Authority Blogging Guidance

21 replies
Hi Warriors

I'm hopping you can point me in the right direction.

I'm very interested in learning the fine details of building up a large authority blog successfully, not necessarily a product review or adsense monetised site, possibly a lifestyle magazine type site with lots of great content. I was wondering if joining The War Room might be useful for me specifically in this regard? I know my general way around wordpress and using child themes etc, but it is the structure of the blog itself and the format of a lengthy blog post that has me rather overwhelmed.

For example, although I will be outsourcing the writing of the content to niche specific writers who excel in certain subject areas, once I have the work delivered, it's knowing how best to format it for publishing on the blog. Knowing the best ways of researching the right keywords to base the content on in the first place, the right way to do SEO on a lengthy blog post, how many images to use, what to bold, when and how to link out, how to cloak affiliate links and probably a lot more stuff I don't even know I don't know. And all this on page requirement stuff is before I even get started on back links and all that other off page promotional stuff which will be necessary. You get the idea. I have some funds and the time but not sure where to get the best up to date current authority blog building info.

What would you suggest for someone who wants to become an authority blogging publishing machine?

Thanks for your time and any suggestions.
#authority #blogging #guidance
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by SELFRIDGE View Post

    What would you suggest for someone who wants to become an authority blogging publishing machine?
    A long, thoughtful and insightful discussion of what exactly they mean by the term "authority blog", what their long-term objective/purpose is in building one, what skills they have, and why they think that SEO's likely to be particularly relevant to the outcome.

    Sorry, but I can't tell from what you've said above whether joining the War Room will help you. There's certainly an enormous amount of stuff in there - including many "free downloads of former WSO's" and similar things; I've very rarely - if ever - heard anyone say that they were actually sorry they joined it.

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      A long, thoughtful and insightful discussion of what exactly they mean by the term "authority blog", what their long-term objective/purpose is in building one, what skills they have, and why they think that SEO's likely to be particularly relevant to the outcome. .
      Thanks for the response Alexa. By authority blog I "think" I mean building up a large 1000-5000+ page site on a relevant aged domain within a niche which has a decent sized volume of keyword searches per day in the hope of building long term repeat traffic via the search engines and site mailing list.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by SELFRIDGE View Post

        Thanks for the response Alexa. By authority blog I "think" I mean building up a large 1000-5000+ page site on a relevant aged domain within a niche which has a decent sized volume of keyword searches per day in the hope of building long term repeat traffic via the search engines and site mailing list.
        I see - thanks. Yes - apart from the "SEO bits" those sound like "authority site parameters" to me. I tend to think of it a bit more in terms of other "authority sites" spontaneously linking to you because they respect your content", but of course that partly overlaps with what you've said, anyway.

        (I can't quite envisage having or wanting anything like a 1,000-5,000-page site, for myself! ).

        I urge you not to depend on search-engines for your primary traffic. That's a really bad plan. Not only because it's so precarious and unreliable and changeable and slow-moving, but also because it tends to be crap traffic anyway, compared with traffic from most other sources. This may help you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8659398

        .
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        • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          I see - thanks. Yes - apart from the "SEO bits" those sound like "authority site parameters" to me. I tend to think of it a bit more in terms of other "authority sites" spontaneously linking to you because they respect your content", but of course that partly overlaps with what you've said, anyway.

          (I can't quite envisage having or wanting anything like a 1,000-5,000-page site, for myself! ).

          I urge you not to depend on search-engines for your primary traffic. That's a really bad plan. Not only because it's so precarious and unreliable and changeable and slow-moving, but also because it tends to be crap traffic, compared with traffic from most other sources. This may help you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8659398

          .
          Alexa, dead on.

          Build a network of authority blogger friends to SEO/Google proof yourself. Google is fickle, but unless you change your values, your friends will stick around through thick and thin to support you, and to promote you, and to help make you an authority blogger.
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        • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It has helped, very interesting, glad I started this thread at the beginning of my journey rather than in a year from now.
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  • Profile picture of the author alvinhy
    I'm very interested in learning the fine details of building up a large authority blog successfully, not necessarily a product review or adsense monetised site, possibly a lifestyle magazine type site with lots of great content.
    This can be done with Wordpress if you download a good theme from ThemeForest. Are you looking to write the content yourself or outsourcing it?

    I was wondering if joining The War Room might be useful for me specifically in this regard?
    I am not a War Room member but I have head a lot of great things from those who are.

    I know my general way around wordpress and using child themes etc, but it is the structure of the blog itself and the format of a lengthy blog post that has me rather overwhelmed.
    You should learn content writing then, search on google for how to write good articles etc...
    Another great blog to follow is CopyBlogger, they teach a lot of great stuff regarding copywriting.

    For example, although I will be outsourcing the writing of the content to niche specific writers who excel in certain subject areas, once I have the work delivered, it's knowing how best to format it for publishing on the blog.
    That is what I do for my authority sites, I outsource and edit the text because normally it is badly formatted.

    Knowing the best ways of researching the right keywords to base the content on in the first place, the right way to do SEO on a lengthy blog post, how many images to use, what to bold, when and how to link out, how to cloak affiliate links and probably a lot more stuff I don't even know I don't know.
    Researching keywords you can use LongTail pro, its like Google Keyword planner.
    I wrote a review on it here

    Don't focus too much on SEO, focus on bringing value to your readers. It really depends on your article to decide how many images to use.

    Bold out words that you think is important

    Link out only if you think that article or link will provide value to your readers.
    Cloaking affiliate links you can use a lot of wordpress plugins to do that. A quick google search will find you loads.

    What would you suggest for someone who wants to become an authority blogging publishing machine?
    I suggest you get the website blog set up and start adding in content. Then drive traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
      Originally Posted by alvinhy View Post

      [
      I suggest you get the website blog set up and start adding in content. Then drive traffic.
      Thanks for your reply. I recently purchased a nice studio press theme, have picked some great freelancers who are working on some initial content as we speak. Figured I'd get the ball rolling and see if I can generate some momentum by doing instead of thinking, although this has now forced my hand to learn as I go, hence starting this thread

      During this first month I was planning on only publishing maybe 10-12 posts. And of course my keyword research and on page SEO knowledge isn't very strong so I figured if I just get some good content up I can adapt it afterwards. I don't even know how best to write the titles of each post so it's going to be quite a learning curve. I'll definitely take a look at copyblogger and long tail pro you mentioned. Although I will probably want to use affiliate cloaking I think I got confused with link tracking so I can measure my traffic and all that stuff but I guess one step at a time. Thanks again.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Congrats Selfridge! This has been a fun journey for me. I know you'll enjoy it too.

    Why do you want to become an authority blogger? Answer that one to start off on the right foot. I spent years trying to make money - a weak why - and fell flat on my face. When I decided to seek out freedom, and when I wanted to share that freedom, with my target audience, then things started to come together, and I had some clout.

    The WHY is your driver. Write it out on a piece of paper, and make it pure so it involves you and other folks. So much more fun, that way. At least I think so.

    1: Choose a topic you love. Become a publishing machine by writing about a topic which makes you feel amazing. No chasing money here; money follows people who live their passions, because people give money freely to folks who provide immensely helpful service....and passionate bloggers are the folks who provide that level of service.

    2: Build a detailed, vivid picture of your ideal reader. Name, age, wants, problems, dreams. Doing this creates great clarity in choosing your domain name, header tagline, post titles and advertisements, as well as your free giveaway. Do this in your mind, then list the attributes on a piece of paper. Build your entire blog around this image, and the qualities on the paper.

    3: Post detailed, in-depth, thoughtful comments on top blogs from within your niche. This is an easy, time-saving form of guest posting, that will help you build bonds, and'll also help you gain exposure among people from your niche.

    4:Write practical posts. You can also tell a story through posts, relating some experience in your life to your niche. Solve problems. Scour blog posts, forums about your niche and the comments section to ID problems, then solve them via your posts.

    5: Craft enticing titles. Titles make or break your post in a split second. Number-themed titles rock, as do question-asking titles. Make titles relevant to your domain name and tag headline. Stay on topic to become known as a pro's pro in that niche.

    6: Never give up. Keep at it. Each impactful comment, and helpful post, makes a nice little dent in the Universe. I'm blogging from paradise - living in Fiji now - because I created for a series of years, and networked, and promoted other bloggers generously. Give, and you'll get.

    Bonus Tip: Promote other people, especially authority bloggers, and you'll come up on their radar more quickly. Everybody loves a free giver, no?

    All the best with your endeavor. Know WHY you wish to become an authority, and tie that that reason to helping other people, and to inspiring them to live their dreams, and you'll succeed in due time. Knowing why helps you follow each practical tip on a daily basis so you can rock it out.

    I've built a prospering freelance writing and blogging business by following these tips, and I learned them from some bloggers a bunch more well known than me. They work oh so well if you just stick with them.

    Good Evening from Fiji!

    Ryan
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    • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
      Originally Posted by ryanbiddulph View Post

      I've built a prospering freelance writing and blogging business by following these tips, and I learned them from some bloggers a bunch more well known than me. They work oh so well if you just stick with them.

      Good Evening from Fiji!

      Ryan
      Hi Ryan, thanks for your detailed response, a great help. Already learned so much since I've started this thread and if anything I'm more excited about authority blogging and publishing now than I was before even though I was totally off base with my original plan.
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      • Profile picture of the author danp142
        I am also at the start of creating an authority blog, the only difference between us is that I am creating all the content on my website myself (slowly)

        One piece of advise I would give is to create a brand for your website and use it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, pinterest etc. What I mean by that is use the same font, logo, style if writing. It makes you much more recognisable when people try to find your content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    An authority blog is a good way to go BUT I wouldn't focus just on SEO traffic.

    There are a ton of sources and SEO is unpredictable anyway so it would be sad to see you build up a site of 10,000 pages then Google makes an algorithm change and wipes your traffic and makes you bankrupt over night.

    Of course you'd still have your mailing list and some referall traffic but you get my point I think.

    Just because it's an authority site don't make it about a ton of different, loosely related (or un-related) topic but instead quite focused or "niche".

    Be an authority site on a specific topic without going super super narrow.

    I'd learn from the experts if I was you and Ryan Diess and the Digital Marketer team run a ton of successful authority sites and share their results...

    How We Grew a Blog to $6 Million+ in 12 Months

    How To Find Writers For Your Blog


    I also did a case study on Survival Life where I examine why it's such a huge success and what you can do to emulate them...

    Forget 'Surviving' Find Out How One Blog Makes $1 MILLION Per Month : NicheHacks


    P.S.

    The War Room is full of information but you could easily end up with information overload and I'm not sure if there's anything specific in there that's going to benefit you.

    I'd say it's not essential for you right now even though it is good.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    If you really want to do it the right way, let your competitors and social media do your homework for you. Use Quicksprout and Topsy to reverse engineer authority content in your niche. Everyone can give you their opinion until the cows come home. The only thing that matters is whether you can get RESULTS. Reverse engineer proven authority content and come up with a better version.

    Real traffic and marketing gurus like Neil Patel, Brian Dean, and Rand Fishkin can point you in the right direction. Just check out their stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yaro
    I've been blogging since 2004 and I've been teaching other bloggers how to build basically what you call an authority blog since 2007. I can tell you things have changed a lot over the years.

    When I started you wrote good content and Google rewarded you. Then things got crowded and Google got ruthless with their ranking algorithms. Then social media became a driving force for traffic, although I still get most of my new visitors from Google.

    The format for good blog content hasn't changed, but nowadays you really do need to have an outreach program to market your good content.

    I used to advise people to write an article a day. Today I recommend one really good article a week, and spend just as much time connecting with others and promoting your work.

    It sounds to me though that you want to create what I call a "blog magazine", something like a mashable, or huffington post, or techcrunch. This requires a greater volume of content, usually focused on news style articles rather than in-depth resources. Hiring a writing team in that case is definitely a good idea, but I'd validate the topic area before investing too much.

    I've got a ton of MP3 interviews with people who have built authority blogs, plus a free report, and nearly ten years worth of articles and podcasts on this subject all on my blog if you are interested.

    Personally I've made over a million dollars thanks to my blog (and of course my email list), which started with advertising income, then affiliate income, but today is focused entirely on digital products and coaching.

    If you have any specific questions I'm happy to answer. The more specific the question the better the answer I can provide.

    Yaro
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Yaro, I wish you would post here more often. You are a blogging superstar in my mind.

      -------------------------------------

      Yaro Starak is the real deal and the articles and info on his site are priceless for someone like you that wants to learn how to blog. Entrepreneurs-Journey.com


      Another blogger that knows the business of blogging well is Darren Rowse. You'll find him at ProBlogger.net


      Watch what these guys are doing on their sites. Don't copy them. Transfer what you learn at their sites to your own niche and work hard to build up your own audience.

      These guys learned largely on their own (they are blogging pioneers) and have probably made most of the mistakes possible. Learn from them - they'll tell you when they goofed up.

      Find your own voice - cater to a specific niche audience - always deliver content of value, and as they have done, eventually develop your own products rather than relying on Adsense or other ways to earn on your site that send viewers away.

      The very best to you,

      Steve
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      Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
      SteveBrowneDirect

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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        A couple of ideas regarding formatting...

        First off, people in certain markets tend to expect certain things from the authority sites in their area of interest. It might be a certain style of writing, or article layouts, or size and location of images, etc. For example, some sites I frequent keep articles on a single page. Others break articles into a slide show style presentation, especially with list articles.

        Study the authority sites in your chosen market and look for commonalities. You can have your own style and still make things easy by giving people content in the format they've likely come to accept from an authority.

        Second, and I admit I stole this idea from Ken Evoy over a decade ago, is to keep sites focused. Then group them under an umbrella site. The example he used back then was an authority site based around outlet shops. "World's Best [Women's Fashion, Men's Fashion, Shoe, etc.] Outlets" all under the umbrella of "World's Best Outlets". This was the long term goal; Evoy still advocated focusing on one site at a time.

        As far as SEO goes, since you've settled on Wordpress, you're job got easier. Get the on-page stuff right once and build it into your theme.

        Then, instead of worrying about backlinking and such, concentrate on providing top-notch content and putting it in front of as many of your ideal customers/visitors as possible. The off-page SEO stuff will largely take care of itself without dodgy gimmicks.

        Good luck to you...
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Yaro, you make a great point about outreach.

    Although I'd change nothing and still see the benefits of posting 30 times daily - and I did, to get my creative juices flowing - who you're friends with can expand your presence oh so fast. Just connecting with people, promoting them, not being in so much of a hurry, and detaching from outcomes, all while providing practical content, will give you a glimpse into how Yaro made his millions.

    Steve, great point too. Do not copy, never, or else you'll lose any possible impact you can make. My blog is kinda one of a kind, and even though I'm closing it out my new one will mimic it in many ways, staying true to my brand so I don't confuse my audience. Outreach is huge, but finding your voice, style, and presentation, and following your intuition, will help you create something that nobody else in history has created.

    Sure, maybe some bloggers have lived on the ocean in Fiji for 4 months from their blogging proceeds, but nobody can do it just like me, with my voice, and my blog layout.....and the same goes for Yaro, Steve, and anybody on this thread. We each have so many gifts nobody else has had, or will never have, and when we simply speak our voice through practice, and repetition, writing, writing and writing, and when we start an aggressive outreach campaign, helping so many others bloggers, well, awesome things will happen for us.

    Thanks guys, super thread.

    RB
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  • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
    Thanks so much for all your responses guys, I'm genuinely working through all of them and any links you suggested for further learning. Didn't expect this level of information.

    I'm doing my best not to get overwhelmed by making sure I DO something everyday as well as learning which is already having a positive effect traffic wise. But, by the end of July I will only have about 25 x 3500+ word quality articles on the blog and following Alexa's advice I will submit some if not most of them to article directories and approach some other Webmasters in my niche directly to let them see if the quality of the content is to their liking.

    For August and September, I only have a budget of around $3000 for content creation. This will be outsourced to writers far more knowledgeable about the niche than myself. I love the niche and find it very interesting but I want to provide the best content hence outsourcing. Would you suggest this initial approach for this budget? As the blog isn't IM, make money online related, I don't have a high ticket coaching program. At best we are talking smaller ongoing membership recurring fees for however long they remain signed up.

    UPDATE: Having now read through most of the info and fully read Yaro's blog profits blueprint I now know what I'm supposed to be doing to at least get my blog off to a great start. So glad I posted here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yaro
    Good stuff Selfridge - one suggestion if you have a budget to spend as much as you do, create something with that money that keeps on giving. For example put it towards a powerful resource you can give away as an incentive to join your email list. This might be an app, or a free report, or a well produced series of videos.

    Thanks for the kind words Steve and Ryan, you guys had some great advice there too!

    Yaro
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    • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
      Originally Posted by Yaro View Post

      Good stuff Selfridge - one suggestion if you have a budget to spend as much as you do, create something with that money that keeps on giving. For example put it towards a powerful resource you can give away as an incentive to join your email list. This might be an app, or a free report, or a well produced series of videos.
      Hi Yaro,

      So spend less of the budget on article content and create a quality incentive giveaway even though my traffic is low right now?
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      • Profile picture of the author Yaro
        Given your budget, yes. Having one brilliant resource is better than ten more good articles.

        The other alternative is to create exceptional things to put WITH articles - videos and/or infographics for example.

        The main idea here is that you will have something good enough that other people will share it. When you approach someone and say "take a look at this" whatever you are showing them better be amazing!

        What is your niche? What problem are you helping people solve?

        Yaro
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        • Profile picture of the author SELFRIDGE
          Originally Posted by Yaro View Post

          Given your budget, yes. Having one brilliant resource is better than ten more good articles.
          The other alternative is to create exceptional things to put WITH articles - videos and/or infographics for example.
          I particularly like this, it really fits with what I enjoy doing so I know I'll stick at it.

          The main idea here is that you will have something good enough that other people will share it. When you approach someone and say "take a look at this" whatever you are showing them better be amazing!
          Great advice, thanks for that, will help me remember that just putting content out isn't good enough. I've put up a a nice yellow post-it on my mac which reads, GREAT CONTENT NOT OK CONTENT! so I don't forget and keep focus.

          What is your niche? What problem are you helping people solve?
          Again, I've put up another post-it note which reads, WHAT PROBLEM ARE YOU SOLVING FOR YOUR READERS?! I've had to do this because I keep losing focus on it. The niche is HEALTH so lots of opportunity to solve problems. But it's not a drilled down niche. I know people will probably consider it to be a very rookie mistake but I don't want to promote a domain such as,

          example - (hair loss treatments or lose weight fast or "whatever problem" .com)

          I want to be able to create individual blog posts that address all manner of conditions and offer honest to goodness solid information from a strong credible overall health domain so that I can talk about many different conditions and solutions and hopefully drive this traffic to my mailing list and online clinic affiliate page which will be separate from the blog post. Through the mailing list I can promote other info products and special offers on treatments as once purchase it produces recurring commissions.

          ON a side note, I don't want to come across too much that I'm totally hung up on "this" project alone. I kind of want to use it to cut my teeth so to speak. As you guys are the pros, if you were to say to me, "look dude it's just not going to work, or you're going about it the wrong way", I'd have to listen.

          I like researching and outsourcing content to good writers and genuinely being interested and informed by what they produce and the process of publishing. I don't like writing myself which I appreciate in the longterm for other projects could be an issue.

          I do like other niches. For example, I do like the make money / internet marketing / business strategy niches but not really in the sense of putting out my own product and certainly not at the beginning of my "online career". I have bought courses in the past, one cost $2000, I read it all, enjoyed it, did nothing with it, stuck it on the shelf for 2 years, and then out of the blue was able to use one of the specific strategies outlined in the course and ended up having my biggest payday in life. Not completely life changing money but it certainly gave me a good leg up or boost. So I do value great products and information even though some are expensive.

          I've especially gained lots of value from Rich Schefren's business strategy content which has helped greatly in other endeavours. But I don't really see myself as a reviewer, especially as in order to review an expensive course or cheaper front end product I'd have to write myself after gaining access to the course in some way which would probably be difficult in itself without purchasing, and of course I would have to enjoy writing which I just don't, as you can probably tell by this, and I'm not sure if you can outsource product reviews whereby the reviews will actually provide a really great buying decision for the visitor.

          So basically I love the content and publishing part, and if I can find something that will allow me to work on this 12+ hours a day I will be an exceptionally happy publishing and marketing bunny. I really liked the idea of blogging content because you're creating an ongoing asset of information on a domain and building up a list. I have heard a number of very successful marketers say that they struggled and didn't make a bean until they started putting out their own products. As I really like publishing, I'm hoping I can be an exception to the rule. Plan B is acquisition, if I can't make my ground up blog work after a serious amount of time and effort, I will look to acquire blogs within my budget for sale which I can take over and improve.

          Anyway, this turned out to be longer than I expected so sorry about that and hope that gives you an idea of where my mind is at.
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