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Search engines like Google want to reward websites that are the Wikipedia of information pertaining to the industry or vertical they are in. In order to determine that, Google evaluates how authoritative your website is.
Domain authority (DA) is a crucial metric (originated from Moz and not officially scored by Google) to understand how much weight your website content has relative to all the other content out there. The higher your domain authority, the more likely you are to be found through search.
Search engine optimization strategies include numerous on how to increase your domain authority. There are lots of ways you can boost your DA, but our top tactics include:
Every business loves to receive positive reviews and coincidentally, search engines love it too. If customers think you’re the best, search engines will agree. By having a high number of positive reviews, Google can recognize that you’re bringing quality service to your audience, bumping up your rankings and also, increasing your domain authority.
Don’t worry if your reviews aren’t a perfect 5 out of 5 though, as research shows that customers can be suspicious of perfect ratings. The reality is, no matter how great your product is, not everyone is going to love it. Having a higher ranking (4.5-4.8) is the sweet spot for boosting your DA.
If you’re just starting out, don’t be afraid to ask your engaged customers for reviews. This can range from customers you see often, customers you connected with especially, or long-term customers you’ve come to know. Refrain from giving yourself positive reviews to boost your rating - it’s not a best practice and honestly, not a real review.
Next to reviews, links are a surefire way for search engines to know your business is credible. Link-building is basically back-end word of mouth. Your site is immediately more trustworthy with a higher number of powerful backlinks.
Backlinks, also known as inbound links, happen when a site links back to your site. By increasing the number of backlinks you have, your domain authority increases as these businesses found your information valuable enough to refer back to you. It's important to note that the quality of the backlink matters as much as the quantity of the backlink. For example, 1 backlink from a .edu website with lots of authority serves more value to your authority than two backlinks from small bloggers with low domain authorities themselves.
Internal linking is incredibly important to strategically grow your SEO. If a business takes an opportunity to link to themselves but instead refers to your website, they’re using that valuable real estate to drive traffic off of their website and onto yours. In a world of self promotion, this is incredibly substantial. Search engines will take notice.
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They don’t say “content is king” for no reason. To improve your authority online, regularly publishing quality content is a no-brainer. Think relevant blogs that answer the questions your target audience has.
If you can be a thought leader in your industry, Google will reward you with higher rankings and domain authority. To do this, keep track of relevant keywords. Keyword research is a game-changer in terms of developing content for your site. Find what people are searching and you open the door of opportunity to be the answer they’re looking for.
Content is king, but content for content’s sake is counterproductive. Don’t focus on getting out as many blogs as humanly possible, but spend your time doing the research to make sure your content is actually something your audience cares about.
In the same vein, posting content that is relevant to your audience but not your business is not a useful way to spend your allotted content creation time. Funny cat videos may be a hit with your audience, but if it doesn’t in some way connect back to your service or product, you’re driving empty traffic. The bottom line is, your content should have the customers' wants in mind, without forgetting about your business goals, too.
To make sure your content is serving its purpose, analyze your performance often by seeing what blogs are receiving views, ranking for your defined keywords, and driving visits.
Defining what “regular” posting is going to be different for every business, so don’t get caught up on a number or timeline if it doesn’t work. Focus more on making sure that you have a realistic schedule that you can stick to.
Odds are, your business isn’t live on just one site. While your website is absolutely something to keep top of mind, don’t miss out on making sure your citations across the board are correct. This includes your address, business name, and phone number. If you can’t get the simplest details of your business right wherever they appear, how can Google believe you're a trustworthy source of information?
Consider all places your website details are. This includes sites like Yelp, Travelocity, Chamber of Commerce sites, and the like. Customers will sometimes create pages for their favorite businesses on their own, so make sure to do your research and claim any listing so you can adjust as necessary.
How long does it take to increase your domain authority? The goal of increasing your domain authority is most definitely a long-term strategy. It takes time for the website crawlers to crawl your site and understand that you have more links, more reviews, and better content. Unfortunately, achieving SEO success doesn’t happen overnight.
With a robust search engine optimization strategy, you can work to get your website where it needs to go. Finding the right keywords, backlinks, and content can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, the experts can make it a lot easier. We've provided you with our best ways to increase domain authority this year.
If you’re looking to improve your domain authority or boost your SEO tactics, don’t hesitate to contact our team for more information.
