Where to Start with a Authority Site?

8 replies
Alright, I wouldn't classify myself as an IM noob, but I have around $100 to invest from past ventures, and I'd like to put it into an authority site, but invest as little as possible.

I know what they are, how to SEO it, and so on, but I have no idea where to start.
I have a topic in mind (not keyword), which I'm pretty knowledgeable in, so writing my own content shouldn't be too hard.

Where exactly should I start? Round up all keywords I could write about, then research each one and organize them by difficulty to rank and UV's/month?

I honestly have no clue where to start, I have ScrapeBox and WP knowledge, so SEO and set up should be a breeze.

Thanks
#authority #site #start
  • Profile picture of the author Weby Digital
    Well, the only fact you want to create an authority website you should have a topic, not a keyword, so you are on the right track for this.

    I would get a complete list of keywords with their search volume and organize them in categories. You can write a short report to give away and build your list. Start writing some articles and when you have 9-10 ready launch your website.

    Also, get some sheets about your business plan, such as:

    1) How do I monetize my website?
    2) Where should I get my traffic?
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    If you want it to be a commercial success, the first step is to make sure it's a topic people spend money on. Preferably one that they spend on an ongoing basis. For example, golfers seem to have an insatiable appetite for anything that will lower their scores. They always need to buy things like golf balls, constantly seeking "the one" that will have them playing like Tiger. They invest in golf experiences. That's one reason "golf" is used as an example so often.

    If there is enough money to be made, you can start looking at what to offer and how to present it. Otherwise, look for a new topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author markowe
    My foolproof approach: Take the "main" keyword, or one of them, see what is currently highest-ranking on that subject in Google. Write a BETTER (original) piece than that as your home page. Not just better, make it the best damn piece anyone has ever written in 1000-2000 words on the subject. Try to answer all the key questions people have about the subject, add pictures, headings, subheadings, bullet points. Put it online but keep coming back to it over a period of days, weeks and improving it. Start writing one or two more static articles on connected subjects along the same lines - concentrate on making them the best they can be.

    You WILL start to get Google love and organic traffic after a few weeks, and over a medium term period you will see your page rank on page one for the term. Yes, it's probably slower than using grey hat SEO methods, but much more rewarding and long-term. My belief is that Google is heavily weighting quality content these days in terms of a low bounce rate and how long visitors stay glued to your article and that is why you can rank GOOD content even without tedious backlinking..

    Once you have your basic content up and getting traffic you will find you can write shorter blog posts on related subjects and they will get indexed within minutes and sometimes ranking on page one almost immediately.

    Congratulations, you have an authority site :-) Course, there's much more to it than that, you need to have done a bit of keyword research, plus it's good to write viral articles, leverage social networks, build a list etc etc but that is my basic approach that really works! Of course, your heart's got to be in the subject, that's why most niche sites fail...

    P.s. I echo what others have said about choosing a niche that can be monetised and focusing on a topic area, not just keywords. And would add that you can hang onto the $100, this approach takes time and effort, first and foremost.
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    • Profile picture of the author bobcarlsjr
      100 bucks isn't really enough for an authority site that will stay an "authority".. say you use free wordpress, free forum, etc..

      someone comes along and invest 500$ in vbulletin with member pro gallery, members blogging, more features.. you'll drop like a rock.

      know your destination, and then plan and budget properly for it..

      sure if there are no competitors, then going the cheap route might be worth it..

      otherwise.. invest a bit more.. you'll gain much in return..

      i think there is an old chinese saying.. "invest a little.. and get a little.. be brave and go in large.. you'll come out large.. (taking risk calculation into consideration of course)"
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  • Profile picture of the author sriram rajan
    i am sure you have heard this ... but go for niche markets and not key words first up..


    then for research if you already decided great else go for magazines from amazon, kindle , quantcast and dummies ..these should all validate buyer riches ...


    then you can go for subniching and stil amke an authority site....

    and if you write content you need like 14 unique articles then that is $$ saved , then go about social media and other SEO stuff which i am sure you already are familiar with...
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  • Quick question before you start:
    Do you have solid KNOWLEDGE about the site's niche? you know, you can't build an AUTHORITY site without the knowledge...
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  • Profile picture of the author lifesofree
    Since I own a website other people would call "authority", I'd like to recommend you to not only research the market, but to also research YOU. What are you interested in? So interested that you'll be able and ready to write a thousand pieces of content? If you couldn't imagine doing this with a certain topic ... you better watch out for something that fits better to you. It's damn hard to motivate yourself to write that much content if it's not about something you love.

    That said, you should go for long term as well as for main keywords. The main keywords will take time to rank, the long term ones will help you stay motivate since they'll get you some traffic way earlier.

    In my opinion you should use $100 for hosting your website for a year.

    Hope that helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author bamstk090
    thanks for all your input
    i have to start right now.
    how much money that i can earn with a Authority Site?

    thanks
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