million guest blog services out there but most will only put your website at risk. They are putting your guest posts on a website that doesn’t receive real traffic and if a BIG G employee found it they would flip a switch and torch every site linked. If you think you can get guest posts for $4 and $5 each you need a reality check.
Do it the right way.. you have to find REAL websites. Look at their stats before you even approach them. Look at their social media accounts.. if they have a lot of activity with followers and fans then it means they have a real following and readership. Contact them and get friendly with the webmaster. Do a good guest post that fits their style.. don’t just send them a $5 article and expect a link. Referral traffic is another reason to only guest blog on real sites. One guest blog done the right way is 100x better then the $5 GP’s in the marketplace.
Infographics BABY!
These suckers will help build authority big time if you use them the right way. Instead of repeating myself just take a look at this post I made earlier about why infographics kick ass!
Newsletter (No Work – Round Up Is Fine)
Every site should be collecting email addresses.. if not you are missing out on a huge opportunity to generate extra money. No matter what niche you are in there are a ton of CPA and affiliate offers that you can promote to your list. I cover a lot of stupid operational expenses like dedicated servers, website design, coding, software monthly fees, etc just from some extra affiliate commissions by sending a couple emails to my lists each month!
Instead of just emailing a straight offer I surround them with a newsletter. Don’t worry – it will take you 10 minutes to put together a newsletter. Use a round up approach. Whatever niche you are in.. just pick 5-6 articles that are recent.. and news worthy.. and a simple “(your niche) news from around the web” concept. Then slide in your affiliate/CPA offer in the middle. Track your clicks and see what positions work better.. split test.. try different offers. Using this approach does two great things: 1. it keeps your list happy.. and returning to your website. If they keep coming back they will read your blog and share your posts.. all this helps to build authority. 2. You make extra money to cover the little expenses that add up.
Run A YouTube Channel – Frequent Videos (Buffers)
YouTube is #2 behind Google.. this search engine is bigger then Bing and Yahoo so you need to be taking advantage of this. Video is just another form of content that you can easily create to promote your website. YouTube videos are also easy to rank if you know what you are doing.
You might not want to hammer your sites with dirty links.. but you can fire them at videos and rank them and include links to your site in the descriptions to send the traffic. These are great little buffers to create that bring traffic without having to risk your valuable sites and domains with dirty links that work.
You can still stay white while dipping into the black side a bit.
I go to Fiverr for videos. $5 for a video that you can quickly upload and rank is a steal. I don’t worry about the quality of the video as much as I do the description and optimization of the video. I want people to see the description and quickly click over to my site. I feel YouTube referral traffic is important. Having a presence on YouTube just helps to build more authority.. video search can bring a lot of traffic for most niches.
Keep An Updated Blog
You have to maintain a blog. For three main reasons:
1. It gives people new content to read every time: you want repeat traffic, right? If you don’t have new content all the time they will stop visiting your website. If you don’t have at least weekly posts there will be no reason for people to visit again.
2. It helps you target long tail keywords: you should go after all the low hanging fruit you can…even if the keywords have a low search volume. This all adds up quickly and a lot of long tail stuff can be ranked with just good on site optimization and with the help from #3 below.
3. It helps you interlink your blog posts and pass juice: these low competition long tails you target with your blog don’t need a lot to push them to the top. On site optimization and some link juice from internally will do the trick a lot of times. Interlinking also helps to keep people on your site longer.. instead of bouncing off they will click on to read another blog post.
Turn Blog Comments On & Interact
Blog comments are a pain in the ass but if you set them to be manually approved and use a spam plugin it can be manageable. Why should you give a crap about comments? If someone takes the time to leave a comment you should reply. This will turn a lot of people into buyers. Encourage comments. Ask for them at the end of each blog post. Ask if anyone has questions. Nobody will ask questions unless you invite them to.
If your site is promoting a product or service there are going to be people that have a question that if answered they would be ready to buy. Also, when people see that someone from your site is replying to comments it will make people sense there is a real person behind the site. Dedicate a time each day to approve comments and reply to them.
If you have a competitor that doesn’t have blog comments turn yours on right now. People will choose a site that is more active over one that is just pure info.
Pod Cast (On My List Of 2015 Goals)
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT DO THIS.. YET! I wanted to include this because I think it is important. I see so many websites introducing pod casts and it is on my list to do in 2015. Every niche has something to talk about. Once a month is my goal.. this way there is something for someone to listen to.. pod casts are mobile.. people can listen in their cars or on their iPods. It is just another way to promote your website.. BUT.. you can also get some decent links from the big sites that host your pod casts. This just adds link diversity.. and that is important for authority building.
(PS – if anyone is doing pod casts that reads this.. and wants to post about their results please do so!)
Sponsor Local School Events
Sure, this is a good thing to do.. but let’s get real.. it is about getting some good links. Sports teams.. fundraising drives.. school field trips.. they all need donations. There isn’t a single school out there that will turn down a donation of any size! Most also have a news section on their site and will publicly thank you there (and link to your website).. this is such an easy way to get great links and also get local community free advertising. Anyone not doing this is insane.. because it is easy.
This is where the WORK comes in. People would rather buy $30 worth of fake guest blog links on the BHW marketplace rather than work for 20 minutes. I promise you that a single link from a school will help your website more than a package of crap links on fake blogs. You have to send some emails and maybe even make a phone call.. and then of course the actual donation amount. You don’t have to go crazy.. there are plenty of sponsorship opportunities for under $100.
Apply For Awards, Contests & Recognition
Think companies that make the INC 500/5000 list get good authority exposure? They get a good link and a crap ton of press. Most businesses can’t get that so look for industry award options. There are so many you can apply to. Here is one related to SEO:
http://www.ussearchawards.com/
It is complete BULLSHIT. They charge you to apply.. this is just to show you something most on a SEO blog can relate to. There are these for all niches. You will have to do some digging.. but there are plenty of local and global opportunities. I wouldn’t do any you have to pay to apply for though.. screw that nonsense!
Search For Customers On Twitter (#HASHTAG)
Up top I mentioned social signals.. well you can get more REAL twitter followers by tweeting people that are interested in what you sell. Just search hashtags related to whatever you sell! If you are pushing diet offers search #fitfam, #fitness, #gym, #diet, etc.. there are endless possibilities. Search through tweets and if you see someone that looks to be looking for answers or solutions help them.. let them know you can help and give them a link to your site.
It’s seriously that simple. You will get social signals, website traffic and sales. Who doesn’t want more of all these? Again.. this requires that 4 letter word 99% are scared of.. WORK. Do it.. or hire a VA to do this all day long.
Donate To Charity & Send Local News Press Releases
Wants links from local TV station websites and Newspapers? Make a donation to a local charity or event and create a press release and send it to every local media outlet. They love to highlight local businesses that give back to their community. The donation doesn’t have to be huge.. this is where a good press release will make it sound like you are doing something amazing. Look at the domain stats for every local TV station and local newspapers website.. now tell me you wouldn’t kill for links on their sites. All you have to do is break out the checkbook and promote yourself.
It doesn’t have to be hard.. you just have to think and not be lazy. You see people say “take action” daily.. but 99% won’t ever do it. You have to want it bad enough. There is nothing on this list that is hard if you are motivated and just do the work!
As always I hope you enjoyed the read, any feedback and questions are welcomed.. Until next time..
