While it’s impossible to determine exactly how much information on the internet is fake, it’s estimated that more than 40% of all online activity is misleading; either intentionally or unintentionally.
Therefore, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that search engines are committed to generating authentic results from competent organizations, with Google even incorporating website authority into its complex ranking algorithm.
In September 2018, Google announced that of the many changes that had been implemented over the previous 12 months, one of the biggest was that ‘the authority of a web page is now a more important signal in the ranking’, which sparked rumors that Google was taking an E-A-T approach; expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
This was confirmed by the search engine giant earlier this year in the ‘How Google Fights Disinformation’ report, which stated that ‘our ranking system does not identify the intent or factual accuracy of any given piece of content.
However, it is specifically designed to identify sites with high indicia of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness’.
So it’s clear that in order to improve ranking, businesses should be turning their attention to boosting authority and competence on their website through their content strategy.
Here are three simple ways to improve online authority:
1. Case studies / success stories
Storytelling has become an integral part of marketing, especially at a time when buyers don’t want to be sold to but prefer to engage and interact with a brand through a variety of means.
Case studies and success stories ensure that you’re not just telling a prospective lead what you do, but actually showing them what you’re able to achieve.
Case studies act as a form of social proof at a time when we’re struggling through a consumer trust crisis. With research confirming that almost all of us trust online reviews as much as we trust personal recommendations, case studies can be used as a form of review, with peer-generated content highlighting the competence of the organization.
2. Backlinks
Linking to authoritative sources is one way of demonstrating a commitment to providing quality information, but this sort of associative linking can be more effective in the form of backlinks; links to your site from authoritative sources. Backlink profiles aren’t always easy to control, but it’s possible to obtain higher quality backlinks with right techniques.
Try the TRUST formula which provides quality sites with a reason to link to your content:
● Trending topic: Publish relevant information in line with industry trends
● Research: Include results from your own surveys, reports, or questionnaires
● Unique: Take an alternative approach which differentiates your content
● Simple visuals: Include a share-worthy image that can be referenced
● Tactical promotion: Ensure authoritative websites can find your content easily
3. Data-driven content
The ‘R’ aspect of the Trust formula is something that some businesses may feel overwhelmed by, but the good news is that there are now many technologies that make it easy for organizations to capture, analyze, make sense of, and use data that has been shared by leads and customers, facilitating creation of data-driven content.
Chatbots are a prime example. These automated, AI-based technologies help businesses to derive more value from the data they hold about their customers.
Transforming this data into usable formats, chatbots can drive a data-driven approach to content marketing, enabling marketers to produce high quality industry research.
Want to give it a go? Take a look at our chatbot examples here.
ConvertoBot is the leading chatbot website and social media bots platform. Start a free trial today.
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