BadyBoySEO
Regular Member
- May 17, 2013
- 320
- 95
I was recently inspired by Exaalion's Authority Journal and thought I would create my own journal to my log my experiences building an Authority site.
Why Authority Site(s)?
The majority of journey's on Blackhatworld feature a YouTube + CPA/PPD method, and while this can be a very good way to make a nice little income it's not something I'm particularly interested in. When you build an authority site, you are building yourself an asset and income stream as well. The journey may be a more uphill struggle but the pay off if successful can be extremely impressive. Establishing yourself as an authority in a particular niche also has some benefits from a SEO perspective. From a number of recent SEO studies, it has been suggested that authority sites can engage in more aggressive backlinking, which has to be seen as a positive. In recent years the SERP's have become increasingly dominated by authority sites, and the share of the big 10 has increased massively. This is the perfect time to start building an authority site and building yourself a long term asset.
What Is An Authority Site?
Their is a misconception among many in the SEO community, that to build an authority site you just need to chuck up a ton of 500+ word articles and you have got yourself an authority site. This is simply not the case, an authority site will speak authoritatively on a large number of topics within a niche and provide the user with what they are looking for. Unique content that answers users queries is what were looking for, this type of content can be very costly to acquire and I write all the content for my sites. Which while difficult certainly reduces costs and allows me to spend my budget elsewhere.
To me a genuine authority site also has a strong social media presence. Think of the biggest brands on the internet, which of those brands do not have a strong social media presence? A social media presence is something that has become very important and is only going to become more important. Building up a reputation on social networks, is something I have really struggled with in the past. I am going to strive to build a strong social media presence and see what kind of traffic I can drive through the major social network platforms.
The Niches
I plan to run two authority sites, both in very different niches. I'am already currently running one site in the finance niche and plan to run another in the travel niche.
In the finance niche the website is monetized with affiliate advertising and in the travel niche I'm planning to use Google adsense until I can work out a better way to monetize the site. Though I do have a few other ideas besides adsense.
Plan going forward
Plan to update everyday. But sometimes I will probably get lazy and slack off a bit, though intend to keep this journey thread alive for the long run. As it will both motivate me and help me understand whats working and not.
Why Authority Site(s)?
The majority of journey's on Blackhatworld feature a YouTube + CPA/PPD method, and while this can be a very good way to make a nice little income it's not something I'm particularly interested in. When you build an authority site, you are building yourself an asset and income stream as well. The journey may be a more uphill struggle but the pay off if successful can be extremely impressive. Establishing yourself as an authority in a particular niche also has some benefits from a SEO perspective. From a number of recent SEO studies, it has been suggested that authority sites can engage in more aggressive backlinking, which has to be seen as a positive. In recent years the SERP's have become increasingly dominated by authority sites, and the share of the big 10 has increased massively. This is the perfect time to start building an authority site and building yourself a long term asset.
What Is An Authority Site?
Their is a misconception among many in the SEO community, that to build an authority site you just need to chuck up a ton of 500+ word articles and you have got yourself an authority site. This is simply not the case, an authority site will speak authoritatively on a large number of topics within a niche and provide the user with what they are looking for. Unique content that answers users queries is what were looking for, this type of content can be very costly to acquire and I write all the content for my sites. Which while difficult certainly reduces costs and allows me to spend my budget elsewhere.
To me a genuine authority site also has a strong social media presence. Think of the biggest brands on the internet, which of those brands do not have a strong social media presence? A social media presence is something that has become very important and is only going to become more important. Building up a reputation on social networks, is something I have really struggled with in the past. I am going to strive to build a strong social media presence and see what kind of traffic I can drive through the major social network platforms.
The Niches
I plan to run two authority sites, both in very different niches. I'am already currently running one site in the finance niche and plan to run another in the travel niche.
- Finance niche: Currently around 1,700 unique visitors a month. Expecting over 2,000 for the month of August, in a extremely competitive niche
- Travel Niche : Planned launch around the middle of August, currently working on site design and content ready for launch. This niche is much less competitive and I will be targeting some pretty easy keywords.
In the finance niche the website is monetized with affiliate advertising and in the travel niche I'm planning to use Google adsense until I can work out a better way to monetize the site. Though I do have a few other ideas besides adsense.
Plan going forward
- Finance Niche: Continue to add unique highly quality content, one to two 700+ word articles a day. Plus any relevant news stories or shorter items that I think the readership would be interested in. Next week going to start some serious outreach and see whether I can land some decent guest post spots.
- Travel Niche: Sort out launch content and write some guest posts, to place on a few blogs for the sites launch. Going to sort out social media profiles today and finalize some other stuff. Want to launch with around 20 pieces of unique content, and continue to add 1-2 articles each weekday indefinitely.
Plan to update everyday. But sometimes I will probably get lazy and slack off a bit, though intend to keep this journey thread alive for the long run. As it will both motivate me and help me understand whats working and not.
