Introduction To Keyword Authority

by Court on October 6, 2008

Getting ranked in search engines is largely a matter of keyword authority. If you’re not ranked, you probably don’t have enough keyword authority and it’s usually that simple. In other words, you either don’t have a solid piece of content about that keyword or there aren’t enough sites out there that know about your piece of content.

Please give the last sentence some serious thought. If you’re site is struggling, I’d bet the farm that you have one of those two problems.

Most sites don’t have the rankings they would like to have, but I guess that’s obvious. Based on the number of people reading this site and others like it, we can reasonably assume that people still aren’t getting to the traffic numbers they’re looking for.

Search engines can be literal gold mines for individuals that are able to take advantage. Google especially can provide you with a residual influx of traffic, amazingly composed primarily of a specific group of people that are looking for the information, product, or service you provide.

So what do you have to do to get Google to see you as an authority for the keyword you would like to get ranked for.

The Quickest Way To The Top

With this game, there are a lot of ways to play. The easiest way to win is to enlist the help of the ‘authorities’ – better said, the people that Google already trusts for the keyword you would like to come up for.

Let’s say that I wanted to become an authority for a keyword phrase like ‘how to teach a gerbil to swim’. Well, first things first, who are the ‘authorities’ for this keyword?

Doing a quick search in Google will tell you exactly who Goog believes the authorities are, and it all starts there. If you could get the top ten URLs that are ranked in Google to link to you, you would become an instant authority and would likely have earned a great ranking for that keyword. With an easy keyword like this, you would probably get ranked first, unless your site was brand new.

Yeah I hear you, “Well how do I get those sites to link to me, Court?” Well that’s the question isn’t it?! It’s not always going to be possible. I said this was the quickest way to the top – it’s definitely not easy to get everyone to link to your site.

That said, if I wanted to get sites like these to link to my gerbil-swimming site (ha, can you imagine if I really had a site about this?), I would probably create some kind of free download that I could offer. For some reason, I have always had better luck getting people to link to downloads (as opposed to posts or articles).

Alerting a bunch of gerbil sites about your download would likely draw some links.

Most people never get this far because they don’t want to create something of value in the first place. If you honestly created the best report ever written about ‘how to teach a gerbil to swim’, it’s very likely that you would eventually climb to number one for that keyword, based on the fact that gerbil lovers would link to you. Creating a garbage page would put you in a much more difficult position.

The reality is that some keywords are much more difficult than this one, but the same principles apply. If you want to rank first for cell phones, they keyword authority you need will be a lot harder to get. Why? Because the sites that are currently ranked are seriously strong sites.

I would say that a healthy majority of you will never try to create the amount of keyword authority it would take to get ranked for a term like cell phones. Why? You don’t believe that you could do it. I think that many of you could achieve something like that. The problem is that people tend to quit before they get there.

I think if you took a hard look at the sites that currently rank for anything, you’ll find that they don’t do the greatest job ever of explaining their information. Any of us could probably do a better job and if we did, we would create some keyword authority out of thin air. Why? People always link to the best site that covers a topic.

I bet a good 90% of you would be capable of getting on to the first page in Google for a term like ‘cell phones’, if you were willing to pay the price. Of course, it wouldn’t be mathematically possible for you all to do it at once. It doesn’t matter anyway because 99% of people would just quit anyway – that doesn’t have to be you. You can be different, if you want to be.

How To Get Started With Your Site’s Keyword Authority

Going after a huge term like cell phones usually isn’t the best way to build keyword authority. If I had a site about cell phones, I would break it down into tons of subtopics that I could provide solid information about.

A subtopic like ‘how to change a cell phone battery’Â or ‘which is the best hosting company‘ would be easier to move up the rankings for, and would still help you to build authority for ‘cell phones’. Stringing together 50 or so keywords like that one on a single site will help you to start getting somewhere for ‘cell phones’, even though you haven’t tried specifically for cell phones. Why? Google and other search engines know that the terms are related.

The more specific, sub-topical terms you can rank for, the more keyword authority you will build for the more difficult keyword – the keyword most people would call a pipe dream.

Make a list of keywords that work well with your site, use those keywords to create awesome articles, notify other sites that cover the topic, and repeat.

So What Is Keyword Authority Exactly?

It’s a measure of how good your site is for a specific keyword. Google uses a lot of metrics to determine this, including use of keywords in your site (throughout your entire site), which sites you’re getting links from (and how authoritative they are for the keyword), and what words they use when they link to you (anchor text). Improve any of those metrics, and you will improve your keyword authority. Improve more than anyone else, and you will find yourself with a #1 ranking for your keyword.

There are, of course, lots of different methods that you can use to create keyword authority. We’re not going to cover them all today but I hope that this lesson will help you to understand a little more about what keyword authority is. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions!

{ 90 comments… add one }

Jeff edit

Thanks, Court. Great post, as usual. Long time no hear from you. Been missing your insights. Hope all is well.

Reply
Joseph edit

What a useful post you have done…!!! Thank You!

Reply
Colin Klinkert edit

My only comment is great post. I do a lot of keyword work and SEO with my VA, and getting ready to take on a 2nd VA too (more an SEO expert though)

Good stuff mate

Reply
Patch edit

Thanks Court! I’ve GREATLY missed your insight as well. Just so you know, my site is now making over $100 a month just from your teaching. This is just the start.

Ok, so, question, what about social bookmarking sites? I imagine it takes a bit longer to reach that authority place because the social bookmark sites (most likely) don’t have the keyword authority you’re looking to earn.

When I look at the first page in Google for my keyword, it’s all corporate sites. Those are going to be very difficult to crack. In Yahoo I’m #4 for my keyword, but I can’t seem to do it in Google.

Reply
Justin edit

Good to see you posting again Court =P
GL with your rankings and all.

I agree that most people just don’t have the confidence to archive rankings. When I wanted to go after “SEO” as a keyword, some told me I was crazy. In two month or so, I am now floating around page 3 for SEO =P
Now the real work begins, since I’m up against people like Quadzilla, Rand Fishkin, and Aaron Wall. (that and the wikipedia article has sick authority)

Reply
Computer Network Consulting edit

I agree completely. My website currently has 42 keywords (or phrases) that are ranked 100 or less for Google (Geeksquad only has 39.) and I am working on more. Some of them are my name or company name but others are important terms like Computer Network Consulting. That is an important term to me and I have worked very hard to cultivate my authority on that term. Next I’m going for Computer Networking.

Reply
Mario edit

This is a very helpful post. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Dali Burgado edit

Court,
This was extremely informative. Most of my traffic (a resounding 60%) comes from social networking and I’ve been learning how to rank for keywords. This post was explained clearly and was to the point. Awesome content. I appreciate you!
Dali Burgado

Reply
Mike Huang edit

Very helpful post. I have just began to start learning about SEO since I don’t own bloggin-ads anymore. An arcade site has a lot of competition and I believe that SEO is the key to success. I guess certain keywords do add up

-Mike

Reply
Moataz edit

Very helpful indeed. thx for that

just gave me an idea of how to structure my autoblog. had a look at the top ranked google sites. Motor authority is pretty sick. Autoweek is another top one.

Reply
cowy edit

FINALLY!
I really waiting for another court series like Keyword Snipping! Woo Hoo, I will following this, (You will make the series of Keyword authority, right?)

Reply
Paul edit

Keep this topic rolling please. I am just really getting to understand the concepts.

Reply
Internet Marketing Strategies edit

Great to hear from you again Court! Great post and a great reminder about the importance of link building, especially with the right anchor!
JR

Reply
Larry W edit

Thanks I’d like to read more about keyword authority and ranking well

Reply
Web_Content_With_WOW edit

I see your new views on content really shining through, here, Court – am loving the discussion – please keep it up!

Reply
Leo edit

It is a good idea. For me I didn’t really think of keyword and stuff. I just keep posting some Stock education post everyday to let people who love my post coming in.

Reply
szise edit

Is really hard this days to rank high, probably always was , in my opinion there are “strong people” who can buy links or already own some sites in top 10 for some keywords, they use the “keyword authority” to promote other sites/services. This guys rule the world.

Reply
Australian Visa Services edit

High ranking also means hard work and money. If you don’t have this, I don’t know what will happen to your site.

Reply
Free Book Reviews edit

Thanks Court, I found this post motivating. Some times spending hours searching for the low hanging fruit is too much. It’s nice to know that broader terms can be taken over too. It just takes the time and effort. Having a large site with lots of keyword authority would be a nice accomplishment.

Reply
Ali edit

Very Informative Post

Keep Coming Them

Reply
Davis White edit

Thanks for the great information. Link-building and content writing are not glamorous. They take a consistent effort. Most people give up before they really see results. Like just about anything else, sticking with it will pay off.

Reply
Hosting Reviews edit

You hit the nail dead on when you say most people give up. That’s what keeps me going hard…I know if I keep chugging along doing the proper things, I will surpass most people in my niche as they will eventually throw in the towel.

Reply
Ostralia edit

Mate, as always your posts are clear and straight to the point. Cheers.

Reply
benotdalonk edit

I am very interested in learning about and want to get visitors to my site and I get a new science here.

Reply
Squaring Off edit

I’m doing a lot of keyword research at the moment and I’ve got to say this post has helped clarify things immensely. Building authority from the bottom up takes a lot of dedication to a single goal.

Reply
Ryan edit

I can appreciate how you say that “there arent enough sites out there that know about your content”

Recently I’ve been getting the word out about my keyword rich content by using social blogging sites…the one Ive had the most succes with so far is http://www.echodemic.com anyone else using sites like this?

Its similar to a digg format, in that you post partial blog posts on echodemic, and they are ranked by a community of users (they call the ranks “echos”). The posts with the most ranks end up on the front page.

None of my posts have ended up on the front page, but I have had good traffic back.

Do any of you use sites like this?

Reply
Gio edit

I have decided to make my main focus keyword Pool Care, is it smart for me to put that keyword everywhere that I can? Anyway this is the best most insightful blog about internet marketing I have ever read. Thanks for your support!

Reply
panakleak edit

verry interest about this post,good job court

Reply
Smith edit

Thanks a lot. It helped me. I tried this for my friends site and it works. Thanks again.

Smith,
http://www.samudhai.com

Reply
Babak edit

I was looking for this post and finally found it.

Reply
Virtual Impax edit

DUDE!!! I can’t believe you aren’t pimping Wordze with this post!!! (You’re still earning affiliate income from my recurring subscription!!!)

Wordze SHOWS you the top “authority” sites for important keywords.

Reply
your cancer risk edit

Great post as always Court. I’ll echo that you’re right about people quitting. It’s tough going sometimes, but it’s important to never give up. It’s also important not to bite off more than you can chew for your first experiment. Getting started and trying to be #1 for “credit card” is a sure way to end up broke and disgusted.

Reply
Apartments San Antonio edit

Keyword authority is a great concept. It’s important that you layer in different versions of your keyword on your pages and it’s also important that you consider the overall messaging of your keywords throughout all the pages of your site.

Reply
myrtle beach apartments edit

great post – i have saw this with real estate websites. Its tough to rank for the word real estate, but if you attached a city to that keyword or a specific area of real estate you have a good shot

Reply
Gratis open haard hout edit

Keep up the good work! Thanx

Reply
makkelijk geld lenen edit

Very informative and useful. Thank you!

Reply
Lenen bkr a2 edit

I’m looking forward to you next post, because until now every post is GREAT!

Reply
SEO hot secrets edit

i would like to say this was so motivating to me , i already have a good ranking for highly competitive keywords but never thought to go for keywords like cellphones after this post i will give it a shot and i will update you later with results.

Reply
Spoed geld lenen edit

Thank you for this post; I bookmarked it! “SEO hot secrets” I am curious about your results, please keep us informed

Reply
Kruipruimte isolatie edit

When your not a big fish in a particular market…focus on a niche

Reply
Nechaev edit

ÐŸÑ€Ð¸Ð´ÑƒÐ¼Ð°Ð½Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð¼Ð½Ð¾Ð¹ Ñ‚ÐµÐ¾Ñ€Ð¸Ñ Ð½ÐµÐ·Ð½Ð°Ñ‡Ð¸Ñ‚ÐµÐ»ÑŒÐ½Ð¾ Ð¾Ñ‚Ð»Ð¸Ñ‡Ð°ÐµÑ‚ÑÑ Ð¾Ñ‚ Ð¾Ð¿ÑƒÐ±Ð»Ð¸ÐºÐ¾Ð²Ð°Ð½Ð½Ð¾Ð¹ Ð°Ð²Ñ‚Ð¾Ñ€Ð¾Ð¼, Ð²Ð´Ñ€ÑƒÐ³ ÐºÐ¾Ð¼Ñƒ-Ñ‚Ð¾ Ð¸Ð½Ñ‚ÐµÑ€ÐµÑÐ½Ð¾, Ð¼Ð¾Ð³Ñƒ Ð¿Ð¾Ð´ÐµÐ»Ð¸Ñ‚ÑŒÑÑ ÑÐ²Ð¾Ð¸Ð¼ Ð¾Ð¿Ñ‹Ñ‚Ð¾Ð¼. ÐœÐ¾Ð¹ ÑÑ‰Ð¸Ðº:sdsrtfh@rambler.ru, Ð¡Ñ‚Ð°Ñ.

Reply
direct snel geld lenen edit

“kruipruimte isolatie”…your comment is very true!

Reply
direct auto lening edit

Very motivating article. I will return.

Reply
Robert Koraca edit

I woukd really love to see my website ranked top on google. I know its not impossible, Thanks for the informative post BTW.

Reply
Webmarketing Blog edit

Excelent this post! I’ll bookmark it.

Reply
Everton edit

Thanks man! Very good your post.

You will help very novices peopleas same me….=D

Reply
donrich edit

Geting traffic to your blog or website is the beauty of online biz.
To Make Money Or Sell Online All You Need Is Good Traffic.. 180 Thousand Traffic T Month Is Not That Too muchâ€¦
with http://www.affiliatedecoder.blogspot.com you get the best result free reading good SEO articles from great writers. linking you to success is our atitude!

Reply
Seo-julia edit

Very interesting information. I will use it! A big-big thanks to author.

Reply
Green Living edit

Great information – I read your free E-book and it was VERY helpful!

Reply
small business edit

You describe this post in lovely writing style. I enjoy reading your article. Hope I can visit your blog again. Thanks for sharing

Reply
Social Media edit

Hey it’s really a interesting information….!!!thanks for sharing…..

Reply
Nathan Ciurzynski edit

Wow…so I totally thought it was solely about linkage not the quality and relevance of links. Gotta start making some changes in my strategy.

Reply
gratis datingsites edit

Just the info I was looking for

Reply
lenen 500 euro edit

Good and helpful information in this article.

Reply
Minilening aanvragen edit

High quality information for bloggers, thanks.

Reply
wholesale mlb jerseys edit

Thank you for your sharing.

Reply
Web Development Company India edit

hi,
its a nice post !
Really liked information about Keyword Authority .It is very interesting .
Thanks for sharing yours ideas.

Reply
SEO Translator edit

Try lots of related long tail keywords and build up the authority little by little… there is usually not such a thing lik a “quick buck”.

Reply
Minikrediet edit

Keep up the good work. Clear info, looking forward to your next article.

Reply
Doctor edit

Good work
nice post !!

Reply
Pasta dishes edit

Even though this post is a bit old, it was still useful. It’s tough to get that authority in Google for searches today, unless you put in a lot of effort.

Reply
Elli Betty edit

You have shared very useful information. I loved it.
http://noxedgereviews.org/

Reply
ÑÑ‚Ñ€Ð¾Ð¹Ð¼Ð°Ñ‚ÐµÑ€Ð¸Ð°Ð»Ñ‹ edit

the more specific keywords – more taffic you gen on your site

Reply
Dierverzekering edit

Keywords, links and content is SO important

Reply
transparant sparen edit

Good post, thanks for sharing this info!

Reply
online energie edit

Driemaal is scheepsrecht

Reply
Bedrijfspanden te koop edit

Good and very useful post!

Reply
Opinion Outpost review edit

Truly helpful article. I am currently building my first site and articles like this one are pretty much my only source of advice on how to get somewhere in a search engine. Thank you.

Reply
sandinfo edit

how can i increase the page rank of my site

i have a site

http://www.sand-strom.com

its page rank is 0
and i want to increase its page rank
plz give me your view to how can i increase its page rank

Please suggest me…..

Reply
uzamax edit

%100 DoÄŸal ve hiÃ§ bir yan etkisi olmayan Uzamax’Ä± keÅŸfedin
UZAMAX iÃ§eriÄŸinde mineral ve vitaminler barÄ±ndÄ±ran, doÄŸal bitkielerden Ã¼retilmiÅŸ gÄ±da desteÄŸidir. Ä°Ã§eriÄŸinde herhangi bir kimyasal Ã¼rÃ¼n bulunmamakla birlikte tamamen doÄŸal kurutulmuÅŸ bitkisel bir karÄ±ÅŸÄ±mdÄ±r. Sadece birkaÃ§ aylÄ±k kullanÄ±m kÃ¼rÃ¼ sonrasÄ±nda bile uzamaxâ€™Ä±n etkisini hissedeceksiniz.

Uzamax kullanarak doÄŸal yollarla bÃ¼nyenize gerekli olan tÃ¼m besin, vitamin ve mineralleri vÃ¼cudunuza almanÄ±zÄ± saÄŸlar.izlanda yosun hapÄ±

Reply
wart removal edit

@ sandinfo :
Try to get more backlinks for your site. Blogs and forums related to yours would be a plus and much better if you have it on sites that are high PRs.

Reply
Skinny Fiber edit

all the information i got from this site is very interesting,thanks for sharing this..!

Reply
Bookmarks Printing edit

I want a good article,where i can do some bookmark,I think this and there article is really good..! thanks for sharing this….!

Reply
Super Acai 1200 edit

Its really nice article I feeling great when i read this blog.its very interesting.. thanks for posting it..!

Reply
Meaghan Cavallon edit

go to www Freewebsitetraffic.tv to get your site on the first page rank of the google search engines really FAST! and 5,000 traffic visitors a week. http://walkfit-platinum-reviews.com

Reply
Candie Dilnot edit

When people are visiting the web they are looking for specific information, fast. It makes snse then to target the audience very carefully and then become the authority that the audience wants.http://paintzoomfacts.com

Reply
Rozalie Koten edit

I recently found this site and I think its really great place for sharing your thought.
I have also read full story of this article.I think its really great post.

http://hcginstantdiet.org

Reply
mani edit

We have SEO articles that are good for you. Please visit below links

http://www.magghu.com

or
http://www.magghu.com/seo/several-seo-myths.html

Reply
SemanticAd edit

Great points. The authority of your website for a particular search topic significantly affects the ranking for keywords relating to this topic. This also applies to the authority value the search engine assigns to sites linking to yours — the higher authority (and closer to the exact keyword), the more beneficial the link.

Reply
voorkomen negatieve registratie edit

Keywords and unique content are so important! Thanks for sharing this post.

Reply
germansexmovie edit

The art of Transparency in Business

Reply
AustinSeoServices edit

Great advice, and I look forward to reading the entire Keyword Crash Course ebook. Good point about keyword authority and organic search engine optimization taking a while; but — in contrast to PPC campaigns — the effects of SEO are long lasting. Thanks.

Reply
helltube edit

And of course you have a lot more chances for success

Reply
ãƒ–ãƒ©ãƒ³ãƒ‰ è…•æ™‚è¨ˆ edit

Your essay is good, I like it very much. Here I would like to share with you some things http://www.chermall.com.

Reply
Real Estate Investments edit

Keywords and unique content are so important! Thanks for sharing this post. look forward to reading the entire Keyword Crash Course ebook.
Looking for a Property Investment? Get the best real estate investment properties in Australia and start building your property portfolio.

Reply
Yates de lujo en Ibiza edit

I’ll echo that you’re right about people quitting. It’s tough going sometimes, but it’s important to never give up. It’s also important not to bite off more than you can chew for your first experiment.

Reply
Ade Nugroho Widjaja edit

Thanks a lot.. I hope I can get more PageRank in my website http://www.limitedlink.com..

Reply