Are you an authority in your marketplace? How do you create an authority website? Authority is the subtext of what you do online. You can be funky, you can be fun, that’s entertaining. If you mix original and entertaining content with authority, well…then you are onto a winner.
Authority Means Trust
Authority is also power, power in the marketplace, power to cultivate leads, power to sell. It also means your website; your online presence becomes the go to place for visitors.
Trust Signals & Signs of Confidence:
- Reviews
- Industry Membership
- Qualifications
- Endorsements
- Partnerships
Plus
- Case Studies
- Client Logos
Security Symbols
The above are just some of trust signals like to see. Some visitors won’t even take in these signals directly. This is because you are showing not telling. Client logos can lead to recognition that you have aligned your business with someone who is recognised.
Reviews for Your Business
There are many ways of going about reviews. Plugins and apps will display your reviews from off site platforms. Good signals like these are vital. You’ll also gain links from these other ‘authority’ websites.
Tie this into your Google Ads and you’ll see those stars. Tiny aren’t they, those star ratings? Yes, but they catch the eye in the Google Search Engine Results (SERP’s) page.
Reviews from your local listing? Encourage clients to leave you a review on your Google Business Page (GBP), formally known as the Google My Business page (GMB).
Reviews from Facebook, another belter to acquire.
Watch out that you are not ripped off by one particular review platform. Can’t say who, you’ll have to ask.
Signs of Confidence Symbols & Icons
Industry body logos, along with partnerships are also key. If you have none, then are you a limited company? Use that along with your company number.
Endorsements
These should be from authority figures, even a celebrity will do.
Security Symbols
A must if you are an ecommerce store. You know the them, the credit card logos and padlocks.
Case Studies
Make them worthwhile. Make sure you feature the client’s ‘frictions’ and how you solved them. Back up with figures.
SSL Certificate
Well, everyone should have one of those, you know, the padlock in the address bar.
Social Confidence
You’re a socially inclined business, aren’t you? Have a feed, bring in the most relevant content from Twitter, Instagram or another social platform. If your business has visual material then that’s the best.
That’s the Foundation
All of the above are the foundations for authority. Now we get into the other aspect of building that authority and that’s content.
Content for Authority
All the basics are in place. Now you have to populate your online presence with a mix of content. I do hate the word ‘content’. Better is to think in terms of information and entertainment.
We’ll leave the entertainment side for another time. Let’s look at content for authority.
Information
Offer information that no one else has, this information can even be in the form of opinion. You know what you’re talking about, so spread that around your online presence. You can also curate, that is collect information from other authorities and display it in a new way, a video, an animation, an infographic. Create a podcast, a YouTube channel, a neat Tik Tok presence…
Offer a download of interesting stuff, templates, useful tip sheets, whatever you can and DON’T bother with making it in exchange for an email address. Be brave. Visitors will come, appreciate, move on and refer back to you (sometimes).
The Content Calendar and Google Trends
Look at the seasonality of your business. Use your keywords, put them into Google Trends. When do the most searches happen, are those searches growing?
What are the major events, exhibitions, holiday events etc, in your world?
Map these out in a Content Calendar, now you know when you should be creating that content, you know, ‘World Sausage Roll Day’, 5th of June, if you are asking.
Now fill in the gaps of your content calendar with the themes you’ve chosen and your visitor needs.
A Word About Copywriting
The number one element of converting visitors to sales, to being part of your crew, loyal and willing to spread your brand with word-of-mouth, is copywriting.
Emotional, funny, informative, chatty, knowing, ironic, silly. There are many forms of writing. What works best for your authority? Come up with some themes and measure the success of your copy.
Measuring copy along with all the other aspects of making authority is ripe for another post.
Drop me a line if you fancy a further explanation.
About Conversion Detectives
Conversion Detectives is a full service digital marketing agency in Hertfordshire.
We find the best quality traffic for your website and convert more of that traffic into sales or sales leads.
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