|
Over the next few years expect largėr
conglomerates to be buying up profitable websites in their chosen markets.
Expect smaller sites to either be bought or driven out of business. My
intention is not to scare you, but this outcome is inevitable.
Large businesses have always taken two
approaches to their desired markets. They either buy their competition or
they push them out of business. You want to be prepared when this trend
begins on the internet.
Being a webmaster and online marketer you
should be preparing for one of two scenarios. To position yourself for a
buyout to a larger company or to become the larger company that dominates
your chosen market.
Whichever route you chose is entirely up to
you, but I would suggest that it would be in your best interest to begin
focusing on authority sites. You can either start building them or turning
your current sites into them. Whatever your approach may be, I assure you it
will help you sleep better at night.
What Is the Definition of an Authority
Site?
A fairly comprehensible authority site
definition "authority sites are sites that have been linked to and
referenced on other web sites covering the same subject matter and they also
will have hundreds if not thousands of pages covering that subject matter
and nearly every facet of it."
Many search engine optimization and search
engine marketing experts believe Google has derived their primary algorithm
from a document titled, "Hilltop: A Search Engine based on Expert
Documents".
The PageRank formula as we know it today was
derived from this paper and the authors, Bharat and Mihaila, define an
authority site in the text below:
"We believe a page is an authority on the
query topic if and only if some of the best experts on the query topic point
to it. Of course in practice some expert pages may be experts on a broader
or related topic. If so, only a subset of the hyperlinks on the expert page
may be relevant."
"In such cases the links being considered have
to be carefully chosen to ensure that their qualifying text matches the
query. By combining relevant out-links from many experts on the query topic
we can find the pages that are most highly regarded by the community of
pages related to the query topic. This is the basis of the high relevance
that our algorithm delivers."
What we have reprinted above is the foundation
of the PageRank system and the determination for deciding which sites will
be authorities. I highly recommend you read and re-read the full document
until you understand every aspect of it.
What Are the Components of an Authority
Site?
A considerable number of components and
systems must be in place for the authority site to function profitably and
reap the benefits of the "Authority Site Formula".
The Authority Site Formula = Visitor
Optimization (VO) + Content Optimization (CO) * Creative Marketing (CM)
A simple question must be asked. What do 99.9%
of authority sites provide? In a sentence, an incredible amount of original
content and a superb visitor experience. The search engines want you to
succeed and they want you to make money, but you have to play by their
rules. In the future, focus your efforts on visitor optimization and content
optimization instead of search engine optimization.
What Is the Anatomy of an Authority Site?
About.com is the definition and was the original authority site. Their site
has a generic domain name and hundreds of subdomains on different topics.
Your authority site should take the same approach, but not on such a general
level. If you launch an authority site, it should be geared towards a
well-defined and large market. After you launch the site and generate some
traffic, you should create sub-domains that cover specific areas inside that
larger market.
For example, Diabetic-Resources.Com is not an active site, but if it was
then a typical authority site setup would be something like:
Using this approach, you are able target your general market while
generating more targeted traffic pertaining to related sub-markets.
As a rule of thumb, the index pages on your domains and subdomains should be
more focused on content, but the article and commentary pages should be more
focused on advertising. Just do not ever lose sight of the most important
aspect of your site which is visitor experience otherwise known as visitor
optimization.
What Does It Take To Create an Authority
Site?
You want to create a site that generates
thousands of visitors a day mainly through the major search engines, and
would ultimately be the one-stop source for information in that particular
market. Your site must employ three traits to become an authority site.
Let's discuss all three necessary aspects:
-
Dynamic: You should have as many
RSS feeds as you can muster to incorporate throughout your site. Your
visitors need to be able to receive RSS feeds for any keyword, category
or archive as well as create their own. One feed is no longer enough to
satisfy your visitors.
-
Interactive: You should be engaging
the minds of your visitors at all times using surveys, commenting and
feedback. Make these features easy for your visitors and your site will
grow exponentially. Why? Because they feel like you actually care about
them. Interaction is a powerful tool and creates a sense of community on
your site.
-
Consistent: You should post to your
blog often and you should always provide quality and original content.
That doesn't mean you need to produce 800 word articles three times a
week. Your goal should be to become a news master. You need to be an
"authority" on the news happening in your niche.
|
Click
here
to share
your
opinion
about
this
article... |
|
