How to build authority online

Have you ever wanted your website to become a benchmark for other websites to follow? If you have ever desired to be a leader in your field of expertise, you will be very interested in the world of online authority. This guide will help you build authority online, right from the startup. Without further ado, let us begin:

What is authority online?

Of course, we can’t start building anything up if we don’t even know what the topic is all about. You can’t just Forrest Gump everything and expect your life to just let you become the president. To understand the definition of online authority definition, we break it down. The word “authority” is derived from the word “author” – which means to write. An authority is a person or personality online that can deliver content to the public that matters. 

Just like you would see in your physical life, an authority is someone you place a great deal of trust in. In the modern world of the internet where Google reigns supreme over all other platforms for searching websites, the fastest and easiest way to becoming an authority online is to be reliable for Google. 

Online authority is an entity that people will place trust in and will be more likely to buy a product from. For example, if you are into smartphones and watch YouTube, if someone like Mrwhosetheboss or Unbox Therapy were to recommend a smartphone, people would want to invest in that smartphone. If you are into laptops, YouTubers like Dave Lee or Linus Sebastian recommend a laptop, you would want to buy that laptop. 

The guide below will help you start building online authority from the start:

How to build authority online?

There are three main concepts that you should know about if you wish to build authority online:

• Visibility
• Point-of-view
• Publishing

There are a lot of concepts that you might have to learn when we fully explain these three main concepts. You should get yourself a cup of coffee before we start; this rollercoaster will not stop until it reaches its final destination: 

Visibility

The first step to building credibility – which is extremely important for becoming an authority on the internet is to be visible on the internet. Of course, the fastest and most efficient way of being visible on the internet is by having a website. There are a lot of platforms that you can use to make sure that you are visible enough. Visibility is very important because if people don’t know you exist, they will never buy a product that you recommend, period. 

• Other popular platforms for building visibility for authority include (but are not limited to) Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat – fundamentally any social media platform. 
• Becoming an authority might be synonymous with becoming a celebrity – only that your word should be your fame on the internet and not your face. 
• Post either curated - content from other people - or original content on the popular platforms and ensure your content’s visibility is set to Public to ensure the best performance. 

Another alternative is to show up at public professional events and get to know people. The more people you know, the easier it becomes to become an authority. 

Point-of-View

The second thing, which is perhaps equally as important as visibility is your point-of-view. You should only post credible content. Try to keep your content to something that you think you are an expert at. If you like mobile phones, try making articles or videos on mobile phones. If people don’t like your videos or content, shift over to something else. Experiment around.

• The fastest way to gaining an audience is by being as specific with your content as possible. For example, you could either teach random people on the internet how to take care of their dog or how to make their dogs poop properly. 
• The second one sounds a little weird – it doesn’t have to be this weird - but you will be better known for something specific as compared to something generic. 

The bigger the market of the thing you are trying to get your point across to, the less likely it is for you to become an authority. If someone were to think “How do I take care of my pet?”, they would remember tons of names before they would recall yours. But if someone were to think “I can’t make my dog poop in its poop-place”, they would be more likely to remember your name. 

When posting your content, don’t forget to engage with your audience. No one likes it if they watch content from a monotonous corporate-cultured robot who only uploads videos and doesn’t seem to listen to its audience. Check your comments and be sure to reply whenever you deem it to be necessary. 

Publishing

This one seems kind of redundant, but you get the gist of it. Publish your content on the platform(s) of your choice but be sure to include important information such as your contact information or your website or agency name. This helps build a brand, which is very important if you want people to start remembering you on social media platforms. 

• After publishing it, you should be aggressive with sharing your content on other platforms – but never spam, because no one likes spammers. 
• It can either be shared in real life to your friends, or through your other platforms so other people can access it. 
• Even one view is better than zero. Ask your friends if they will share your content on their platforms. 
• This is where getting to know more people comes in handy. 

If you have money, you can always push targeted advertisements to people who might be interested in your content. This is a great way to boost your viewership but do note that targeted ads only prove to be effective if you have researched your content. 

Final Thoughts:

One final tip that we want to share is to be consistent with your content sharing speed. If you are doing content every week, ensure that you are getting a video uploaded at least once a week. People like scheduled content and they will be more likely to tune in if they know that content has been uploaded at the scheduled time. We hope that this article on online authority definition as well as the how-to guide was able to help you figure out how to build effective authority online. If you have any questions, don’t forget to ask. We will be engaging with you.