We have been hearing a lot lately about “authority sites” and becoming an authority in your industry/niche. We all have hopes of being the next about.com for our niche and with the resources and tools that we now have available this is no longer out of reach. You can be the authority in the industry by following a few simple guidelines explained in this article.
What exactly goes into the “design” of an authority site? Well, being a web designer, I have always been of the opinion that authority sites need to be super rich in visual appeal with flashy eye-popping design elements.
After beginning research on authority site development my opinion has done a complete 180, I know longer think of authority sites as a flashy, barely readable work of art for the web. These sites are simple, sleek in design and super rich with strong powerful original content, developed from the owner’s own voice.
Just looking at about.com, webmd.com, drudge.com these sites are not design oriented they are all about the content, and guess what they are definitely considered the authorities on the web. The design of an authority site is professional looking, navigationally functional and in no way takes away from the content. You can always tell a site that is lacking in original content because the design will blow you away, rather than the copy.
To build an authority site means to build with your visitor in mind, not the search engines. When you build an authority site the search engines will find you on their own, without SEO and other optimization tactics. We are building and enhancing our sites strictly for our visitors, our target market.
It is really quite simple, you have a basic, professional site design in mind, include compelling original content and market it through tagging, pinging, auto-discovery, social bookmarking, social networking and relevant RSS feeds from partner sites. Utilizing all these tactics, the world wide web is automatically put on notice when new content is posted to an authority site. There is not a single website that is successful and profitable on the web that does not generate original, high quality content.
Authority sites are also dynamic, meaning that they change and are updated every day with targeted relevant information. Static sites are no longer considered relevant in today’s web 2.0, which is all about syndicating the most up to date information on any given topic. When you have an authority site you are often linked to and remarked about by other bloggers who consider your information to be completely topical and original.
No one will link to you or bookmark your site if the information contained within is 100% third party content which can be found in numerous other locations. This is one more benefit to developing original content, the organic inbound linking opportunities of other people using trackback url’s and commenting about your site and your content on their sites.
When you are developing your authority site please know that the site need not be 100% original content to truly be an authority, you will have a good mixture of original and supplemental content from other authority sites delivered via frequently updated RSS feeds.
This just adds to the strength of a site when your visitors can find powerful copy developed from your voice and information from other relevant sites. They will automatically bookmark your site because they have found everything they need on your site rather than several, which is the definition of an authority site.
Bio:
Melissa Trippel is an authority site developer and coach at the Authority Site Center. Please visit her authority site at Crafty Places.