I’m sure you’ve realized by now that there are more than a just a few ways to make money online. Just like the offline world, you’ll find many, many different Internet Marketing Business Models (techniques to make money!).
For businesses that are aiming to build a website that achieves long-term success by being the face of the business, making sales, or promoting services, one of the primary goals should be to develop a website that becomes recognized as an authority in its industry.
Building an authority site takes time and work, but the result can yield a website that is truly a valuable asset for the business.
What is an Authority Site?
Before going to our step by step (case study) tutorial on how to create an authority website, let’s first define what we are referring to. There are a few different aspects to a website that has authority. First, it can be considered a trusted source that people turn to when they need something. Basically, one of the first websites that people think of when they want to find a specific topic or thing. The second aspect is being trusted by search engines. Google (and other search engines) prefers to send searchers to sites that they trust because it will typically produce more reliable and more valuable information for those who are searching. So, an authority site has achieved an elevated position in the eyes of human visitors as well as search engines.
As you look at how we are defining an authority site, you can see that it is something that will not happen overnight. Building an authority site takes a long-term focus because it takes time to earn the trust of visitors and search engines. As visitors keep coming back to your site through search engine results, links from other sites, bookmarks, or however they may arrive, each time they have a positive experience on your site you will be that much closer towards establishing authority.
Search engine rankings and traffic generally increase over time, in part because search engines tend to trust sites that have been around for a while. New websites need to prove themselves to search engines before they will start to see significant rankings and traffic.
A few examples of authority sites would be:
Craigslist: Online Classified Ads
Amazon: Online Shopping
TechCrunch: Technology
These are examples of EXTREMELY popular sites and many people wouldn’t even dream of running a site that big, but it’s important to understand that a site doesn’t have to be at the level of Amazon etc. to be considered authoritative!
Important Things to Consider
One of the biggest differences between running a “niche” site (targeting long-tail phrases) and an authority site is the requirement of passion and to a certain extent, knowledge. If you want to start an authority site in the Credit Card niche simply because it’s a high paying market, but you don’t have a passion or much knowledge on that niche, chances are you’ll never get an authority site on that niche off the ground!
You simply MUST either have a passion for that niche, have a great deal of knowledge for that niche or both! Notice I said “either” one, the other or both. Read this very carefully because many people quit before they realize this important piece of advice: You DON’T have to be an expert on the subject to run an authority site! If you have a passion for the niche you’ll come up with stuff to write about that others with the same passion will love to hear! You can always research topics that you’re not sure about and write about your findings. Chances are many of your readers wondered the same thing!
PASSION is the most important factor! Although someone with a great deal of knowledge on a subject, but little or no passion, could also develop an authoritative site on the subject, someone with lots of passion on the subject, but maybe less knowledge, will almost always win the respect and readership of people over the person with no passion, but alot of knowledge! If you have both, you have the ingredients of a SUPER authoritative site, but one or the other will get you where you want to be!
How to Actually Get an Authoritative Site Going
There isn’t anything too difficult about starting an authority site. It’s really no different than starting a niche site or anything else. BUT there are a few things that are very important (in no particular order!)
- 1. You want a good, professional appearance! Sure, an ugly site can certainly still be authoritative, but a professional, “clean” looking site will get you credibility much quicker! Don’t be afraid to make a small, initial investment in a professional site design!
- 2. Allow user interaction in some way. The best way is by allowing viewers to comment on your content. This is one of the reasons Blogging software is so great! (I recommend WordPress.org)
- 3. Get something set up to retain your visitors! The best way to do this is by offering a free report, or something similar, in exchange for the viewers name and email! Email marketing is VERY, VERY, VERY profitable! If your site is a blog, make it easy for users to subscribe to your RSS feed. If you’re not retaining your visitors you’re making a HUGE mistake!
So, if you’ve ever considered starting your own authoritative site, but didn’t do it because you just didn’t think you had it in you, I hope this post gives you the confidence you needed to get it going! ANYONE can start a successful, authoritative site because we all have different interests and whether you realize it or not, I’m SURE you have a passion for something that others would love to hear you talk about!
As a student in make money online school you will learn how to make an authority website. Go ahead and check our first case study under make money online lab and follow step by step the procedures.
