How to Establish Online Authority If you want your business to flourish in this day and age, you have to establish online authority in your field.
By Aidan Sowa
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you want your business to flourish in this day and age, you have to establish online authority in your field. However, being an online authority is not just being an opinion maker on a specific topic. It implies that you make an effort to gather all possible knowledge, research in-depth, and share your insights in a meaningful way.
In short, you need to gain people's trust online. To do that, you have to follow the E-A-T rule. E-A-T is a marketing acronym for expertise, authority, and trust. This golden rule is a crucial factor Google uses to evaluate every piece of content on the web. Therefore, you should do your very best to create content that will earn customers' trust.
Building online authority step-by-step
Why not use podcasts and guest posting as tools to rise to Google's top pages?
After all, to be an online authority, Google's rigorous search algorithms have to acknowledge you as such. Additionally, it would be best if you had users' validation, too. Podcasts and guest posting are among the best marketing tools to earn trust and establish killer online authority.
But before we get into their benefits, let's start from the ground up. Excellent content is above all, but you also need to cover the basics.
Create niche content to establish online authority
Find your niche and stick to it. Unless you're into huge content, it's best to put your energy into subjects and topics that interest you. Choose topics that will suit your audience, and do deep-dive research to create killer content.
Don't be concerned that your audience might be smaller. The most important thing is offering more quality content than your vast competition.
So make sure you build your foundation to a solid online authority on great content. Then, as your audience grows, you can extend your area of expertise.
High-quality content and online authority go hand in hand
People go online and search the vast cyberspace to find helpful information and learn. Some of them dig deep and don't mind it. But let's face it. Most people are lazy and won't look over the top few Google ranks. To get there, you need to publish high-quality content. There is no other way to attract users to your page. And without readers, you will not be considered trustworthy.
With this in mind, note what counts for excellent web content:
Original, unique content – no plagiarism, recycling, and copying
In-depth research and detailed explanation of the topics you cover
Trustworthy content supported with facts from reliable sources only
Make a solid social media presence
Alongside killer content, you need to have an audience willing to engage. Hence, a solid social media presence is crucial. A responsive audience is vital to establishing online authority. If you're still building your online presence, consider which social media platforms to use. Make sure you connect the most useful ones to your website.
Related: 4 Ways Founders Can Build Their Social Media Presence
Additionally, always look to see how you can broaden those valuable connections. One of the most effective strategies to use is connecting with influencers and opinion-makers. If you build these kinds of bonds, you will reach way more customers and expand your business. That leads us to one of the best ways to establish online authority – guest posting.
Guest posting will grow the authority of your website
To get genuinely relevant traffic to your website and build your online authority, use the power of guest posting. Provided you post on the websites with high domain authority, you will add tremendous value to your content. Ideally, you would publish content on websites popular among your target audience and link back to your site. Again, this will help your overall website authority.
Related: 12 Secrets to Pitching the Perfect Guest Post
However, you can go about it differently. Find a website with a similar target audience, then post on each other. Of course, this only works if you aren't in direct competition. But ultimately, this strategy gets you better reach and better sales.
A podcast is a powerful online authority building tool
Podcasting takes some time and effort, but being a guest on one is not that energy-consuming. Still, once you decide to do it, it pays off. The process is simple; most podcasts also make show notes which work as blog posts.
Related: Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Podcast
That's where you get additional benefits other than exposure. You reap the benefits of mentions and backlinks of their content. That said, make sure you pick high-authority podcasts with the type of target audience you wish to reach.
When preparing for the podcast, do in-depth research on it. Please spend some time listening to get an idea of your host's style and podcast content. Once you're in that chair, don't forget to talk about your website and content. After all, you want to drive some of that audience to your site.
Other than exposure, podcasting will help you:
Reach an already engaged audience
Grow trust, relationships, and authority
Build backlinks
Build E-A-T with your audience.
Pro tip: People often listen to podcasts while doing other things. So make sure to keep a conversational tone and use some storytelling. That is how you make an impression on the audience.
The bottom line
Always remember: once you gain peoples' trust, you need to cherish it. To do that, you need to be consistent in creating trustworthy, original, credible content. Make sure you show them your best. Good luck!
