Authority Sites: What do you want to know?

What is the best WP Theme to use for an authority site?

The big question is internal linking and site set up, so many people have different views on this with no real clarity so it would be good to define plugins and structure and tell us what is a structure for an authority site post google updates.

I’ve seen suggestions that one should concentrate on informational sites rather than anything that is product specific.
I assume this would change your selection parameters (something with which I have a lot of trouble) dramatically.
Hence my question: is it better to focus just in niches in which you can provide a lot of information (and let’s exclude product reviews from the broad definition of “providing information”)?

I understand to have an authority site you need content and quality content to be specific.
I understand this quality content should also come in every otherday if not possible everyday.
However paying for and creating quality content can be quite time consuming/costly.

My question is:
In what number range of content/pages, does a site need to have or should have in order to be an authority considered an authority site?
75-125, 125-300 or more than 300..

Hi Guys

I suppose the most obvious question would be “What really makes an authority site an authority?”

Taken that there is real content on the site and plenty of it what else is needed for the mix?
Loads of backlinks from the right places? The right places being other authorities and interested relevant parties in the same or similar market/niche.
Different types of content to make it multi-media?
Lots of social proof?
Loads of pages. Although I know of some so called authority sites with few pages or posts on.
Loads of interaction and comments?

Why build an authority site when even a Google friend and ally (Ask the Builder) gets slapped by them?

I’m sure there will be answers to all these questions and loads more in your up coming course.
Good luck with it.

Tony

Hello both!

Great idea, as I think authority sites will be the best way to go from now on.

I have several questions related to them, though, and I guess I won’t be the only one. Because “authority site” sounds like a “big” site. So, my qustions are related to the volume of the site itself:

* Thinking long term, sure, you can create the content yourself. But at three posts a week it would take you more than 6 years to get to 1K pages. Is there a way to “easily” be able to create a large amount og *good quality* content in a reasonable time?

* Also, except maybe for posts targetting extremely long tail keywords with virtually no competition, creating backlinks for all that content seems a bit daunting. How would you approach this issue?

Thanks!

How to choose niches to go into? This is the biggest mistake newbies make in that they go into areas that are way too competitive.

Style of writing that is most suitable.

Monetisation. Yes Adsense sucks but most of us are not copywriters and cannot write copy that converts.

Those are top of my agenda guys!

All The Best

Alex

With authority sites what is the best way to get traffic without having to rely strictly on Google.

Authority sites? First what are they really? A place where you demonstrate knowledge about everything in a very broad niche like WebMD or a place where you demonstrate a lot of knowledge about a very tiny niche, let’s say Acne?

Then how many pages do you need?

Can you create this better with curated content than with all original content?

Does it matter if you are not an authority? For example can I become an authority on Acne when I have never experienced it and I have no medical background and no skin training either.

Interesting subject. Thanks for starting the conversation.

I suspect that an EMD is not as important when building an authority site. Would then be better off trying to find a good aged domain than an EMD?

How long does it take to build an authority site to where it is making a $100 per day?

How do you know when Google considers your site to be an authority?

Can your website be authoritative without it having high PR?

Hi Cavin & Jake first of all i would like to thank you for creating something unique & helpful for us!I also started focusing on creating authority sites but the thing i am struggling with mostly is the content.I am not a native English speaker & neither do i have any degree on literature(done masters in Economics) to create high quality engaging contents for my sites to keep the readers engaged,which i think is the one of the biggest headache for IM now a days.I would rally appreciate if you guys can share some ideas & tips on how to create high quality content to keep the readers engaged on my sites would be highly appreciated,thank you .

Hello.I can tell you that I’ve tried many techniques on back linking and after the penguin update 90% of my back links were de-indexed.I’ve been using a couple edu backlinks and I can’t seem to find a site that will tell me if they are actually a backlink.I was also wondering how you go about backlinking to Wiki sites properly without penalty.It seams that Google is really steering things up.

Thanks,
Glen Hammes

I have the above site to capture potential client info. Will there be a good way to link the authority site to this capture site without seeming to obvious.

Hi, Just one question in what niche would you reccommend to build a website with to have the chance of becoming an authority site.

I have posted to my own .edu authority sites and have had great results however I am limited by the amount of time I have to create unique content and so have not utilised all the sites i have available to me. Are the links created by using such systems as a the Wiki backlink crusher and other comparable soft-wares just as powerful as those I must create content for?

There have been WSO`s that say unique content is only necessary if the content is on the same domain. Is that really true?

I have purchased the right to post on most of my .edu`s. Is it really that hard to find them myself and arrange to use them to post content for backlinks? Is there any information out there about how to do this?

I have purchased a domain that is PR3 and built a site ( canadasvalues. com ) on it however I do not fully understand the significance or definition or what a site with PR value is. My site does not appear on the first page because of it and it is ranked in the millions worldwide by Alexa. So what is the advantage of buying a ranked domain?

Thank you for the chance to get some education that does not seem to be readily available to those newly initiated to the study of SEO!

Robert Stone

One associates a long gestation period with lots of interaction with Authority sites. With things moving so quickly today I feel there is a need to get to a tipping point fairly quickly eg $100/day, 500 targeted people on the list. Maybe hybrid free and paid traffic system will help take away that sinking feeling of depending on G.

It seems to me for an affiliate site to have any sticking power in the SERP, it really needs to be an authority site. I can get mini sites to rank for a while but then it seems Google gives me the beat down. Your thoughts?

Can authority sites help with offline marketing? If so, is it better that they focus on a particular niche or location, as in a citywide directory?

Hi Guys,

Totally new to all this IM stuff. So my question is how do you exactly build an authority site and then get it to rank?

Cheers
Phill

Hi Gavin and Jake

Does an authority site have to be a brand? Also roughly how many pages would the site comprise of?

Finally I’m guessing the niche would have to be quite broad or you would simply run out of things to write about?

Thanks
Wendy

I am interested in this since I want to build an authority site. I couldn’t access the video, but here are some of my questions. Thanks.

What are the basics of an authority site?
What niche markets are best for authority sites?
What types of content is best for authority sites that gets the click and the returning subscribers?
What is the best way to use curated content to supplement the content of authority sites?
Is it even possible for one person to create all the content in his/her authority sites or is it now a team effort?
How is it best to create an authority sites that Google and the social media loves?
What role does social media have on popular and profitable authority sites?
How do you create branding and popularity?
What monetizing models are best for authority sites?
Is a wordpress platform blog best for an authority site?
Is a membership type site best for an authority site?
How do you become the get to expert in a niche you no nothing about or are still learning about?
How do you leverage on outsourcing to create an authority site?
How do you automate maintaining an authority site?
Can plr or private label rights products be used to build an authority site and how?
What is the easiest and quickest way to make an authority site become freely accessible and useful in different languages – go international?

I’ve read all of the questions below and people have covered the topic really well! If you’re an affiliate marketer, you can’t rely on just one site, and it’s really hard to have a passion or even an interest in too many topics. What would be the optimum number of sites to aim for in the beginning until you know that one is going to make money for you.

Also what about the email marketing side?

Ann

Hi Guys,
I know it´s kind of difficult to show a real case example, but it would be awesome to actually see one of your authority sites or at least to get an in depth blueprint on how to build one from scratch.
I would love to invest in a 30 days course where we could look over your shoulder and see how you build one. I´m kind of fed up with loophole tactics and tricks and would rather prefer to stick to an reliable business model.
Thanks.

Hi Gavin and Jake,
Could you please explain the importance of social proof WRT an authority site.
Thanks,
Simon

Hi Guys,

I’m not sure if this will make sense, I probably won’t explain this well and I’m not talking about link wheels, but would it be possible to support an authority site with smaller sites that focus on a single facet of the authority sites niche. I’m talking actual sites with their own tld and not blogger or whatever.

Have fun,

Mike

Hi guys,
I have a feeling I’m not making this on time (Time zone issue? Emails said both 21st and 22nd), but having just watched the replay, thought I’d give this a whirl. Very informative – you *did* address most if not all questions asked on this page. However, there are two things I’d like to see:

1. “Discussion time” portions of webinars should be written out on slides like the rest of them, one q/a on each, so that deaf people can continue following along. You guys are good as most don’t even do slides right. I know it ruins spontaneity somewhat, but those with poor hearing end up left out.

2. I’d like to see as part of the larger program a “daily program of actions to follow” (the same ones EVERY day, once site is built) in order to create/add content, promote, monetize, get traffic, etc. without having to think and deliberate so much “okay, what am I doing TODAY?”.

I’d say more about what’s holding me back personally but don’t want to give away my ideas.

I’m trying to understand why our cpanel, alexa, google analytics versus other analytics are showing a huge difference in numbers. It there a recommended SEO tool to measure unique visitors and total number of visitors. I’m questioning my numbers since we are on target with major keywords and search engine ranking.

Hi Guys,

When one thinks of an authority site, one normally associates it with one that has been around for some time, have loads of good content and have also a vibrant group of followers who will tweet, fb like, google plus, comment etc about what is being posted.

Now if you are starting to build an authority site from scratch, what is the game plan?

Do you start with a multi-page, rich content site when you first launch the site or do you slowly build it up?

Do you only publish only fresh self created content, or do you have a mix of it with curated content?

Do you have all your social media site accounts ready and start pumping your posts to them when you start or do you do so naturally?

How often should you be posting to the authority site?

I guess I am back to the start…. do you have a gameplan on how to build an authority site?

Thanks.

Please explain the differences between a Capture Page, a Squeeze Page and a Keyword Landing Page. I’m interested in the function of each as well as the format for each.