Pillars of SEO, Part 3: Authority

In the previous articles in this series, we covered the importance of maintaining the technical integrity and building the relevance of your website for improving online visibility in search engines for your company.

In this post, we will explore the role of authority and how an Atlanta SEO company can strengthen the credibility of your company’s website.

Online Authority is a Matter of Trust

Trust is a major factor in the digital marketing space and the reputation of your website is no exception. That’s why authority is a key factor that affects search engine results rankings. Search engines like Google must decide whether to trust your website enough to recommend it to users in results pages.

How does Google decide whether your site or landing page is an authority? While no one outside of Google knows exactly how authority is calculated, your domain needs to be recognized as an industry leader and your landing pages must properly convey that expertise. This is typically done by offering rich, insightful content. The age of your website is also important. A website that has been around longer will have a higher authority than a new site.

Search engines also look at user engagement metrics for your site. For example, how long do visitors stay on your site interacting with content? Do they dive deep into the content on your site by clicking from one page to another?  These actions send important signals to search engines about the credibility of your website.

SEO Campaigns Can Build Your Online Authority

Paying attention to online trust factors is a critical part of your SEO agency’s work on your behalf.

For example, duplicate content makes it difficult to attribute authority to your website. URL canonicalization tells search engines that the indicated URL is the originator or preferred source of the content. An experienced SEO agency will know how to properly canonicalize your website’s URLs.

Search engines also look for the type and number of links that you receive from other websites. Links from high quality domains can give your site a boost and conversely links from websites with a bad online reputation will hurt your site. This makes link earning an important part of SEO campaigns.

Your social media footprint is another important component of building your website’s authority. Engaging with customers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and generating likes, comments, and shares from users sends signals to search engines about your online reputation. In the same way, securing placement and generating reviews on directory listings like Yelp also help search engines evaluate the authority of your company and where it should rank on results pages.  This is why it’s so important to avoid and respond to negative reviews posted by customers – they can hurt your business offline and online.

The three pillars of SEO work together to support your company’s online visibility. Blueprint specializes in building effective SEO campaigns that focus on technical integrity, relevance, and authority. Contact us today at 770-817-9560 to find out more about what SEO can do for your business.