One word that we have been hearing a lot around the Web for a long time is “authority.” It’s not new, and it’s not the first time that authority has become important. Authority can carry your brand a very long way in the Internet jungle.
If your company is a big brand, for example, you’re going to do better in search because of your brand’s authority. What it means is that you’ll probably get good page listings for appropriate keywords in search engine results pages, just because. And you’ll probably get a ton of organic traffic to go along with it, which is quite free and pretty well targeted. I mean, people have already bothered to type in a search query for what you’re selling. They’re at least interested, right?
Now, juxtapose pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. You’ll get tons of impressions, for sure, but even when you get clicks, if you’re in a competitive niche like insurance, loans, mortgage, or law, the price tag could be as high as $55 per click! I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use PPC to start, but you should be building authority at the same time. That way, you won’t be paying those high PPC prices forever.
So, in 2014, Authority is Important. Period.
So, what EXACTLY does that mean?
Simply, authority relates to how well your brand is perceived on the Web. Is it important? Does the Internet public know, like, and trust your brand? Do people visit your website, and do you make them happy when they arrive?
In other words, are you kicking it out of the park or just barely kicking?
The Important Elements of Authority
In my mind, there are three major factors that come into play when it comes to authority. Here’s what I see that matters:
Your Home on the Web:
Is your website professional-looking and ready to receive visitors whether they’re on desktop, laptop, or mobile device? What kind of content is on your site? Is it all sales copy or are you providing genuine, quality information about your niche that solves people’s problems? Is it well-presented, well-written, and grammatically correct with proper spelling?
Your Presence on the Web:
Where else can people find information from your brand? Are you using the Big 5 of social media: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest? Do you have your information in all the available online directories, especially if you’re a brick & mortar business? Do you participate in social media discussions ? Do you add new videos to YouTube regularly or do any podcasting? How many press releases do you publish each month?
The Engagement Factor: Are You Cool?
How do people react to what you post? Is it enthusiastic or Oh-So-What? Do they want to share your posts with the world? Do they comment on your posts, re-tweet, re-blog, or re-share? Are people excited about you? That’s huge!
Why Authority?
The whole idea behind SEO and marketing is to get people to buy the products you’re selling by using free search traffic. In some niches, that can be a rough row to hoe, but in many niches, professionals aren’t helping people get where they want to go. In other words, not many SEOs have focused on raising authority for clients in them. Some businesses can afford to hire dedicated SEOs, social media managers, content production teams, copywriting teams, and so on.
Those would be your big brands, which already have authority, no doubt. But what about the small “Mom & Pop” businesses out there or the medium-sized businesses that aren’t even on the Internet? But even if they are, they’re probably doing things all wrong.
And this is where I really want you to pay ATTENTION!
Do you really understand how much you need to do to gain authority online? With just this much, you can probably get some of that precious authority you need within a reasonable amount of time. Of course, it would be different for every business, depending upon how much you have already done or what systems you have already built.
I my mind, I consider these to be the minimum requirements:
- Three to five articles per week for the blog on your website
- Three to five articles per week posted to other websites.
- Creation and posting of one well-crafted video per week
- Derivation of one professional-quality podcast from each video created, per week
- Gathering 5 new, high page rank (high authority) backlinks per week
- Writing and posting one press release per month
- 15 minutes per day posting on each of the Big 5 social media sites and responding to comments (1:15 total, per day)
Think about it: That’s a LOT of work, and probably impossible for a one-man show or even for a bigger company that doesn’t have an SEO system in place. You will need several employees, all skilled in different aspects of that plan — writers, copywriters, videographers and editors, audio editors, SEOs, and social media managers. Wow! That’s a LOT of money in terms of salaries, not to mention benefits. And then, there’s the added issue of finding said people to do all of the things you need done, and who will do them well.
We’ve Got Your Back
That’s where MagnaSites.com comes in. We take the WORK out of your path to authority on the Web, and leave you free to do what you do best, whether it’s getting more business, creating products, getting better educated, or whatever. You will have the time to pursue those important aspects of your business because we fulfill the entire plan for you, from beginning to end.
You will have that precious content you so desperately need. You will have professionally prepared videos and podcasts and people will actually make your social media accounts hum. You won’t have to lift a finger. We solve those problems for you, and we get results.
Cases in Point
Our system has been up and running three solid years in a row. Our oldest client, a medium-sized brand, went from making $7K per week to an average $32K per week, using our company’s individually prepared SEO plan. That brand has become a very heavy hitter in their niche. They’ve done so well, in fact, that they just moved into a brand-spanking new headquarters they purchased for $11 million. (Of course, that’s their situation and every situation will be different, depending on the niche and the amount of authority your brand already has.)
Another of our clients was a complete newbie when we started working together about 18 months ago. She was a virtual nobody online, though she had status in her niche, a good message, and a likable personality to guide her. Today, she’s writing a regular column for a big celebrity site in the self-help arena, and she’s being paid to do it! (Guess who writes the content. Yep. Magnasites helps with that.) Over the past year and a half, we have helped this woman to become an “authority” in her niche. The rest will follow. We’re now developing products to sell online because we have strengthened her brand.
The bottom line is this: If you work with MagnaSites.com, we’ll have your back. We have a very experienced and talented staff that will provide what you need, and it will be professional and well-executed. You retain complete editorial control over your content, and will work closely with our management team to assure that you’re taken care of, no matter what aspect of your business you need help in. We report every week on your progress, good or bad, and we help find fixes to problems if/when you have them.
We’re also here to help with Internet marketing, especially if you’re just getting started. We can plan and execute a killer sales funnel for you, or if you don’t even have a website? We can build that for you, too, not just according to your tastes, but with marketing and SEO in mind.
Do it all or just do a little, Magnasites can be that other arm or the 27-hour day you’ve been wanting. It’s our job to get you that all-precious authority that’s imperative to have in today’s online world.
We are masters in this online universe and have worked in multiple niches, from parenting to poker. Let us make you a master in yours and build your authority over time. Once it’s there, it’s like the pyramids. It will never blow away.
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