What's your definition of an "authority site" ?

by TheBroker

Posted: 12 years ago 15 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hello all,

I see the term "authority site" used all the time. What makes any website an "authority site" over another one - is it purely ranking, is it the domain extension, age etc.

Several of my niche websites have been hammered in the latest Penguin update ( along with many others) but of the competitors who seem to have gained, all seem to be large ,well established sites with remarkably broad content.

Has the death knell sounded for small long tail keyword domain owners or can we still compete.

TB

#authority site #definition #penguin

AnniePot

12 years ago

I believe an authority site is one that is chock-full of prime content on a fairly broad base, not just a very narrowly focused niche. It is respected by others in that field, and those others backlink to them, showing their respect.

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TheBroker

12 years ago

Thanks Annie,

So if I understand properly, you wouldn't be too bothered about a hyphenated name or whether it was .com or whatever, it is purely down to good unique content ?

Thanks
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Joseph Robinson

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by TheBroker

Thanks Annie,

So if I understand properly, you wouldn't be too bothered about a hyphenated name or whether it was .com or whatever, it is purely down to good unique content ?

Those things would mean little to nothing. It is all about what is on the site.

To throw in my own definition of an authority site, I see it as a website that people will instinctively want to go to in a given niche because they know that is where the best and most accurate information resides.

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TheBroker 12 years ago

Thanks for the replies folks,

My problem now is that I have a couple of hundred very long tail keyword focused, narrow content websites which were doing ok up to the latest google update a couple of days ago.

I've dropped on average around 40 - 60 places in the serps - should i be thinking of starting one larger website, migrating the content from my small sites into different pages on the new one, and maybe redirect the links and sell the domain names ?

I realise I'm not alone - there are a lot of people out there like me who've been blown out of the water with this Penguin update.

Thanks again

TB
- Thanks
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AnniePot

12 years ago

Originally Posted by TheBroker

Thanks Annie,

So if I understand properly, you wouldn't be too bothered about a hyphenated name or whether it was .com or whatever, it is purely down to good unique content ?

Hyphenated or otherwise makes little difference. Good, unique content - tons of it, yes, but as I said it has to reflect the respect of others who have linked back to it, and, as Joe pointed out, it has a large following.

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Joseph Robinson Banned 12 years ago

If the content is worth reading then I would say you should go for it.
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MattBrighton 12 years ago

I believe an authority site is one at the top of its game that has dominance. I think people who say they have just set up an "authority site" are stupid. Because when their brand new site has next to no content, and ranked at the bottom of google - I wouldn't consider an authority site in that niche. Only until its ranked highly, valued and contains lots of great information can it then be called authority because it has power
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Michael Meaney 12 years ago

My understanding of an authority site is one that has multiple indented links on the first page of Google.
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Brendan Carl 12 years ago

Majority of articles are informational in nature - no affiliate links. Can have some product reviews, but readers want more.

Also, must have a lot of articles - I should be able to find solutions to most of my niche-related problems on the one site.
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stingrays06 12 years ago

My definition is that the site basically covers the entire niche instead of just a subtopic. They are usually 100+ pages in size and have a high PR.
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ejunkie 12 years ago

If your visitors/readers think your content (as well as yourself) reflect high quality & relevancy, and they own their own spread the word about you, then you can be called an authority.

It doesn't matter if others do not think so. What matters is your audience do.

Pagerank, backlinks doesn't count as much.

Tomorrow an authority might not have to rely on search engines at all... they already have built a huge base who will keep following as well as evangelizing ... with or without search engines. Although they might have taken advantage of search engines when they were establishing themselves as an authority.
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Will Edwards 12 years ago

My definition: a site that displaces Wikipedia from the #1 spot for it's main keyword.

Will
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Chris- 12 years ago

My definition of "authority site" would be a site that I would trust to be correct, because of its status.

Most of the info on the net is nonsense, so authority sites are the exception!

Chris
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Beth Kins 12 years ago

authority site=amazing content on a site that is considered trustworthy and an "authority" in a specific niche!
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elexmedia 12 years ago

Authority Sites- Google puts the site at the 1st place, because they trust the contents at the site.

1st place= high traffic = good money
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